Hostels Have Budget Beds in Buildings Fit for Kings

Of all the youth hostel-style accommodations I have visited around the world, one of my favorites was Prince Henry’s School of Navigation in Sagres, Portugal.

Word had passed along the travel trail that the managers were curmudgeons, but that didn’t stop me because, for less than $10 a night, I could stay in a fortress where explorers Ferdinand Magellan and Vasco da Gama once studied. And Mother Nature’s show of brilliant star-filled sky couldn’t be beat. Travelers can still visit the fortress that served as Prince Henry’s School, but it no longer houses the youth hostel.

Many youth hostels are characterless buildings with spare, functional bunk rooms, but others are unique and wonderful, housed in tepees, railway cars, treehouses, castles, lighthouses and caves.

Here are some singular ones:

Castles converted into hostels can be found in Scotland, the Netherlands, Germany and Italy. In northern Italy, travelers can stay in the seaside fairy-tale-style Vuillermin Castle, now the 69-bed Finale Marina Youth Hostel, Via G. Caviglia 46, Finale Marina; 011-390-19-690515, https://www.hostels-aig.org. Bed and breakfast starts at $9.50 per night.

To search for more hostels housed in castles, log on to the Hostelling International Web site, https://www.iyhf.org.

Treehouse hostels have popped up in North America, Turkey and Australia.

In Australia, the Mission Beach Treehouse YHA, on Bingil Bay Road 90 miles south of Cairns (near Dunk Island), Queensland, is a pole-framed timber building in a lush rain forest with hammocks on shaded verandas near the Tully River, which is known for whitewater rafting and kayaking. Call 011-61-7-4068-7137, https://www.yha.com. Beds start at $9.45 per night.

In Turkey, backpackers head for the beachfront Kadirs Top Tree Houses, on the Mediterranean coast at Olympos, near Antalya. Treehouse dormitory beds start at $8, and there are some cabins and bungalows. Call 011-90-242-892-1250 or visit https://www.olympostreehouses.com. The hostel is a member of the Turkish Youth Hostels Assn., and the Backpacker bus service Fez Travel (https://www.feztravel.com) stops there. Travelers often stop to see the “flaming rocks of Chimera,” a perpetual flame about five miles away.

It may not be spacious, but Stockholm’s Af Chapman youth hostel is guaranteed to be memorable. It is in a lovely 19th century sailing ship once used for training by the Swedish navy, now permanently docked across from the royal palace. The ship has a great view of the waterfront but snug quarters. If it’s too tight, there’s an affiliated hostel nearby. For details, call 011-46-8-463-2266 or visit https://www.stfturist.se.

Tepees have shown up in British Columbia, New Mexico and Australia.

The Abominable Snow Mansion in Taos, N.M. (affiliated with American Youth Hostels), a short drive from Taos Ski Valley, is a historic adobe lodge with tepees. For information, call (505) 776-8298, https://taoswebb.com/hotel/snowmansion.

The Pender Island Youth Hostel, between Vancouver and Victoria, Canada, uses tepees for its overnight canoe trips. This hostel, a rustic lodge at 5734 Canal Road, opens for the season on March 1. For information, call (888) 921-3111 or (250) 629-6133, fax (250) 629-3649 or see https://www.hihostels.bc.ca/mainpenderisland.htm.

The 52-bed Pigeon Point Lighthouse Youth Hostel in Pescadero, Calif., is open year-round. Perched on a cliff 50 miles south of San Francisco, it is one of the tallest lighthouses in America. From here, watch for gray whales on their annual migration January through April, or visit the nearby thousand-year-old redwoods. Beds start at $13 per night. Call (650) 879-0633 or go to https://www.norcalhostels.org.

Other unusual facilities include underground hostels in Coober Pedy, Australia (https://www.backpackers.com.au), cave rooms in Cappadocia, Turkey (https://www.feztravel.com), a converted jail in Ottawa, Canada, or a hostel with bunks in caboose cars in British Columbia (https://www.hostellingintl.ca).

Not all hostels are open year-round, so check before you go.

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Lucy Izon is a Toronto-based freelance travel writer and author of “Izon’s Backpacker Journal.” Her Web site is https://www.izon.com.