When I wrote about Farmington, Missouri, opening a bike hostel in an old jail on the TransAmerica Trail this fall, I wondered how many hostels are primarily devoted to bicycle travelers.
I could name three off the top of my head from my TransAmerica trip 25 years ago — Cookie Lady's Bike House in Afton, Virginia; Elk Garden, Virginia, and Pippa Passes, Kentucky.
We also bunked in hostels in Ordway, Colorado; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Hutchinson, Kansas.
The hostels in Afton, Pippa Passes, and Ordway are still going strong. As far as I can tell, the bunkhouse hostel behind the parsonage near Elk Garden (electricity and running water available in the main house) has been replaced by Methodist church accommodations in town.
[Update: April 20 — Adventure Cycling writes about the free lodging at the Bicycle Bunkhouse in Dalbo, Minnesota, a stop on the Northern Tier bike route.]
[Update: Dec. 29, 2010 — Here's a short video shot at the Bicycle Bunkhouse by some bicycle travelers.]
Finding hostels
When I started searching for more recently, it didn't take long before I stumbled across several websites with extensive lists of free or low-cost bike hostels.
There are way too many hostels to name here. There are hundreds. Here's a few places that people on bike tours can check:
— You'll find extensive lists of hostels and other accommodations if you're using Adventure Cycling Association maps. Addresses and phone numbers are listed right on the appropriate map.
— BikeHostel.com lists hostels that cater to bicyclists traveling in the US. Special amenities for bicycle travelers are summarized in the hostel descriptions, as well as their location and website links.
— Crazy Guy on a Bike touring website lists dozens of hostels submitted to the Resources pages by bike travelers.
— Bed and Bike America is set up to list hostels in Canada and Mexico, as well as the US. A service of One Street America, the list appears to be just getting off the ground and isn't as extensive as some others. It's easy to contact them to add a hostel.
— Ride This Bike lists some “bicycle friendly lodging” in the US, Canada, and Australia, as well as one location in Norway.
A global list of all hostels that cater to travellers on the bike and off can be found at Hostelling International. Hostelling International USA lists domestic hostels also.
A word to the wise about hostels: The accommodations can be spartan and lodgers often are expected to clean up after themselves or others. The proprietors keep their costs down by assigning chores to the guests, so expect to wipe down the shower, clean up the sink or sweep out the dormitory before you leave in the morning.
Shared hosting
Beyond hostels, one of the best sources of free lodging for bike travelers is Warm Showers. Launched in 1993, the website lists people who are willing to host bicyclists on their travels.
The global list numbers more than 10,000 members, with 7,079 active hosts right now.
A similar shared hospitality service is CouchSurfing, but it isn't limited to bicyclists. It boasts more than 1 million members traveling or hosting in some 62,000 cities around the world.
Recent Comments