Czech Republic

Hostels

The Czech Republic has a large number of excellent hostels. Prague specializes in party hostels, where a cheap bar and crowds of backpackers and weekenders will ensure that you have better things to do than sleep for as long as you are there. There are however quieter more relaxed hostels where even in Prague you can have a quiet chat with some interesting characters and be fairly sure of a good night's sleep. Apart from one or two party hostels in tourist centres such as Brno and Cesky Krumlov, most hostels outside of Prague are of the more relaxed kind - places where you can spend a quiet week watching the world outside doing not-very-much, while you yourself do absolutely nothing but enjoy some beers and hopefully some like-minded company. Even the local Hostelling International affiliate (the czech Youth Hostelling Association seems to consist of a loose affiliation of relaxed well-run hostels, rather than the huge regimented institutions full of school parties you find in HI hostels elsewhere in Europe.