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Hostels
or cheap hotels?
Generally
speaking, though there are exceptions, hostels are geared towards the
under-30s, or the backpacking generation. They provide rooms and
dormitory accommodation. Some of them are pretty smart places, others
less so. They cater for the needs of young travellers, often providing
services including a kitchen, maybe a bar, and sometimes a buffet
restaurant.
Cheap hotels are what they say; hotels that are
cheap. They cater for all ages, and may be clean modern no-frills
establishments, such as those in the
Première Classe
chain , or may be rather basic and
sometimes shabby small hotels with few facilities. Always check out
visitor review scores for cheap hotels before booking online. If it's
really a hotel you're after, and you're going to Paris, check out our
choice of
cheap hotels
in Paris .
France has a reputation as a chic but not entirely
cheap destination, a great holiday destination if you have the money to
enjoy its delights. But France is also ideal for
budget travelers.
Many of
the top
sights in cities such as Paris are free (see
Paris for free), cheap
but top quality food is
easily available in a bistro or from local markets, and
budget accommodation
can be found in all regions of France, from quaint guesthouses in the
countryside to city center hostels.
Not just for students and backpackers, the humble
hostel has had a
slick makeover in France, with many properties offering private and
ensuite rooms, and top class facilities as well as regular dormitories.
If you search for a room for two people,
hostel prices
may seem no
cheaper than cheap hotels; but check out prices for a solo traveller,
or for a group of five, and you'll see dormitory rates, which can be
less than 40
€ per person per night in Paris (2025 prices).
Paris hostel
guide
►Click
here ◄
to discover all the hostels bookable through
Hostelworld.com
.
You'll find some fifty Paris hostels in all, offering dorm or private room accommodation, some with prices starting
below 40€ per
person per night.
Alternatively, hotels can be booked through
Booking.com

One popular cheap Paris hostel is the
Regent
Montmartre hostel, a backpacker
hostel that can cater for all ages. It is
located in the heart of the Montmartre district, with easy access to
the metro and the Sacré Coeur.
Close by is another well recommended
hostel, with some very cheap accommodation, the
Village
Boutique Hostel,
which is located between Pigalle and Montmartre, so fairly central.
It's just 200 metres from Anvers metro station, and 200 metres from the
Montmartre funicular and gardens, from the top of which you get
fabulous views out over Paris, specially in the evening.
Run by the official French Youth Hostel Association (FUAJ), the
Hi Paris Yves Robert youth hostel
is within walking distance of Gare du Nord and Gare de l'Est and 400
metres from La Chapelle metro station. Twin riooms, quad rooms and
dormitories
Another hostel that gets good write-ups is
St
Christopher’s,
near the Gare du Nord. St
Christophers has a nightclub and bar serving
cheap
drinks, a lounge area and restaurant on site, and with a tours and
travel desk, and helpful staff giving out travel tips, it’s
the perfect
introduction to Paris. However compared some other hostels, it's more
pricey though likely to be a better bet than cheap hotels at the same
price (there are a few). The large private and shared rooms have cool
décor and lockers in the rooms, and best of all,
there’s a free
breakfast to fuel up for a day of sightseeing.
A hostel that gets lots of good crits is
the
Loft,
in the 20th arrondissement. It's not quite central, but 500 metres from
the metro, clean and comfortable, and offers cheap dorm accommodation
or rooms, and free breakfasts.
It’s the facilities that make these hostels popular with
backpackers and
budget travelers alike.
You may also like to check out our selection of
cheap Paris hotels
other than hostels. The choice includes a number of small hotels plus
some large budget hotels.
Nice
hostels
Nice is the
capital of the French riviera, and has a number of hostels among its
hundreds of hotels.
The
Villa
St. Exupery beach hostel has all the facilities of a hotel, a
lively social
calendar and a whole host of extras geared towards budget travelers.
There’s a free breakfast, internet, air-conditioned rooms, a
cheap bar
serving drinks for €1 and a restaurant serving home-cooked
pizzas.
Most hostels in Nice
are right in the city center, but the
Meyerbeer
Beach
offers the best of both worlds , being located 50 metres from the sea
front and also 2 minutes on foot from the centre of the old city. It
offers a range of rooms, from single rooms to dorms for ten people.
Don't expect to find Formule 1 level prices; this is the centre of
Nice, where prices are high, but the Meyerbeer is cheap by Nice
standards
If you want somewhere cheap and close to the sea.... but
nearer
the airport than the centre, check out the one-star
Première
classe hotel, which in 2018 has triple rooms for under 50
€ (though don't expect this in summer!) . It also has parking
(paid).
Beds from 12
€ a night ? Check out more hostels and cheap hotels in
Nice by clicking
►
here
Lyon hostels
Lyon ,
France's second city, is a UNESCO world heritage site, and there are
several hostels in or close to the city centre..
One that gets good reviews is
Le
Flaneur, located in the 7th district of Lyon, not far from
the centre. Nearby, and offering good rates, is the
SLO
Living hostel in the 3rd district.
Close to the historic old Lyon, and located beside the River
Saône, is the
Alter
Hostel, which gets very good guest reviews.
This scenic city
also offers a wide choice of
budget
hotels. One convenient modern budget hotel is the
Première
Classe, right near La Part Dieu station, where the
TGVs and airport rail link come in. This is a large modern hotel with
air conditioning and a car park.
Alternatively the Hotel de La Marne is in
the heart of downtown Lyon, and offers refurbished rooms which are
thoroughly modern, with slick décor and flat screen
TVs. With several restaurants and shops around the corner,
the main sites of
the city are all within walking distance. The private ensuite rooms
make the hotel a stylish but reasonable place to stay, and the friendly
staff will make you feel right at home.
Other
cities - hostels and budget hotels
There are hostels in other towns and
cities too, though not so many, apart from traditional youth hostels
(see French
Youth
Hostel federation) with
some 120 establishments in cities and much
smaller places.
In
smaller locations, the best budget accommodation solution
come in
the form of low-cost budget hotels, rather than hostels, though these
hotels are usually sited somewhere on the outskirts, rather than in
city centres. For instance, check out the
Première Classe chain
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