Finding cheap accommodation is a key part of saving money when travelling solo. Accommodation is one of the most expensive aspects of solo travel, but you can save some money using these tips.
Latest update: 2 July 2019
Note: this blog post uses insights from my free ebook “The Insider’s Guide to Solo Travel on a Budget“.
Disclaimer: this post may contain affiliate links, meaning that, at no extra cost to you, I will make a small amount of money if you purchase something through one of these links. Thanks for supporting Ars Currendi!
This is my first blog post in a series of posts about cheap solo travel. The second post focuses on cheap transport and the third post focuses on cheap food and drink.
I decided to create this series to help you travel by yourself and have the time of your life for less money, using tips and insights I’ve gained on my solo trips and telling you things I wish I had known when I started travelling alone.
There are too many people that still don’t sleep anywhere else than in a hotel when they travel. I want to change that. It’s easy to find a place to sleep that is not only cheaper, but also charming and entertaining.
Nowadays, most hostels and other cheap solutions have the same features as hotels, if not even more. If you are able to save money on your accommodation, that means you can splurge on other parts of your trip. In other words, cheap accommodation will help you have the holiday of your life, without having you worried about spending too much. Isn’t that what we’re all looking for in the end?
Tourists and travellers often don’t want to spend the time trying to find a cheap place to sleep, and they end up paying too much for their accommodation. I can assure you that it’s worth it to take some time and research cheap accommodation options so that you find one you’re happy with.
There are many ways to save money on the road. One of those is to choose a cheaper alternative for the ever-popular hotel, which can run down your budget rather quickly. Here, I’ll list some options.
For budget solo travellers, hostels seem to be the most popular accommodation choice. There are a number of very good reasons why hostels are so popular.
First off, though, some explanation as to what a hostel actually is, in case you didn’t know. A hostel is a type of accommodation mainly aimed at young travellers (18-30 years old). The cheapest, most common option in a hostel is a bunk bed in a mixed dorm room. That means that you’ll be sharing your bedroom, bathroom and kitchen with strangers. It can seem daunting, but you get to spend time with some cool people and even make new friends!
Hostels have different sizes of dorm rooms (the bigger the room, the cheaper the bed). Most hostels even have private rooms if you’re not comfortable sharing a room with people you don’t know. These private rooms are usually more expensive than a bed in a dorm room, but still cheaper than hotels.
Nowadays, there are still many people who believe hostels are dirty, unreliable places and they don’t want to spend any time there. However, in reality, most hostels are as clean and trustworthy as any hotel (and they’re cheaper!)
My favourite website to book hostels is Hostelworld.
If you’re familiar with vacation rentals, you’ve probably heard of Airbnb. Just in case you haven’t: Airbnb is a website where people can rent their apartments, rooms or even separate beds for a short amount of time.
Tip: if you’re new to Airbnb, sign up through this link and you’ll receive €35/$43/£31 worth of travel credit!
Airbnb prices are usually something like a fancy hostel or a cheap hotel. That makes it a great option if you’re travelling with your SO, with friends or with family. However, you can still find great deals as a solo traveller. For example, I found a bed in a shared room in Malta for €20 a night. The people hosting this room were renting out separate beds in their own house, while they lived there as well. They managed to create an international hostel, right in their own house. Those people ended up being one of the best parts of my trip to Malta.
Couchsurfing is a “service that connects members to a global community of travelers”. At least, that’s what they define themselves as on their website.
In short, that means that you’re staying with somebody without paying rent. It’s free. The catch? You’re sleeping in somebody’s home, and you might not get along with them.
If you’re thinking “that’s a small catch for free accommodation!”, you’re absolutely right and I agree with you 100%. If you’re couchsurfing, you get to stay with somebody who knows the ins and outs of your destination. You can talk to them and you can become friends if you have a lot in common. They might even show you around and take you to the places only insiders know about.
Of course, there’s always the concern of safety in situations like these. However, the company takes many measures to ensure that their travellers (solo travellers in particular) are safe. Most CS hosts were first-time surfers at one point, and they started hosting to give back to the community (read: you). They’ll try their very hardest to make you feel safe and at home while you’re there.
The website also has safety precautions. For example, you can check if your potential host has a picture attached to their profile and if they have confirmed government documents. The reference system is probably the best guideline for a safe host: if they have positive reviews from other surfers, it’s almost sure that you’ll be safe and have a good time as well.
There’s only one thing better than cheap accommodation, and it’s free accommodation.
The next option for cheap accommodation (free, technically) is volunteering. This has become increasingly popular over the last years, especially with young solo travellers.
Note: this is not about volunteering for an organisation and paying for it. This is about spending time abroad and helping out a local community in exchange for (food and) a place to sleep.
Some great websites to find a volunteering job abroad are WorkAway, WWOOF, AuPairWorld and FindAuPair.
Websites like WorkAway and WWOOF introduce possibilities for travellers to work for a host and they reward you with free accommodation. These hosts include farms, schools, NGOs and other local projects. This means that you’ll really be submerged in a foreign culture, so it’s a great way to find out more about the rest of the world. There are often short-term positions available.
Working as an au pair means that you’re essentially a nanny. It’s usually much more of a commitment than the aforementioned possibilities. An au pair is usually a young person (between 18 and 30) who lives with a host family for a certain amount of time and cares for the children. The biggest difference is that you actually get paid as an au pair (minimum monthly wages range between $100 and $500) on top of getting free accommodation.
Okay, yes. An overnight bus, train, boat or flight might be a bit more expensive than its equivalent in the daytime. However, you’re essentially getting a place to sleep for free. And while it might not be the most comfortable, you’re getting cheap accommodation, aren’t you?
With an eye mask, earplugs and a neck pillow, your quality of sleep might not be so bad. More importantly, you’re saving quite some money on your accommodation budget. That’s money that you get to spend elsewhere!
House sitting is on the rise. And even if you’ve never actually done it, you probably know of someone who has. Think about it. If somebody leaves for two weeks to go on holiday and they don’t want to leave their house, pets and plants alone, they ask someone to look after that. If you’re lucky, you might get to do that in exchange for free accommodation!
The thing is, the market for house sitters is rather saturated and there’s a lot of competition. There are way more hosts than sitters. One way you can get ahead of others is to join a house-sitting Facebook group like House Sitting Cafe or House Sitting World.
There are also websites dedicated to helping hosts find someone to take care of their house while they’re gone, such as TrustedHousesitters, Nomador, House Sitting World and HouseSitMatch.
If you’re a seasoned solo traveller, you know the toughest part of finding cheap accommodation is avoiding the single supplement. In case you’re not so seasoned, here’s what that means.
Hotels, cruises and other similar organisations charge solo travellers with a solo supplement. That’s a premium that is charged to them because they’re taking up a room that could be used by two people. This supplement can take up between 10% and 100% of the original price.
There are some ways to avoid the single supplement, though. And I’m here to teach them to you.
The best way to guarantee that you won’t be charged with a single supplement is to, well, make sure that you’re not single anymore. You can find like-minded travellers all over the place. That’s especially true when you’re staying in hostels or taking a group tour.
Related: Making friends as a solo traveller
If you find somebody you really like, you can ask them to become your roommate. That way, you’ll both save money and you might even make a new friend.
Can’t find a buddy to bunk up with? No worries. There are still other ways to eliminate or reduce your single supplement.
For example, you can use your diplomatic skills, talk to the operator/vendor and try to convince them to waive the supplement. You can do this in real life, over email, through Twitter, by calling the operator, …
Chances of this working are admittedly slim, but that doesn’t mean you can’t try. After all, you’ve got nothing to lose.
In the shoulder season, low season or off-season, tours and rooms are less likely to be fully booked. That means that operators might be more desperate to fill up their empty spots, and be more likely to waive the supplement if you ask.
Travel agents know the ins and outs of the travel business. They know of even more ways to benefit solo travellers. One of those ways is getting cheaper rates by getting rid of the single supplement. Travel agents are paid to help their clients get the cheapest rates, and you should definitely use that expertise to your advantage.
Now, you should definitely be able to find cheap accommodation easily. After reading this blog post, you’ll never overpay for a hotel room again. In the next chapter of this miniseries, I’ll teach you how to find cheap transport (including cheap flights!). The third post will focus on cheap food and drinks.
Better yet, you can grab your free copy of my ebook on cheap solo travel and get even more tips to cut down your costs as a solo traveller.
Share this article if you learned something!
Thanks for reading!
-S
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By now, you’ve probably found out that I enjoy making travel videos. I feel like they best capture the way I experience my trips, and I love looking back at them. I actually prefer making travel videos over taking pictures, and here are six reasons why.
As you might have noticed, I love making videos. Even though I’m not great at it, it’s something I thoroughly enjoy. When I look at the videos I’ve made, I always see things that I could do better in future videos, but that doesn’t mean I’m not proud of my creations.
Anyway, I’ve been making videos for just over one year now, and I feel like I know enough about the difference between video-making and photography to tell you about why I prefer videos.
You can check out my travel videos here.
Okay, so a picture says a thousand words. Totally agree with that. Now, think about what a video is. Isn’t it basically thousands of pictures in rapid succession?
The main point I’m trying to make here is that, while it might be perfectly possible to convey a story in a photograph, it’s going to be a lot easier if you can use moving images.
Again, same thing. I completely agree that photos can be very effective at bringing emotions to mind. However, I’d much rather think happily about that time I slept in a cave in Malta after watching a three-minute video than after seeing a photo of it.
Actually seeing people, nature and other things move around in your (or other people’s) travel videos can be enough to provoke emotions that would be impossible to capture in a photograph.
Lights, camera, … Action. Especially for action/adventure scenarios, it’s much easier to make a travel video that captures the essence of what you were feeling at the time than take a fitting travel photo.
Quick situational sketch. You’re on top of a mountain, about to rush down a slope at 80 km/h. Aside from giving the person who watches your video a feeling of what it’s like to ski, they’ll feel the thrill you felt when you were there.
Besides, isn’t it easier to press one button on an action camera than it is to pull out a DSLR camera, take off your gloves, figure out the perfect setting, take the picture, and store away your camera again? Yeah, I thought so.
By their very nature, videos are more able to convey a sense of story-telling than their still counterparts. The sheer fact that videos can have sound and photos can’t gives video a huge advantage.
In a travel video, you can hear the wind blow through the trees. You can hear the water rush down the waterfall. You can hear the people crossing the busy street as car horns are honking. Try photographing all of that, and let me know how that goes.
It doesn’t take nearly as long to watch a three-minute travel video as it does to get through a photo album of your life-changing trip to Australia.
Also, from my own personal experience, I know that you won’t get bored of watching the videos you made yourself as quickly as you would from photographs. Just sayin’.
A travel video gives you a chance to look back on your crazy memories in a unique way. And it’s easy to share with your friends, since you won’t have to bore them with hundreds of photos of the same mountains.
Videos are fun. It’s as simple as that.
I find both creating a travel video out of the video clips that you gathered during your trip and watching the video you made afterwards to be ultimately enjoyable activities. I don’t mind spending hours working on a video to make sure it’s as good as I can make it.
However, it might not be for everyone. If you’re not the one who enjoys grinding to make sure something is perfect, you’re not going to like making videos.
Video-making is still a vastly underappreciated art form. I’m not pretending like you can still hop on the train and be one of the early genius artists, but it’ll definitely be easier to stand out and be recognised as a good videomaker than as a good photographer.
I’m also not going to deny that there are situations in which pictures are a better option than travel videos. Essentially, it all comes down to personal preference. I enjoy making videos more than I enjoy taking pictures, and I’m better at it. So I’ll keep making videos. At least for now.
My travel video gear:
What about you? Do you make travel videos? If not, would you consider doing it?
Right after I came back from my semester abroad, I went skiing with my family for a week, and I forgot how amazing it feels to be on the slope. I’m convinced everyone needs to try being on skis at least once in their lives, and this post exists to convince you of that.
Of course, if you have your mind set on staying at home and not going to the mountains, it’s unlikely that this post will change anything. However, I’m also convinced that you wouldn’t be reading a travel blog post about skiing if you weren’t at least a little interested. Right?
Anyway, here are seven reasons why I think you should go skiing, or even snowboarding, some day – and preferably sooner rather than later.
It might sound cliche, but when you’re going down a ski slope, you can’t help but be amazed by the breathtaking scenery all around you. Every day, you’ll discover something new, or something you haven’t seen before. And every day, you’ll be more than grateful that you decided to go skiing after all.
Chances are, you’ll be seeing something like this
Or this
Or this.
Tip: if you want a more lively view of what it’s like to go skiing and what you’ll be seeing, your best bet is to check out the travel video I made of our week in La Plagne.
It must be said that a week of skiing is going to be a lot colder than, say, a week in Morocco. However, spending time in the mountains is good for your health, for several reasons.
First of all, the fresh mountain air may help you fight obesity, asthma and heart disease.
Secondly, on a winter holiday like this, you’re probably going to be spending a lot of time on the slopes. Say you’re skiing between 9 am and 3 pm, with two hours of breaks. That still leaves four hours of intense physical activity. Yes, the food you’re going to be eating will probably make up for that, but a little bit of sport can only be good for you, right?
Lastly, skiing has been proven to be beneficial to both your physical and your mental health.
Most likely, you won’t go skiing by yourself – unless you’re already a very experienced skier, in which case you probably wouldn’t be reading this blog post.
A ski holiday is usually a perfect way to bond over shared experiences of the mountains with your friends, your family or your loved ones. You’ll laugh together, you’ll be in pain together, and you’ll enjoy your time together.
Skiing leads to happiness. It’s as simple as that.
You might not feel this way when you’re just learning the ropes, but I promise that you’ll love skiing once you understand how to do it.
There’s nothing quite like hearing snow crunch under your skis, making the first tracks in a slope of fresh snow or going down a mountain at 70 km/h.
It’s always a good thing to learn a new skill, right?
I know, I know. It might seem terrifying to realise that you’re going to cross down a mountain with two small, slippery sticks attached to your feet. You might even think you’re too old to learn something new. But are you ever really?
Skiing will teach you that it’s okay to make mistakes and fall down, as long as you get up again. As a matter of fact, you don’t even have any other options than to get up and try again. You’ll learn to stop looking back and have faith in the people behind you.
And, most important of all, you’ll learn what it feels like to conquer your fear.
I guarantee that, once you really get the hang of it and you’re able to go down any slope you desire, you will have fun. And I’m not talking about the happy feeling you get when that one class you didn’t want to go to is cancelled. I’m talking about a kind of fun that you have to experience in order to know what I’m talking about.
It’s a lot more difficult to describe this than I had anticipated. Honestly, I don’t feel like I’m doing it justice. I can’t really explain it as well as I would like to, but this is as close as I’m going to get.
I’ve already talked about speed a few times in this blog post, but it definitely deserves to be one of the reasons you should go skiing some day.
Logically, you probably won’t be going very fast the first time you go skiing. Or the second. Or maybe even the third. But I can promise you that once you do get there, it’ll be more than worth it.
In La Plagne, where we spent a week recently, my top speed was 90 km/h. On skis. While you’re going that fast, it’s easy to realise that making one wrong move could end up being the worst decision you’ve taken in a long time. But that’s what makes it so exciting. You’ll quickly feel the adrenaline rushing through your veins.
Well, yes. Of course it does. Sometimes, you’ll have to queue at a lift for a long time. You’ll probably spend more time on lifts than on the slope. It’s expensive. And when the weather is bad, there is nothing fun about skiing.
However, I strongly feel that none of these disadvantages compare to the liberating feeling of skiing. I stand by the belief that everyone should ski at least once in their lives.
As always, thanks for reading!
-S
If you ever get the opportunity to go study abroad, you should definitely do it. If you’re going to study abroad in Salamanca, I have some good news for you. It’s the perfect city for Erasmus students. Why, you ask me? Here’s why.
Latest update: 23 June 2019
Studying abroad a life-changing opportunity. You get a chance to learn a new language. You make dozens of new international friends.
There will be a lot of stories you can tell your grandchildren when you’re old and you’re chilling in your rocking chair.
You become more independent. You get a thorough insight into a foreign culture.
Going on Erasmus is an adventure if there ever was one.
Are those enough reasons?
If yes, good. Continue reading.
If no, you might as well close this page right now.
Salamanca is a true Erasmus city. Obviously, in order for a city to be qualified as an Erasmus city, it must be a university city first. Out of its 230,000 inhabitants, 30,000 are students, making them one of the primary sources of income for the city.
Out of these 30,000 students, you’ll find that around 9,000 students are on Erasmus in Salamanca.
That means that one in every four students is studying abroad there.
Let that sink in for a minute.
This, in turn, means that there are tons of things to do for these people. In other words: as an Erasmus student in Salamanca, you’ll never be bored.
There are two main Erasmus-oriented organisations in Salamanca: ESN and Nuve Erasmus. Both offer a great variety of things to do and trips.
On top of that, there’s this event called “Nochevieja universitaria”, which translates to “Academic New Year’s Eve”.
The concept of this event is that a lot – and I mean A LOT – of students, from all over Spain, gather in Salamanca to celebrate New Year’s, at the beginning of December.
If you have other friends who are studying elsewhere in Spain, this event is a fun way to see them again after a few months apart.
It’s surprisingly easy to be an Erasmus student in Spain. You’ll meet new people, make awesome friends and have the time of your life.
Like I said before, Salamanca has about 230,000 inhabitants. Now, for some people, that might be a lot, but compared to other major cities in Spain (or in Europe, for that matter), Salamanca is relatively small.
This can be both a positive and a negative aspect of life in Salamanca. On the one hand, you’ll get to come across people you know in the streets, you’ll basically know everyone and you’ll get more personal assistance in classes.
On the other hand, however, you might feel like you don’t have any privacy and you’ll want some time for yourself.
In the end, it all comes down to what kind of city you prefer.
In Spain, it’s a well-known fact that the inhabitants of Castilla y León are generally considered to speak the standard variety of Spanish. In other words, they don’t have a specific location-based accent.
Do you see where I’m going with this?
If you’re going on Erasmus, you’re probably looking to learn a new language (or at least enhance your knowledge of a language you already know).
In that case, I highly recommend going to a city located in Castilla y León. And, what do you know, that’s exactly where you can find Salamanca.
Another plus is that it’s relatively easy for a foreigner to understand what someone from Salamanca is saying, because they don’t really have any specific vocabulary or pronunciations.
As for me, improving my Spanish knowledge was more or less the only objective of my studying in Spain. And look how that turned out. 😉
Basically the entirety of Salamanca is made of the same kind of stone.
Most, if not all, of the buildings in the city centre consist of the same blond sandstone. There’s a reason why people call Salamanca the “Golden City” (La Dorada).
Despite – or maybe even because of – the recent oxidation and deterioration of the stone, Salamanca is still more than worth visiting. Or living in, for that matter.
In 1988, the Old City was proclaimed UNESCO World Heritage for “retaining its key attributes of authenticity in terms of form, design, materials, and substance”.
(Tip: Check out the Roman bridge at the south of the city, stretching over the river Tormes!)
Coming from a city where the authorities don’t really go out of their way to keep the city clean, it’s safe to say I was impressed at how clean Salamanca really is.
Every night, city workers set out with the mission to clean the streets – and they do a terrific job every single day.
It’s kind of funny to see these cleaning cars do their thing while you’re still going out at 3 am.
When I – and the other people who were on Erasmus in Salamanca – got my orientation at the beginning of the semester, we were told over and over again that Salamanca was a clean city.
I thought they were exaggerating, but as it turns out, they were more than justified to do so.
In those same orientation sessions, the chief of the police corps was also there to tell us all about how Salamanca worked.
In his five-minute speech, he must have said “Salamanca is a very safe city” at least ten times. It was a bit much, but he did get his message across.
During my four-month stay, I didn’t find out about any big crime once. That might be a coincidence, but I do believe Salamanca is generally a very safe and secure city.
My female friends told me they didn’t feel nearly as oppressed and viewed when they were walking home alone at night as they did at home.
If you’re a healthy mom looking into Erasmus destinations for your dear child, you might want to look away now. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
Everyone who has spent some time in Salamanca knows about Varillas. It’s a restaurant that is pretty much only opened at night, where you can get French fries, kebab and hamburgers.
Located in Calle Varillas, right in the centre of the Salamanca nightlife, its main clientele is made up of drunk students who want to eat something greasy before they head home and wake up with a hangover.
I must admit, every single time I found myself in this restaurant, I was in that situation exactly. And I have no shame or regrets. Getting number 24 (fries, meat and sauce) here was often the best part of a night out.
Sitting at a table, engaged in drunk conversations with my friends while munching on some greasy food? Those are the things I’ll remember.
Looking into a place to study abroad in Spain, where people know each other, you can have a LOT of fun and your Spanish will increase drastically?
Go to Salamanca.
If I haven’t managed to convince you in this blog post, I’m afraid nothing will.
If you do go on Erasmus to Salamanca, feel free to send me a message or leave a comment for specific tips and tricks.
And as always, thanks for reading!
-S
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Amsterdam is a city you can always come back to. Whether you’re 16 years old and looking for a place to visit with friends, you want to go on a city trip with your girlfriend of you want to show some of the world to your kids, Amsterdam is the place to be.
Quick tip: for a more concise, easier overview of how we spent our three days in Amsterdam, be sure to check out my new video. (Watch in 1080p!)
Honestly, Amsterdam is probably one of the easiest cities in western Europe to get to from just about anywhere. Schiphol Airport is one of the biggest airports in Europe, the Netherlands have a very efficient public transport system and there are lots of buses and trains that will take you to Amsterdam from nearby big cities.
And that’s what we did. Using FlixBus, we took a bus from Antwerp to Amsterdam. This meant that we had to take a train in order to get to Antwerp. All in all, this one way trip cost us about €20 each. Not too shabby.
Read more: Best Restaurants in Antwerp: The Ultimate Foodie Guide
Of course, considering the fact that I booked the tickets, something had to go wrong. On this trip, the biggest facepalm moment was the moment I realized that I had booked the bus back for the wrong day. But more on that later.
This, however, was not the only mistake I made. You see, in order to get to Antwerp, we had to take two trains. I had a ticket to get from our hometown to Ghent – where we were to transfer trains – but I forgot to buy a ticket to get from Ghent to Antwerp. Luckily, my friend was able to help me out because she had a spot left on her card. God bless her.
After strolling around the streets of Amsterdam, getting lost just a little bit and dropping our bags at our hostel, we met up with my sister.
You see, while I was studying abroad in Spain, she was doing her Erasmus semester in Amsterdam. Visiting her was one of the main reasons I decided to go to Amsterdam.
She showed us around a little bit, sharing her favourite hipster hotspots with us. One of those places was Pluk, a cute little restaurant located in what Dutch people call “De 9 Straatjes“. This neighbourhood is known for its picturesque scenery and adorable little shops and restaurants.
After this, we said goodbye to my sister – until the next day – and we went back to our hostel to check in. Fun little fact about StayOkay: I’ve already stayed in this exact hostel three times, and I love it there. I’ll probably even stay here again the next time I’m in Amsterdam. And no, they’re not paying me to say this.
When we got to our room, we found out that there was nobody else there. We had a six-person dorm room to ourselves. And if you’ve ever slept in a hostel dorm room, you know how amazing that is. If you haven’t, you’ll just have to take my word for it.
We hung out in our room for a little bit, unpacked our bags, freshened up and started getting ready for the other reason why we came to Amsterdam.
Yep. We went to a concert in Amsterdam. And it was awesome.
A little bit of background information might be useful here. A couple of months ago, I messaged my friend, asking if she wanted to come to a Quinn XCII concert with me. The thing is, she didn’t know about this guy until I messaged her about this concert.
She looked his music up, and (needless to say, but I’m going to say it anyway) she fell in love. This should come as no surprise, because I honestly feel like my taste in music is pretty good and I knew it would be something she would like.
So, that’s the story of how I convinced one of my best high school friends to come to Amsterdam with me.
I don’t have any footage or (decent) pictures of the show, but I can tell you this. It felt amazing to see an artist singing his songs and pursuing his dreams after following and supporting him for years. I’m very happy that he’s finally getting the recognition he deserves.
It was also my first show in a small venue, which gives it a very different atmosphere than it would be in a big stadium or venue. Everyone there feels like family, because you’re all there to support the same person and you have similar interests.
After the show, my friend and I got a quick snack from the wall, and we headed back to our hostel for a good night’s sleep.
On day two of our three-day adventure, we set out to Coffee & Coconuts (another one of my sister’s recommendations!) for breakfast.
My breakfast burrito in Coffee & Coconuts (Amsterdam)
When we were good and energized, we continued our journey. Pretty much the only thing we had planned for this day was to visit the Albert Cuyp Market, which is said to be the largest daytime market in all of Europe.
Can I put “photographer” in my Instagram bio yet?
After getting through this street market, we didn’t really know what to do. That’s why we asked one of the vendors where to go, and he told us to visit Waterlooplein, where we would find another flea market. He gave us directions on how to get there and we went on our way.
While walking to this square, we encountered an abnormal number of pigeons. Just thought I’d throw that out there. We also went into a small vinyl and record store, where we stayed and looked at the impressive collection of vinyls in the basement for about 10 minutes.
The flea/street market on Waterlooplein was nothing too impressive, so we continued our journey.
The Amsterdam Food Halls was something we both really wanted to visit. After all, we had both been in Amsterdam before and visited the main tourist attractions. We even did this on the same school trip.
Anyway, the Food Halls can be described as “indoor food markets”. It’s a place where hipsters can get their fix of new, exciting and exotic foods from food stands and trucks.
After leaving the food market, we met up with my sister again for dinner. This time, she took us to Cannibale Royale, a restaurant – or “brasserie extraordinaire”, as they describe themselves – known for its wide assortment of meats and burgers.
We all opted for the ribs, which my sister recommended. And God, am I glad she did. They were the best ribs I had ever eaten. I mean, they quite literally fell off the bone when you picked them up. I don’t think it gets much better than that.
When our bellies were full and our moods were lifted, my friend and I went back to the hostel and my sister went back to her apartment. This was when we found out that we would have roomies that night.
Between leaving the food market and going to dinner, we went to a grocery store and we bought a bottle of wine and some snacks to eat at the hostel after dinner. When we went to drop these off at our room, we noticed a suitcase standing near one of the other beds in our room, so we knew that someone was going to be sleeping with us that night.
When we came into the room after dinner, three other people were there. One older Japanese man, a Taiwanese girl who studies architecture in Prague and an Australian guy who was traveling Europe. They were all very friendly and easy-going, and luckily, none of them cared that we were eating and drinking in the room (which we weren’t actually allowed to do).
Our last day in Amsterdam, we were supposed to catch a bus back at 5 pm, so we couldn’t do a whole lot. What we were able to do, however, was visit Noord. That’s North in Dutch. It’s the neighbourhood where there’s a lot of graffiti, street art and hipsters. And not a whole lot else.
First, we went to a small islet with the EYE – a museum about cinema and film history – and the Lookout tower – a tower with a 360° view of Amsterdam and the highest swing in Europe.
In order to get to the top of the building, we took an elevator, with a built-in light show. It was actually more interesting than I thought it would be. (You can see this experience in the video)
Of course, we went on the swing.
After taking some more pictures up top, we went back down with the same elevator and we were treated to a slightly different version of the light spectacle.
We made our way to an industrial-looking lunch restaurant and had some food. Of course, this restaurant was another one of my sister’s recommendations.
After lunch, we went back to the main part of Amsterdam. My sister went back to her apartment and my friend and I went back to the hostel to pack our bags and chill in the lobby until we had to go.
This is where I tell you the story about how I booked the bus back for the wrong day. You see, I had booked the return ticket for both me and my friend. However, when we were on our way to Antwerp to take our bus to Amsterdam, I realized that I had booked the bus back for 24 January instead of 23.
That’s a bit annoying, isn’t it? My friend made fun of me for about ten minutes (and rightly so, I probably would have done the same). Soon after, I told her I’d fix my mistake that night in the hostel.
Fast-forward a few hours, and we’re chilling in the hostel room that night. I go on the FlixBus website, and try to find a way to undo my mistake. Luckily, I found it. There was an option to re-book the bus for a fee of €6. All in all, a pretty small sum for a pretty big mistake.
We were eventually able to make our way back home safely. I had a lot of fun and chances are I’m going to go back to Amsterdam some day (even though I’ve already been there four times now).
I hope you had some fun reading this blog post. And as always, thanks for reading!
-S
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