Hostels, foyers and student accommodation
France > Basics > Hotels > Hostels
At between €7 and €19 per night for a dormitory bed, sometimes with breakfast thrown in, hostels – auberges de jeunesse – are invaluable for single travellers on a budget. Some now offer rooms for couples or families, with en-suite showers, but they don't necessarily work out cheaper than hotels – particularly if you've had to pay a bus fare to reach them. However, many allow you to cut costs by eating in their cheap canteens, while in a few you can prepare your own meals in the communal kitchens. Many hostels are also beautifully sited.Slightly confusingly, there are three rival French hostelling associations: the main two being the Fédération Unie des Auberges de Jeunesse (FUAJ), with 170 hostels, and the Ligue Française pour les Auberges de Jeunesse (LFAJ) with 100 hostels. There are now also several independent hostels, particularly in Paris, where dorm beds cost €15–€20 with breakfast thrown in, though these tend to be party places with an emphasis on good times rather than sleep. Normally, to stay at FUAJ or LFAJ hostels you must show a current Hostelling International (HI) membership card. It's usually cheaper and easier to join before you leave home, provided your national Youth Hostel association is a full member of HI. Alternatively, you can purchase an HI card in certain French hostels for €15.25 (€10.70 under 26 years), or buy individual "welcome stamps" at a rate of €2.90 per night; after six nights you are entitled to the HI card. A few large towns provide hostel accommodation in Foyers des Jeunes Travailleurs, residential hostels for young workers and students, where you can usually get a private room for around €10. On the whole they are more luxurious than youth hostels and normally have a good cafeteria or canteen. At the height of summer (usually July & Aug only), there's also the possibility of staying in student accommodation in university towns and cities. The main organization to contact for this is CROUS, Académie de Paris, 39 av Georges-Bernanos, 75231 Paris (tel 01.40.51.55.55, www.crous-paris.fr). Prices are similar to the official hostels.
Pages in section ‘Hostels’: Youth hostel associations.
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