Not everyone knows, but very useful travel sites. Most of the travel sites and apps on this list have been personally tested by us, something else is waiting in line, but it doesn't get any less cool.

List: Travel Sites: Travel Preparation

Travel Sites: Buying Bus Tickets in Europe

Ecolines. International bus lines, which carry out communications between the 21st country and 205th cities of Europe. It is the largest and oldest carrier in Eastern Europe. For independent European trips, Ecolines is ideal, because. the flights are very inexpensive and the buses are comfortable. In addition, Ecolines has storage system bonuses, and active travel you can get free rides. It's more than real! Personally, for three trips I have accumulated bonuses for one practically free move.

Luxexpress. Another European carrier that strikes the imagination with constant promotions and discounts on tickets. For example, from St. Petersburg to Helsinki and Tallinn, you can very often leave for 400-500 rubles. The number of routes for Lukekspress is much less than for Ecolines - only 10 countries, but the prices are sometimes just symbolic, and the buses are more like business class aircraft.

Websites to buy train tickets online

Once upon a time, it became a discovery for me, and then a constant practice of buying railway tickets online. As it turned out, this can be easily done on the Russian Railways website. Yes, the interface is not the most convenient in the world, but it is a million times more pleasant than standing in endless lines at the box office. E-ticket printed out and presented upon boarding the carriage. It's simple, fast, and in addition, it allows you to choose flights and seats in the car. By the way, today Russian Railways carries out 100 international routes in 30 countries in Europe and Asia.

Tutu.ru. Search engine for air and railway tickets in Russia. It is convenient, first of all, with a complete and up-to-date schedule of commuter trains.

raileurope. A service that combines maps, timetables and fares from over 50 different rail companies across Europe. The site makes it easy to book train tickets, as well as hotels and travel programs. For fun, the site has an encyclopedia of European trains, explaining how they differ from each other and how interesting it is to spend time on the road. Discounts are provided for those traveling in a large company - both on trains and in cities.

Websites for booking cruises and sea travel

Mcruises. A site where you can choose and book a sea or river cruise around the world. The service unites all major world and Russian cruise companies informs about special offers and discounts.

Rent a car for travel

Site-leader of Runet for car rental abroad. Reservations are available from over 800 car rental companies in 150 countries. 20 thousand car rental points, Russian-speaking support service, low prices and high quality services has made this service an absolute market leader.

Transfer and so on for travel

Kiwitaxi. If you do not want to rent a car, but also public transport if you are not satisfied, you can pre-order a suitable transfer from point A to point B. How does it work? You find desired route in cities and resorts around the world, book a transfer online, the driver meets you with a name on a sign and takes you to the place. The service operates in 65 countries around the world.

Uber. A service that is gaining international popularity for ordering a driver and searching for passengers. Convenient mobile app allows you to search, call and pay for taxis or private drivers. The application is available for dozens of cities around the world, including Russia. Using the Uber application, the customer reserves a car with a driver and tracks its movement to the specified point, payment is made using bank card details.

Sites for finding fellow travelers

Blablacar. Another world leader. A service that connects drivers and fellow travelers around the world. Just enter the city of departure, arrival and date to see a list of drivers who offer trips on your route and choose your own. Before contacting, you can see the profile of the driver with a photo, brief information about yourself and reviews. The service itself is free, but drivers usually charge money for gasoline. This is not a hitchhiking!

Poiskpoputchikov.ru. The site was created in order to provide an opportunity to find a fellow traveler on vacation or on any other trip, from a trip to a neighboring city to world tour to hitchhike.

Travel sites where you can book Accommodation, Hotels, Hostels

A well-known site that presents ads from individuals - owners of apartments and houses. Today it is so popular that I will not even recommend any analogue, because. I think that all landlords already have pages on, even if they used to prefer some other resource. I wrote two articles about this site. This is a really cool resource that allows you to find great apartments abroad.

Booking.com. The world's largest site for finding and booking hotels and hostels. A huge database of options, honest reviews, good prices, excellent support - this is why so many people choose booking. This site is good if you are planning a trip to Europe, North and Latin America, Australia.

If you want to find a good option placement on the territory of the former USSR, here the Ostrovok.ru search engine is out of competition.

For Asia, the best place to look for hotels is on Agoda.com.

An excellent database of hostels can be found at Hostelworld.com.

home exchange. House exchange. The database on the site contains more than 65 thousand real houses in 150 countries of the world. If you have your own accommodation, you can exchange your homes with property owners from another country for the duration of your vacation. The service has existed since 1992, when it all started with a book guide for those who wanted to exchange houses.

Well, and, of course, adored by all travelers (and us too) Couchsurfing.com. A site where you can find free housing and a great company in an unfamiliar city.

Websites for buying air tickets online

ayak One of the most reliable services for finding travel offers, buying air tickets, booking hotels and renting cars. The site works with hundreds of sites of travel companies and airlines around the world and selects the most profitable deals for customers. At the same time, Kayak redirects directly to the booking pages of service providers

Onetwotrip. About the same as Kayak. True, there are only flights and hotels. Has a cool bonus program. For me, the site is not much different from other ticket search engines, but the number of acquaintances who are ardent adherents of this site is so large that it was provided with a place on this list.

Momondo. An international travel site that allows you to quickly and easily organize your trip on your own. On it you can find a whole set of free tools for competently searching for cheap flights, hotels and accommodation for rent, as well as car rentals.

Anywayanyday. Russian analogue of the above sites. Winner of many travel awards in the field of online services. Worthy of attention.

Sites for buying tours online

Level Travel. If you need organized tour, a solo travel tired of the end, then The best way find a great tour - this is Level Travel's tour search engine. The service searches for all leading tour operators and allows you to book tours directly with them, without the participation of travel agencies. Those. you will not see any extra charges, and the tour will cost as much as the operator. Too cool to be true, but it's not a dream))

Online hypermarket tours. The best prices from 120 reliable tour operators.

Travel Sites List: City Maps

maps.me. Free app for phones on any platform. We use only these cards, and they are simply beautiful! After installing the application, you need to download a map of the country you need, and then the map with all the symbols, sights, hotels, hostels, restaurants will work offline! If your phone supports GPS, then when combined with maps.me, you can forget about awkward conversations in crooked French/Chinese/Portuguese trying to figure out exactly where to get off the bus and how to find the museum.

Travel translators

Google Translator as an application for Android or iPhone will help you find a common language with foreigners without any problems. More than 90 languages ​​are supported offline, although you need to download the necessary language packs in advance. This translator saved us more than once, but, of course, the translation of phrases is far from always perfect.

Travel Sites: Leisure & Entertainment

geocaching. is a world travel game, the essence of which is to hide and search for treasures. Geocaching has been around for 15 years and connects more than 6 million people from all over the world. the globe. Today, 2.5 million caches are hidden in 200 countries of the world, and every day their number is growing. It's a great way to have fun, find unusual places new city, and meet curious people.

Izi travel. A service that contains a large and high-quality, and most importantly free collection of audio guides to cities and museums. Before the trip, you can install the izi.travel application on your smartphone and enjoy excursions from professional guides, as well as amateurs. Some content on the site is paid.

A site designed for booking Russian-language excursions around the world. Today it offers 4088 excursions in 566 cities of the world.

tripster. "Your people around the world." The service carries out two big projects: unique excursions from local residents and the international community of travelers, which is presented in the form of a giant forum with questions and answers about any city on the planet. If you have absolutely no idea what to do in the city, ask a question on this forum and get recommendations from locals.

stay.com. Site that forms for you individual guide according to the most interesting places selected city. You choose interesting sights, and the service creates a detailed guide with maps and descriptions, which you can print or download to your mobile device and use offline. And all this for free!

Websites for free travel

workaway. Leading site in the search for volunteer work abroad. Volunteering means an extremely wide range of tasks: from teaching English (for example) to building a farm, from working in a hostel to caring for the elderly. As a “salary” for their work, volunteers receive housing, food, interesting communication, immersion in the culture of the country, and often other bonuses (discounts on excursions, participation in master classes, etc.). Transport must be paid for by yourself.

European Voluntary Service. European Volunteer Service. Within the framework of EVS, there are dozens of programs lasting from 2 to 12 months. All of them are funded by the European Commission, and the programs can be both inside and outside the European Union. These projects, as a rule, have a social focus and are designed for young people aged 18 to 30 years. The candidate is required to possess certain skills, the level of a foreign language, and sometimes, the presence of special education. The European Commission, in turn, covers the cost of accommodation, meals, transport, insurance, daily expenses, a training cycle, including language courses and 90% of the cost of the flight.

Study tours to Poland. STP are study visits to Poland for students, young professionals and professionals from Eastern European countries (North-West region of Russia, Belarus, Ukraine and Moldova). The program is divided into two large blocks - for students (from 18 to 21 years old) and for working people (without age restrictions). The trip is completely free: participants pay for travel, accommodation, meals, all activities during the visit, as well as visa processing.

Travel Sites: Other

Wikibook on hitchhiking. If you are planning a hitchhiking trip for the first time, this tutorial has absolutely everything.

Wikitravel. A project whose goal is to create a free, free, up-to-date and reliable world guide. Currently, there are 1657 guidebooks in Russian and other articles written and edited by wiki travelers from all over the world.

And a bonus, final link - Travelzakladka. A site that contains a lot (more than three hundred!) of various travel resources: top LiveJournal, websites, VKontakte communities, independent blogs, magazines, TV channels, TV programs, hotel search engines, maps, forums, railway tickets, language tourism, exotic tourism, extreme tourism, visas, guides, tour operators, cruises, diving, car rental, air tickets, insurance, youtube travel channels, travel blogs on Instagram.

Hospitality network - a community of people who offer to stay at home to other members of this community. As a rule, we are talking about a stop for a few days. Arrange for arrival most often through specialized sites. In addition to universal networks, there are networks aimed at specific groups of people: cyclists, Esperanto, etc.

How it works

To use the services of the network, you must register (usually on the site) and, if possible, complete and interestingly fill out a questionnaire that other participants can see. After that, it becomes available to search for people with whom you can stay (a place where you can stay is called a "list"), a forum, etc.

To agree on a “list-in”, you need to write a letter to a person with whom you can stay. The letter informs the date of arrival/departure, purpose of travel, plans, hobbies and everything else that may be of interest to the interlocutor. Often, when searching for a “list-in”, letters are sent to several participants at once, since the response letter may be refused (the owner may be busy these days, be in another city, he may already agree with other travelers that they will come to him in specified days, and simply may want to relax without guests). Also, through letters, they exchange phone numbers and / or arrange a meeting. It is better to agree on a "list-in" in advance, although some participants are ready to receive a guest and literally a couple of hours after they have agreed on the site.

As a rule, on such sites there is an opportunity to write a review about another participant. The review briefly describes how and where the participant met, what he was interested in, whether there were any negative moments, general impression from communication.

Members of such a community should treat each other with respect, reckon with each other's habits and traditions, because representatives of different cultures often meet in this way.

No money is taken for accommodation, but, by agreement with the owner, the guest may be required to buy food for himself, wash the dishes, etc.

Through such networks, you can not only find where to stay, but also negotiate with local residents about a meeting. Thus, even those who cannot receive guests can also participate in the exchange of hospitality: they can meet travelers, tell them about the city, show them interesting places.

Many members of such networks hitchhike.

Story

For the first time, the idea of ​​exchanging hospitality was realized in the international non-profit service Servas Open Doors, which opened in 1949, the mission of which was formulated as "world peace". The very next year, the Intervac service appeared, the priority of which was cheap travel. With the spread of the Internet, the number and variety of such networks has increased dramatically.

Advantages

Compared to hotel accommodation, hospitality exchange has a number of advantages:
* Opportunity to meet interesting people, like-minded people.
* The opportunity to get acquainted with the life of local residents "from the inside."
* Allows you to save on housing.
* Most of these networks are international, traveling through them gives good practice in learning foreign languages.
* Local members of such a network can help the visitor find his way around the city, meet/see him off, and help in case of unforeseen circumstances.

Safety

Since the use of such networks implies a very rapid transition from communication on the Internet to close communication in real life, security is a big focus. The main security tools are:

* Availability of reviews from other users. Before you meet a stranger, you can read what other members of the community think about him.
* Recording of negotiations through the site administration site.
* Indication of the participants of their passport data.

Existing hospitality networks

There are many hospitality networks. Now most of them have their own websites on the Internet. Networks differ from each other in the number of members, orientation, site design. Many people are members of several hospitality networks at the same time. Depending on the country, one or another network may be more popular.

CouchSurfing is the most developed service for finding kind people who are ready to let guests in absolutely disinterestedly and for free. The database contains more than 2,000,000 people from more than 240 countries. The project is proud of its base, in which there are only the most cultured and respectable people. Free service.

HospitalityClub is exactly the same service as CouchSurfing, but has a smaller base of countries and users. The database contains more than 325,000 people from more than 205 countries. It is also possible to just find people who will show you around the city, recommend good cafes, clubs and, in fact, just chat with the locals. The service is free.

WWOOF connects travelers with farmers and peasants from around the world who need additional labor on the farm and in return provide tourists with housing and food.

Caretaker - search for people who need caretakers for the house during the absence of the owners without payment rent, although, in fact, the service also presents options for exchanging houses, and for work in exchange for housing and other options. The use of the service is paid - $30 per year.

Organicvolunteers are the same as WWOOF and Housecarers, but with a much wider choice of housing types, from simple houses and apartments to informal student dorm rooms and religious sect dwellings in exchange for "understanding" their religion. The cost is $20 per year.

Globalfreeloaders is an ordinary house exchange service. The main condition: after registration within six months to host guests at home. Free use of the system.

Servas is the same house exchange service, but recognized by the UN as the most charitable. The reason for this, apparently, was the obligatory interview with the provider of his house to check the integrity.

Be Welcome is a cross-cultural exchange network that helps you share your home, meet and help other people on the road.

flatjump.com is a free global travel community.

WarmShowers is a network focused on travel cyclists.

HelpX.net - hundreds and thousands of people around the world offer a table and shelter to those who wish in exchange for help in their work. HelpX is an online directory of small private farms, ranches, hostels, restaurants, wineries and even yachts that invite volunteers to visit for periods ranging from a few days to several months. The portal is focused on mutually beneficial cultural exchange combined with active holidays. Work for every taste, but no more than 30 hours a week (4-6 hours a day), for which you get free food, free housing and often free wi-fi.

Of course, it makes no sense to try to spend the night in the lobby of five-star hotels. VIP guests will obviously not appreciate unfortunate tourists sleeping on sofas. But employees of hostels or hotels from the budget price segment can meet halfway. There is real example- Alexandra spent the night in Amsterdam last year.

My friend and I arrived in Amsterdam in the early October morning. We had a hotel booked, but we decided to go for a walk around the city right from the plane. The backpacks on my back were light, the weather was sunny, I did not want to waste a minute. Closer to the night, tired and hungry, we went, as we thought, to our hotel. The cheerful Italian at the reception desk was taken aback: the site probably failed, and we booked a non-existent room.

It was already dark outside, almost midnight, we did not know where to go. The Italian decided to help us and found a hotel with the lowest cost per night - 170 euros. The administrator called a taxi at his own expense and put us in the car. But while we were driving, we bought the last number there.

For some reason, we decided to return to the Italian again. There we were able to contact the owners of the Airbnb apartment - a young married couple who agreed to pick us up at the hotel and take us to their apartment. But two Turks of a very strange appearance came for us. My friend and I just looked at each other and immediately asked to stop the car to get out. The young people did not respond to our request, and only when the car stopped at a traffic light did we practically jump out.

And so at three o'clock in the morning we run through Amsterdam, so beautiful and so terrible at this time. In about an hour we got to our own hotel with an Italian, ran in and, with tears in our eyes, asked them not to kick us out. The kind administrator poured tea for us and allowed us to spend the night in the hotel lobby on the sofa. We slept there until the morning, and no one bothered us. And in the morning the administrator prepared breakfast for us, and at dawn we moved on.

Beach

If you are in a resort, then there is nothing easier than to lie down on the beach. True, in the morning you will surely be awakened by a cold breeze.

Julia in August 2014, together with her friend, went to the Spanish park PortAventura, which is an hour and a half drive from Barcelona.

Initially, everything went wrong: we missed the train and arrived not at the very opening of the park, but in the afternoon. We spent the whole day in Port Aventura and, not feeling tired and timeless, left the park after midnight. Already at the station it turned out that the trains run until 20:30, and the next one only at seven in the morning.

There was no one on the street, there was practically no money left either. Terribly tired, we decided to sleep in the city on benches. But from time to time the Catalans approached us and tried to speak. Then we went to the beach. By the way, the Spanish nights in August are not so warm, the wind from the sea blows icy. But even this did not prevent us from lying on the sand and, covered with a towel, falling asleep. In the morning we boarded the first train.

Night city buses

Remember that in almost every European city Buses run throughout the night on special routes. They usually cost more, but the controllers sleep at this time of day, at least that's what the tourists who have tested this place for the night say.

Alexandra and her friend came to Rome from another Italian city- Pescara. It was a spontaneous trip, so the girls did not even think that they would have to spend the night somewhere.

We could not spend the night in a cafe, for this we had to order at least tea, and when there is not a cent in our pocket, this is an unprecedented luxury. In such cases, there remains an excellent a budget option- night buses. There are few people in them, controllers appear infrequently, which, in principle, allows you to ride for free. The light is subdued, and measured shaking only contributes to falling asleep. True, if you come across a short route, you will have to get up and get off the bus at the final station every forty minutes. And if you come across a Russian emigrant who is insanely happy to meet his compatriots, you will have to talk to him.

During our journey, we just ran into a Russian speaker. And while my girlfriend slept safely "from end to end", I had to listen to his story of moving to Italy, about visa difficulties and that "not a foot home". He was a pretty Ukrainian peasant about 40 years old who moved to Naples ten years ago and stayed there.

Despite his chatter, we still managed to sleep, and we perceived his speech as background chirping.

Railway station

Bus stations and railway stations - beautiful places for sleep. AT major cities, most likely, there will even be free Wi-Fi. But with a free toilet can be a problem.

Traveler Natalia talks about her night at the train station in Berlin.

On the days of my arrival in Berlin in 2012, there was some intercity conference of cardiologists, and all the hotels were packed to capacity, and the prices for free hotels were prohibitively high. I decided that on the last day I would take a longer walk around the city, and in the evening I would sit at the station until my train to Frankfurt left at 5 in the morning.

But the weather let us down, I was very cold and already at 20:00 I was sitting at the station. I must say right away that in Germany the option of spending the night at the station is suitable only for those who have a ticket, otherwise the German police will quickly kick you out of there. This, of course, has its own plus: there are few homeless and other unpleasant personalities there. But especially arrogant ones still return after the police leave.

It is interesting that a lot of European youth absolutely do not hesitate to spend the night at train stations. They come in large groups with hiking backpacks and sleeping bags, lay them out on the floor and go to bed.

Rescue tower and other unexpected places

Those who are used to sleeping for free while traveling have already had a good eye: the place should be safe first of all. For example, Mikhail looked after a rescue tower in New York.

It was back in 1998, I came to America on an exchange program. All summer he worked as a dishwasher at a children's camp in New York. But then I still had three weeks to find another job and get more money. At that time in New York there were no cheap rooming houses for $ 10 per night, as now, and the question of where to live, I decided simply - on the street.

I brought two large bags and a plane ticket to Russia to an American friend with whom I worked in the camp. I took a backpack with a blanket and the most necessary things. On the first night, I decided to spend the night at the lifeguard tower on Brighton Beach. I found it while walking along the beach. It was a metal structure two meters high, on which rescuers sit during the day and look at the swimmers.

After the first night, I realized that it was safe there: no one walks along the beach and will not climb the tower on purpose. So that's where he slept the whole time.

Instruction

First, couchsurfing. This is a great opportunity not only to stay absolutely free in almost any corner of the world, but also to meet new people, find friends, learn something interesting, non-touristic about the place of your trip.
Couchsurfing is a guest network. There are many such sites where travelers and hosts can register, you can find them yourself.
The essence of guest networks is not only to open up the possibility for travelers to find free accommodation or accommodation, but also to bring people together. You can also not only travel, but also host guests if there is such an opportunity.

The second option for free accommodation for a traveler is a house exchange. You also need to look for people who are ready to exchange housing with you for the duration of your vacation on specialized services. As a rule, registration in such projects is paid, however, the amount is usually symbolic. The essence of home exchange sites is clear from the name.

The third option is to look after the house, pets, plants, etc. That is, the owner of an apartment or house is ready to provide accommodation to travelers in exchange for such simple services as looking after, for example, a cat. There are sites where homeowners post their offers. The most famous is Mindmyhouse.

The fourth way is the WWOOF project. The project brings together farmers who are willing to provide free accommodation for travelers in exchange for household help. This does not mean that you have to work on the farm all day. No, usually a couple of hours a day are allotted for work, the rest of the time the traveler is completely free.

The fifth option is university clubs. Many universities and colleges have alumni associations. It is possible to apply to such an association with a request to accept you for a certain amount of time. It’s good if you indicate in the appeal what services you are ready to provide in exchange for housing, for example, help with cleaning or cooking.

The sixth way is to work for housing. many hostels and guest houses are ready to provide free accommodation to the traveler. But for this you have to work a little all in the same hostel.

The seventh option is volunteer programs. All over the world there is an incredible variety of various social and charitable projects that are ready to accept volunteers on certain conditions. Most often, the volunteer pays for travel and visa costs, often food. Usually, the projects provide the traveler with accommodation in exchange for participation in the program.

The eighth way is a sea voyage. On the Internet, you can find sites where boat and yacht owners place their ads looking for an assistant. In exchange for services or looking after the yacht, the owners are ready to take you on a trip with them for free, or let you live on a yacht if it is moored in the port and is not going anywhere.

The ninth option is monasteries and guest houses at temples. They are often ready to accept travelers for free, but you need to understand that you will have to adhere to the regime that exists in the temple or monastery. This does not mean that you will have to completely immerse yourself in religion, it will be necessary, at a minimum, not to interfere with the monks and servants of the temple, not to make noise, not to violate the existing order.

You heard somewhere that you can book a hotel on the Internet yourself. Yes, it is, and there is no difficulty or trick in it. Today you will know how to book a hotel in another country (or not in another) . I will tell you everything I know about this, including how to do it so that you are not deceived.

On vacation, it is not necessary to stay in a hotel, it is simply the most common option, but often not the cheapest and not the most convenient. You can also rent an apartment (apartment, if you like) or a hostel. We'll talk about tents another time. All this can also be booked online.

A room in one of the hotels, right on the beach.

Let's go back to our hotels. I will tell you several options for accommodation during your vacation and which option will be the most inexpensive.

You have probably already heard about the site. booking.com is the most popular hotel booking website. Here is the answer to the main question: you can book a hotel yourself at Booking.com. Of course, this site has alternatives, we will return to them below.

Read also:

Cheap housing is a very individual concept. The task is to find the most comfortable hotel or apartment at the lowest cost. It is up to you to decide what you can easily refuse, and without what your vacation will not be complete. Someone needs to live in luxury hotel with a porter at the front door, and someone is comfortable in a tent.

Let's start with the simplest and gradually complicate our search. After you read everything, you will know not only how to save money, but alsohow to find accommodation for free. Yes, this is possible.

4 ways to book a hotel yourself

1. Use Booking.com (or similar)
2. Use aggregator sites (more on them below)
3. Book a room directly with the hotel (also via the Internet)
4. Book through a travel agency (actually, this is not always more expensive than looking for it yourself)

See also: Will your reservation be accepted when applying for a visa? Let them accept. Print the confirmation letter from Booking and attach it to your visa documents.

6 ways to save money on a hotel

1. Don't put limits on yourself. In my experience there was a case when to remove the entire 4 local number came out cheaper than a double (it was in a hostel). Search better, try different options and dates.
2. Use all search options. Learn how to use the sites of search engines and booking systems. They have many different filters that will help you quickly find the cheapest accommodation with the right conditions.
3. Check out promotions and special offers hotels. To do this, register in booking systems and subscribe to their newsletter. All interesting options will be emailed to you.
4. If possible, refuse additional services in the hotel. It is often cheaper (much cheaper) to have breakfast at a cafe near the hotel than to book accommodation with breakfast included. The same can be said about other services.
5. Look for rooms with the ability to cancel your reservation at no extra charge. Cancellable bookings often cost more than non-free cancellations. Look for options where there is no additional cancellation fee.
6. Consider different types of accommodation: hotels, apartments, hostels and even campsites. First and foremost, decide where you want to live: in a hotel (hotel) or in an apartment (so-called apartments), and you can also stay in a hostel. We'll talk about the pros and cons below.

Little secret: for a small child, you can ask for an extra bed. A self-respecting hotel will give it to you for free.

Now let's talk a little about the different accommodation options that you can book.

Hotel

Of all the possible accommodation options, this is the most expensive. The hotel is good because it offers a whole range of services, and not just a roof and a place where to throw the body at night so that it sleeps there. Therefore, many prefer hotels - you don’t have to cook, wash, clean, etc. True, you will have to pay for all these services.

Pros:

• Good living conditions
• No need to cook yourself
• There is additional service(gym, spa, transfer, etc.)
• Service (housekeeping, etc.)

Minuses:

• Are expensive
• There is no kitchen and you will have to eat in restaurants if food is not included in the price
• Additional service is only called free, in fact, everything is included in the price
• Service in cheap hotels is not at the highest level

Where to looking for:

Everyone loves the booking.com website - it has been checked many times, including by me personally.

In addition to it, there is a hotellook service. He searches on several sites at once. Including on booking. Despite the fact that this service is more convenient and its functionality is wider, everyone still searches through booking. Why is not clear. We also talked about the hotellook: .

Hostel

A hostel is like a hostel for travelers. You pay for a seat in common room and not for the whole number. Rooms come in different capacities: 15, 10, 5, 2, etc. human. You will be allocated a place where you will sleep, a bedside table and / or a locker for things with a key.

You can also rent at the hostel private room, it will cost more than a bed in a dormitory, but is likely cheaper than a similar room in a hotel.

To save money, hostels often use bunk beds.

Pros:

• very low price especially in large rooms
• hostels have a shared kitchen and you can save on meals.
• you can get acquainted with interesting people(from personal experience)

Minuses:

• this is a hostel in the truest sense
• shared shower (although I never experienced big problems because of this)
• people are different and things have to be monitored

Where to looking for:

The same sites booking.com or hotellook. Only in the search conditions you need to specify that you are looking for a hostel. There is a good site hostelsclub.com - specializes in hostels.

Flat

She is an apartment (but I don’t like this word). Do not confuse with apartment hotels. Apartments are more expensive than hostels, but cheaper than hotels. At the same time, you have at your disposal the whole apartment (or part of it) with a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, etc.

Pros:

• In addition to a private shower, you also have a kitchen at your disposal, which allows you to save money without sacrificing comfort.
• As a rule, the area of ​​​​the apartment is significantly more area hotel or hostel rooms

Minuses:

• The lack of a reception desk - they may not accept you at night and you are left to your own devices. No one will call you a taxi, tell you where the metro station is, etc.
• If you book an apartment through unverified sources, you can get into a real "buggy" with terrible conditions. (But everything is decided if you book through trusted sites)

Where to looking for:

Airbnb is the best site for booking apartments.

To all our friendsdiscount for the first booking 1300 rubleshere at this link: arbnb.

The site guarantees that you will receive exactly the apartment that you saw in the photos. All reviews are real, the owner of the apartment is always in touch. On airbnb, all apartments and living conditions are described in detail, which allows you to get a complete picture of the accommodation. The site also fixes the amount of payment and the nuances with the fact that the rent has increased by your arrival cannot be.

Booking also has apartments, but the choice is smaller and the prices are different.

What does the price depend on

The main factor affecting the price of housing is the proximity to the center or the sea and other main attractions in the city. Seasonality also plays an important role.

In addition, the price increases any Additional services: gym, breakfast, the ability to cancel the reservation and even beautiful view out of the window.

Housing search engines

What is the difference between booking systems and search engines (or meta search engines). Where is the best place to look?

Booking system is looking for accommodation in its own database of hotels. You also book accommodation on the system's website. The largest and most popular system is booking.com.

Meta search (aggregator)- This is a search system for third-party databases. She doesn't have hers. I advise you to use meta-search engines - their algorithm will find you several options on different sites (including booking.com) and offer the cheapest option. An example of such a search engine is hotellook.

Read the article , she's just about hotellook.

They have and we have

at first Let's talk about the AirBnB site. The site works well both in Russia and abroad. But there is a slight difference.

The site was designed by the developers to so that people can rent out their accommodation while they travel. So that your apartment brings some money while you are not in it. AirBnB is in no way intended to make a profit from renting apartments. Abroad, this is how it is.

In Russia, apartment owners perceive it as a platform for their own business. Their prices are high and depend on seasonality - everything is like in hotels. Therefore, it can easily be that an apartment in London will cost the same (or even cheaper) than a Khrushchev apartment in Syzran. Now, however, prices have leveled off thanks to the exchange rate.

Be prepared for the fact that our compatriot - the owner of the apartment - will send you a "special offer" with a price one and a half - two times higher than on the site - holidays in the country.

In Russia (and the countries of the former USSR), the tradition of taking apartments through newspaper ads. If you did not prepare in advance, then upon arrival you will easily find yourself an overnight stay within an hour. We were looking for an apartment in Aktau (Kazakhstan) so much - we bought a couple of newspapers and called everyone in a row. By the way, we found a good apartment with a sea view. The report can be read here: . But here, if you're lucky, you can end up in a smoky wreck.

Besides, the Internet is full of local sites that are searched for the query “Apartment for rent in (city name)”. We ourselves use the site Gorkvartira.ru, it works throughout Russia. In fact, these are the same newspaper ads, only in electronic form. Found an apartment - called, agreed.

Free accommodation while traveling

Now as promised talk about free housing. I note right away that free doesn't mean free. For a traveler, this is a kind aerobatics. And if you do not know English, you can not read further - English required.

There may also be options here:

Couchsurfing - the most popular site for asking someone to visit. Technically, everything is simple: register on the site, fill out a form and send requests to different people (hosters) who can potentially accept you.

Here you are not provided with an apartment, you contact a person, meet and visit him. He will give you a sofa somewhere in his house and will not ask anything for it.

The problem is that the profile on the site is huge and must be filled in English language. Otherwise, no one will understand you. You need to fill in detailed descriptions about yourself, your hobbies and interests. We wrote an essay about myself at school - everything is much more complicated in couchsurfing.

If your profile is not convincing enough, you will simply be refused. You, too, better get acquainted with the profile of the one who accepts you - maybe he is a maniac. Everything will be written on the form.

Myself The site is not responsible for anything.. Its task is only to help find the guest and the host. The rest is on your conscience and the conscience of the host. So the questionnaire and reviews about you are extremely important.

housecarers.com Here is another principle you look after the house and live in it for free. For example, the owners of a house in France need to leave, through this site they contact you and invite you to look after the house during their absence.

Here you have to combine work and leisure.

These are not all ways to find free housing. We will talk about this in one of the following articles. Don't forget to subscribe so you don't miss new articles: . Don't worry, there will be no spam.

That's all for today. Did you find out how to find cheap housingfor vacation. Thanks for reading. If you have something to say - write comments. Good luck with your travels!