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The 10 best beachside hostels in Europe
They’re cool, they’re cheap and they’re just yards from the sand: Europes new breed of beach hangout knocks spots off pricey resort hotels. Stephen Bleach finds 10 of the best.
on the web: Times Online :: Travel
Call it serendipity. Just as hostels in Europe started to smarten up their act, offering designer double rooms along with the usual dorms, the you-know-what crunched and a whole new wave of travellers started looking for their chic on the cheap. Result: we’re all hostellers now.
Only there’s something we’ve overlooked. Hostels aren’t confined to cities: more and more are popping up by the seaside. Which, if you’ve looked at the price of hotels on the Med recently, is good news.
True, they’re not yet as sophisticated as their urban counterparts. You won’t find many with pools – but if you want to swim, that big watery thing with boats in it is a few steps away. The rooms don’t all come with flatscreen TVs, but if that’s an important consideration, you’ve missed the point.
What all our choices below have is private double rooms (dorms aren’t for everyone), great locations near the beach, a cool, laid-back atmosphere and outstandingly low rates. Which sounds to us like a recipe for an early-summer short break in the sun. Where did we put those shorts?
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Goofys Newquay
No reason to ignore Britain: Cornwall’s beaches are arguably the best in Europe. There are buckets of surfie hostels in Newquay, some pretty ghastly, some surprisingly smart, but Goofys stands out.
The position’s unbeatable, perched high over Fistral beach with terrific sea views; the rooms have fluffy duvets, ensuites and flatscreen TVs; and the help-yourself breakfasts are huge and varied, just what you need to set you up for a day in the zone. It’s not the cheapest, and there’s a two-night minimum stay, but for a long weekend riding the waves, it’s the bomb.
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