Study Hard Travel Smart

Where to stay: ​Bratislava is a pretty inexpensive city, so your accommodation options are plentiful and cheap!  I stayed in an Airbnb that was absolutely lovely for location purposes, but there are some incredibly inexpensive hostel options that you might want to consider if budget is more of a concern.  Bratislava is a fairly small city, so no matter where you stay you should be in a fairly good location.  My Airbnb was right next to the old city center, which was really nice.  There…

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Where to stay: ​Because Stirling is a fairly small city, there are limited budget accommodation options.  There are a handful of low-cost Airbnb options, but because there are so few it will be best to book far in advance.  There are also some hostels in the city, many of which are in great locations.  I haven’t stayed there personally, but the Stirling Youth Hostel is in the middle of the city very close to the castle, so it’d be worth checking out! Where to eat: ​Stirling…

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Where to stay: Where you stay in Venice will largely depend on what’s important to you while you’re in Venice.  If you’re willing to save on cost by not staying in the center of Venice (which will require a boat shuttle ride to the city each day), then you might be better off in a hostel.  There are a lot of hostels listed on Hostelworld that are inexpensive, but are just outside of the city.  There is even a camping option…

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Where to stay: There is an absolutely fabulous hostel in Naples that I really think everyone should stay in.  I don’t often recommend one specific place for accommodation, but this one deserves it.  It’s called Giovanni’s Home, and it’s run by a wonderful Italian man named (you guessed it), Giovanni!  Giovanni drives a red vespa, plays the guitar and harmonica for his guests, and often cooks up a traditional pasta dinner for all of the guests one night during your stay.  The hostel…

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Where to stay: There are some really amazing Airbnb listings in Florence, so that will probably be your best option.  I stayed in a hostel called Hostel Greci, which was great because I was traveling with 6 other people, so we were able to all fit into one room.  This hostel doesn’t have much of a hostel atmosphere, though, and is just as expensive as an Airbnb rental.  There are other hostel listings on Hostelworld, although many are just as expensive as…

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Because of how easy it is to travel through the whole region, I’ve included all of my West Ireland tips into one guide! Where to stay: Where you stay in the West Coast of Ireland will definitely depend on whether or not you’re traveling by car.  Seeing the whole region will be much easier if you do have a car, but it’s also certainly doable if you don’t!  If you do have a car, I’d highly recommend staying in a smaller…

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Where to stay: I’ve stayed in both a hostel and Airbnb room in Dublin, and far preferred Airbnb for this one.  The hostel I stayed in was okay (Jacobs Inn), but certainly wasn’t anything to rave about.  The location was decent, around a 5 minute walk from O’Connell St., which was convenient.  There are a whole bunch of Airbnb listings in Dublin which are almost certain to provide a better experience.  My favorite Airbnb stays have been in Ireland because I’ve…

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Where to stay: ​This is the type of city where staying in a hostel is a really great option.  Munich is a very young city with students coming and going all the time, and hostels will give you the opportunity to meet a ton of people to go exploring with or to grab drinks with at night.  I stayed in Euro Youth Hostel when I was there, and thought that it was a really great hostel.  It was very clean and safe, and it’s…

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Where to stay: ​I was in Berlin for New Year’s Eve, so finding accommodations was a bit more challenging than it would usually be.  I ended up staying at the Jugendgästehaus Lichterfelde, which is a hostel (found on www.hostelworld.com) that’s just a bit outside of the city.  Even though it was New Year’s weekend, we each only paid just over 20 euros a night in a 4 person dorm room.  The hostel provided a great buffet breakfast, German style, which basically…

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