| Weird and Wonderful Hostels |
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While Away the Weeks at these Weird and Wonderful Hostels…
The world is large. Very large. And this size is matched only by its endless diversity. Few things, though, are as varied as the youth hostels and backpackers hostels you’ll find out there.
As a celebration of this diversity, we thought we’d put together a quick roundup of some of these wonderfully weird hostels.
A few of these more unusual places are in big cities, but more often than not they can be found in really off the beaten track locations around the globe.
Indulge the 11-year-old in you with a night in the trees! Sleeping in a tree appeals to the inner-child in all of us. But Bayrams isn’t your average back garden-style treehouse. Nor is it just any old hostel. Sure, they’ve got all the normal hostel facilities you’d need, and yet… you get to spend the night in a tree!
The hostel is also set in a beautiful, secluded spot, near the National Park of Olympos. It makes a great base from which to explore the nearby ruins of the ancient Lycian city of Olympos.
Inspired by extra-terrestrials. No, really.
This place was inspired, so the owner tells us, by UFOs. And there’s definitely something of the ‘Close Encounters’ about its unusual, circular layout.
But that’s really where the oddness stops. Everything else about this place, from its gorgeous balconies illuminated by traditional Chinese lanterns, to its lavishly decorated bedrooms, is absolutely stunning.
Prisoner No. 345-Z – Your cell is ready!
Dotted around the globe there are quite a number of converted prison hostels. Few, though, are as sleek as Långholmen Hostel in Stockholm. The whole setup is impressively modern, clean and inviting.
But the real draw is, of course, the experience of spending the night in a prison (something that few of us decent, law-abiding types can claim to have done…). Unlike the building’s former residents, though, you get a key!
A big castle in Scotland we’d heard of… But Brazil?
There are plenty of hostels set in castles, and very nice they are, too. But a castle in Brazil? That’s just plain weird. Don’t ask us how this odd, Gothic castle washed up on the country’s northeastern shores. All we can say for sure is that it has a very cool vibe.
A cool cave in Cappadocia There’s something about Turkey and weird and wonderful hostels – the country seems to be full of them! This time, rather than a treehouse, intrepid hostellers can spend the night in a cave.
Aside from the obvious novelty value, there’s much to be said for cave-dwelling. Frankly, there’s no better place to be when the mercury rises in the middle of a sweltering Turkish summer.
5 star tent accommodation.
A yurt – the traditional home of the Mongolian nomad – is a sort of semi-permanent tent that shelters its residents from the country’s harsh winters. At Anak Ranch, you can stay in one of these truly unique structures: A perfect place from which to contemplate one of the world’s most starkly beautiful landscapes.
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