Traveling Through Europe and Booking Hostels in Advance

• 1). Examine a map of Europe and create a list of destinations you wish to visit. Arrange these destinations in an orderly and sequential manner, attempting to use rail lines as your guide whenever possible. This will make for a simpler journey from place to place and will eliminate backtracking.
  
  
• 2). Purchase a rail pass for the countries that you plan to visit along the way. The pass must be purchased and delivered prior to your departure. These discount passes allow for unlimited rail travel on a given number of days in the countries of your choice. There are further reductions for groups, youths and seniors. This is the preferred method of travel for backpackers as it is the most cost-efficient and convenient.
  
  
• 3). Visit one of the hostel-booking engines online that group together all the hostels in a given city or region, provides reviews of these hostels by past guests and lists amenities, rates and availability as well as photos of the accommodations. Select from the recommended options and find the price, place and features that suit your needs, but do not book on the site.
  
  
• 4). Visit the home website for each hostel that you have selected. Here you will be able to book using your credit card as guarantee but not paying in advance as you would have to through the hostel booking sites from Step 3. This can be a big issue when traveling as plans tend to change and dates along with them as you make your way from place to place. Check the cancellation policy for each hostel, and make sure to adhere to the restrictions.
  
  

Booking Hostels as You Go

• 1). Make your itinerary list and purchase your rail passes as you would when booking in advance.
  
  
• 2). Reserve your hostel accommodations in the gateway city you will be landing and spending your first nights to make sure you have somewhere to stay upon arrival. From here, make your way to your next destination without booking in advance.
  
  
• 3). Visit the information desk or the accommodations booking wall/booth upon arrival at your next destination rail station. Most major European rail stations have a service that will locate accommodations for you on the spot for a small fee, which is incorporated into the hotel rate. The benefit of traveling this way is total freedom in regard to where you go next, how long you stay and never having to worry about keeping up with your reservations.