Tips & Advice from the 4Adventurers
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We like the YHA. Their hostels are located in beautiful places that make accessing the outdoors easy. In Snowdonia, for example, we stayed at the YHA Snowdon Ranger and were able to climb to the summit of Snowdon from its doorstep. We also like that the hostels usually have friendly, helpful staff. They are designed to be sociable places where you can meet other like-minded adventurers, and chatting to staff and other guests is a good way to get advice on the local area. As you would expect, much of the accommodation is shared dorms. However, if you have kids or are not keen on this, they usually have private rooms as well (some of which are en-suite) and occasionally you can camp. We really recommend their camping pods, even in the winter! Prices vary depending on the location of the hostel and the time of year. They can seem a bit high if you want to stay at a popular hostel in peak season, when you consider that the facilities are quite basic compared to a hotel. However, the ability to cook really helps to keep the cost of a trip down and, for me, the flexibility of being able to book a couple of nights for the days I actually want beats being tied to a self-catering cottage's changeover days and minimum length stays. If you don't want to cook, many hostels now offer hot meals and packed lunches too. We've found that staying in a YHA hostel necessitates adding a few extra items to our packing list. These are the things we recommend bringing but please leave a comment with any other ideas. (I have a secret passion for adventuring kit and always love knowing what other people like to pack!) 1. Padlock There is usually a lockable cupboard in the bedroom but you need to bring your own padlock. 2. Headtorch Great for reading in bed or nighttime trips to the toilet. 3. Towels Most hotels provide them these days, so it can be easy to forget that you need to bring your own to a YHA hostel. 4. Shampoo and shower gel Again, not provided, so remember to bring your own. 5. Tea towel to hang by the sink in your bedroom I pack this in place of a hand towel because it is less bulky but it dries your hands just as well. 6. Flipflops It's impolite to stomp around the hostel in muddy boots so it's advisable to have an extra pair of shoes. Clean plastic flipflops are particularly good for the communal showers. 7. Resealable plastic food bags For storing open packets of food in the communal kitchen. Also great for packed lunches and rubbish. 8. Sharpie permanent pen For labeling the food that you store in the communal kitchen. It writes more easily on food bags and milk cartons than a biro. 9. Teabags, sugar, milk (or, in my case, a lemon) For that all important cup of tea at the end of a long day's hike! 10. Cooking and washing up equipment
Hostels usually provide everything you need in terms of cooking equipment, plates and cutlery. They also provide washing up liquid, sponges and tea towels for cleaning up. You only need to bring this if you are quite particular about anything or likely to need specialist equipment.
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