Hello.

2 of my girlfriends and I are planning a trip to London. What are would be best to stay in?? We want someplace with some nightlife (bars..) and in walking distance of some sights. Good for the 22-27 year old range.. We want to stay in a hostel. Any suggestions?! Thank you!!

What is your budget?? And is there a particular reason you want to stay in a hostel?

We will be traveling for 3 weeks and are trying to keep our budget really low. About $30-$40 a night.

your budget is awfully low - - only about £15 - £20 and €22 - €29. Even hostels will be difficult in that range in London/Paris. There are good hostels in London - but the best ones book up pretty far ahead and are more expensive. There are also some dreadful hostels in London.

I'd suggest you check out http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/ - it is a site really geared to young and budget travelers.

I stayed at the Picadilly Hotel (a hostel) a few years back - but even then it was around $100 a night for a double (dorms were less if you want to go that route). It was a great location though - right off Picadilly Circus. In retrospect, I wish we'd gone for a regular hotel as we probably could have done as well price wise.

London is not the best place to go on a low budget. Given your budget for lodging, I worry about the rest of your budget. A lot of museums are free in London, and you can get by okay on food with takeaways from grocery stores, but clubs and drinks at bars can be pricey.

This might be time to rethink the time/cost ratio. If you insist on London, perhaps a shorter trip?

Sometimes I think about contacting universities for dorm availability for people on a budget, but none come to mind in London. As others have said, even hostels in London can be more costly than you expect.

actually there are several universities/colleges in London that rent out residence halls either as flats or on a B&B basis. But even those will normally be over £20.

While museums are free in London - they definitely are not free in the other countries you are visiting.

So we are flying into London and out of Madrid. I was budgeting around $100-120 a day (that includes food, hostel, maybe some sights and some transportation - does not include any train travel... or drinking) Does that sound about right? And any suggestions on a route from Paris to Madrid - what to see, do?

I would agree to do a lot of research on thorntree/loney planet.

I think you will be suprrised at the cost of everything (in large part due to the pitiful state of the dollar) even in terms of transport, entrance to clubs (pubs are free but clubs can be very expensive) - and drinks - anything except beer - tend to be VERY expensive versus the US.

Maybe if you are able to share a room or use dorms. We managed around $120 a day (for two) on our last backpacking trip BUT that was 4 years ago when the dollar was MUCH stronger and it was more than that in London.

www.guideforeurope.com is a good site for backpacking tips and info. They would also have more hostel recs for you .