Argh! I am so frustrated!
I keep looking up hostels in these places and there are either none, or really expensive or booked out!!
How is it that the 3 most popular places in Italy have no hostels?!
I cant stay in hotels or B&Bs cause I am a solo traveller and its almost impossible to find anything!
Okay, rant over, seriously, whats going on?
(18female travelling june 07)
thnx

Where have you been looking? It's probably too early for the major booking sites to have inventory for June 2007. Many hostels give up only part of their inventory to Hostelworld and other sites. Have you tried contacting hostels directly? These cities definitely do have hostels.

What do you consider too expensive? It's quite likely hostel beds in these cities will be 20-25 Euros per night.

damn, i was hoping you wouldnt say that. The only solution I came up with was that it was too early =/
30euros and under is what i am hoping for...?
Its just all the search engines come up with mainly b&B's and budgt hotels..I want dorm accomodation

I want to have a top 3 hostels per city if possible...

Oh & What do you think of convent stays? I was thinking about it for rome or florence maybe

I liked my convent stay in Florence. But convent stays will probably cost more than 30 Euros/night - expect more like 45 Euros. And you must book them far in advance.

Other notes:
The Beehive is considered one of the top hostels in Rome, but it doesn't book through those sites, but only directly. The last time I checked, it only books two months in advance (and you are advised to get your request in on the dot).

Another Rome hostel that looks interesting (I mentioned it on another thread):
http://www.casainternazionaledelledo...foresteria.htm

Take a look at some popular backpacking forums - GuideforEurope.com and Eurotrip.com and Eurotrek.net and Thorntree.lonelyplanet.com -
to get some more ideas.

I made reservatiions in rome at yellow hostel, and was traveling alone, but I met friends along the way and we were able to get nicer accomidations. I did however stop by yellow hostel to check it out,, I accidently forgot to cancel my reservations , so I stumbled in there drunk and asked to see my room, lol. They were very nice, exchange your currency, have a bar, internet, and its really "trendy". Its less then a 5 minute walk from termini train station (main train station) Next to termni is tons of cheap hotels and hostels right across the street.

IN florence, we just went down a few streets, found a nice 2 star hotel. My tip is, if you meet/befriend other travelers who you like, suggest you get a place together, it will either save you money, or allow you to stay at nice accomidations

Are you also posting and reading on The Thorn Tree at Lonely Planet's website?

I ask because there are many many more posters there from all around the world in your age range and traveling style (Fodor's forums skews much older and higher budget).

They would be better able to advise you if it is too early to book for next June, or if places really are sold out so far in advance, or generally be able to answer your "whats going on?" question!!!

Venice is much smaller than the other two and an extremely popular place to visit, especially in the summer season. It will be the trickiest of the 3 places. You might consider staying in Padua and training in each day.

yeah i forgot my login info on thorntree ;p
I didnt realise that this forum had that age range =/
I found it by accident and everyone was so helpful

I am posting there now though
Venice I want to spend 5 nights there.. Would it be hard to find something if Im booking a week before hand?

Hi

Have a look at - http://www.twizi.com

Venice: There is a hostel on Giudecca Island on the street along the huge Giudecca canal. That would be nice. The view over Venice proper is beautiful. And it's only 3 minute water bus ride from Venice proper. If you are considering buying a multi day pass, it will be included so no additional cost there.

we are helpful real nice too... we're just older mostly

sorry my best Venice recommendation is still too expensive for your budget (i've stayed at pensione La Calcina).

i mentioned above Padua, some of my budget traveling friends stay outside Venice and come in by train each day. i'm not recommending that as the best idea, just saying that's another possibility if you can't find anything.

I would not wait until just a week before. because as you're already finding cheap = Venice, isn't easy to come by. so sooner is better to try to get a place to sleep imo.

suerte, suze

kappa: Yeah I saw that, and have decided on that one but i will find another i like just in case.
For Rome, I am going to use the yellow hostel.. it looks really good
and I have florence sorted
thanks!

oh & i found it actually turns out easier to find a couple i like, and then google them to find the actual website

Florence, you can check:
http://www.tuscanweb.com

vinyl, check out that international women's hostel in Rome that willtravel gave you the link too (see above).

While I didn't stay there (we had one guy with us) I checked it out last year. It seems like a nice place -- cafe on site, accommodations ranging from dorm to single and w/ or w/o bath, lectures and yoga classes, etc.