If you do live or work in the built-up concrete jungle, you’ll know that the urban hustle & bustle, and helter-skelter of city life can wear you down if you don’t occasionally stop to smell the proverbial flowers. So, with that in mind, here’s just a small sample of some great hostels at the heart of nature, and with nature at heart, available to book on Hostelculture.com, to inspire you to venture into picturesque & sublime natural beauty the next time you’re getting away for a while.
Green Nest Hostel – San Sebastián
4km from San Sebastián, The Green Nest Hostel Uba Aterpetxea is a large, eco-friendly & green hostel nestled in the middle of Ametzagaña Park. Its spacious surroundings offer much to explore, while the views framed by the large windows, especially from the upper floors, captures that quintessentially Basque scenic beauty in the distance – ideal for chilling out.
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Bodhi Hostel & Lounge - El Valle de Anton, Panama
Slap bang in the heart of a dormant volcano, Bodhi hostel is an ideal base for connecting with mother nature. The locality, El Valle, boasts wonderful scenery and atmosphere, a butterfly haven, and a wildlife centre showcasing a variety of birds, monkeys, frogs – including the unique native ‘Gold Frog’, and many more species besides.
The hostel itself is as enticing as the surroundings; bright, peaceful & stylish with a focus on nature & well-being. There’s opportunities to enjoy in-house yoga as well as incredible hikes and walking routes along the volcano and in local forests. Nearby, natural hot-springs & mud-pools offer rejuvenation while river-walks, waterfalls, and even square trees (yep, trees that are naturally square) mean there’s ample ways to embrace the great outdoors here.
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Sidsmums Travellers Retreat – Carcassonne
The south of France is a part of the globe long-traversed by those seeking Mediterranean climes, some of the world’s most celebrated food & wines, as well as stunning scenery, towns, and cities. While Montpellier & Perpignan may be more well-known, the Cathar Aude region & Carcassonne is truly worthy of your time; flanked by the peaks of the Pyrenees to the south, and the Black Mountain to the north, canals & basins, forests & castles, there’s incredible opportunities to explore, embrace, and relax in nature.
You can’t go wrong with Sidsmums backpackers as a base for taking in all the region offers – 10km from Carcassonne (and a €1 scenic bus journey), this travellers retreat is located in the delightful medieval village of Preixan and boasts fantastic facilities to relax, such as the lounge, garden, veranda & terrace, and they even give you free bikes if you want to explore on two wheels.
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Camino Art Hostel - Hoya Pineda, Gran Canaria
On a hillside in the quaint Hoya Pineda village, Camino Art Hostel looks out over the vast Atlantic Ocean and sun-kissed valley, offering fascinating views for the lucky travellers who dwell therein. A stay here is very much an escape to nature and a relaxing existence – three of the five rooms at the hostel are traditional cave rooms, dating back over 200 years, while multiple terraces and the patio house hundreds of local species of flora, while one can avail of facilities to create art and enjoy the in-house art gallery.
There are plenty of hiking trails to venture on too, as well as beautiful bays & beaches to be found within driving distance. It’s a delightful hostel, with very friendly & welcoming staff, and well worth a visit should you desire a few days away from busy cities and the hectic pace of urban life.
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Hostel Natura - Pousada Iguassu, Foz do Iguacu
The Brazilian city of Foz do Iguaçu, is known for the nearby Iguaçu Falls, the impressively huge & cascading example of sublime natural beauty, but there’s plenty more incredible nature to get close to beyond the water fall, and Hostel Natura is a perfect place from which to do just that.
Translating, unsurprisingly, as “Hostel Nature”, this hostel, unsurprisingly, counts nature as one of its most prized assets. The local flora, fauna, and features of the land are all embraced here – a huge garden with home-grown vegetables & local plants, relaxation areas by fish-filled lakes, jungle-trek routes, river kayaking opportunities, and an outdoor pool, all in a perfect nature-lover’s location just outside the city on the fringes of the national park and within day-trip distance to both Argentina & Paraguay.
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Neptune’s Town Hostel - Killarney
Ireland is a relatively small country, but the nature offering on this little island is incredible & vast, none more so than in county Kerry in the South West. Killarney is famed for its breath-taking scenery, boasting beautiful attributes such as the Lakes of Killarney, and being pride of place along the picturesque ‘ring-of-Kerry’ route, and while Neptune’s is ideally located in the town centre, it’s but a 2-minute stroll to one of Europe’s finest national parks, the first of its kind in Ireland.
The hostel’s proximity to this stunning expanse of nature, as well as its legacy as a long-serving, budget-friendly & high-quality accommodation offering, makes Neptunes Town Hostel an ideal base for your time in splendid Killarney.
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That’s it for now guys ‘n’ gals, a little peak at a few hostels that make seeking out nature an easy and accessible alternative to the city break. There are, of course, many more available to book on the Hostelculture.com platform but I hope these examples have you thinking about that long overdue visit to dear mother nature.
And don’t forget, with a 5% discount off every single hostel price shown, you won’t book your hostels cheaper anywhere else.
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Written by Ray, in Ireland, while eating a second helping of Mammy’s Sunday lunch roast, and listening to background noise / commentary of Dublin baytin' Kildare in the football…