What makes the perfect hostel? Situation counts for a lot, of course, as do a tangible sense of heritage and the potential for nearby outdoor adventure. Here are four YHA properties that hit all three sweet spots.
YHA Snowdon Pen-y-Pass
It’s hard to top a hostel that has a path leading up the tallest mountain in England and Wales directly from its front door. The property in question is YHA Snowdon Pen-y-Pass, which sits at the highest point of the Llanberis Pass, on a road originally built for ore miners in the 1830s.
Some twenty years after this date, in the 1850s, a coaching inn named the Gorphwysfa Hotel was constructed here, and having being rebuilt and expanded over the years, its solid stone walls still form the core of today’s hostel.
Past guests include many famous climbers. George Mallory, who died in 1924 attempting to climb Mount Everest, was a regular, as was Geoffrey Winthrop Young, who later became the President of the British Mountaineering Council.
It became a YHA property in 1971, and remains famed for its location at the foot of both the Miners’ Track and the Pyg Track, which also gives the option of diverting across the knife-edge arete of Crib Goch. Be aware that the latter should be attempted by highly experienced — and nerveless! — scramblers only, and is easy to avoid if you’d rather steer clear.
YHA Penzance
This greenery-shrouded hostel stands less than a mile from the Cornish coastline on the outskirts of lively Penzance — but it has more to shout about than its salty-aired location. Set in a Grade II-listed Georgian manor house, it’s been helping hostellers to explore the West Country for almost 75 years.
The appeal is straightforward. YHA Penzance is a fantastic adventure base — reachable by overnight train from London, and sitting only 40 minutes by public transport from St Ives on the north coast — so the hostel makes a great option for a few days of coastal discovery.
What is there to do? The South West Coast Path runs close to the property, and the scenic stretch heading west towards Land’s End — via the likes of Mousehole, the Minack Theatre and Porthcurno — serves up glorious walking. Open-topped buses and hire bikes add to the options for discovering the peninsula. In the other direction, meanwhile, the historic island of St Michael’s Mount is one of Cornwall’s most iconic sights.
Trail running, rock-climbing and kitesurfing are all further draws, and don’t forget the Jubilee Pool, Penzance’s famous saltwater Art Deco lido.
YHA Bristol
The docksides of Bristol ooze maritime history. Its taverns are rich with tales of pirates and shanties, its cobbles have seen vast cargoes of everything from ivory to rum and its yards still clank to the sound of ship maintenance. Its museums, meanwhile — most notably M Shed — don’t ignore hard truths about the city’s past involvement in the slave trade.
Amid all this, the five-storey YHA Bristol sits right on the waterfront and occupies what was once a large goods warehouse. The building later became a nightclub in the 70s and 80s, before opening as a youth hostel in February 1990.
Hip cafes, slick restaurants and arty shops all stand within easy walking distance, but with more than 400 parks and outdoor spaces, this is also a city with a green side.
It was named the UK’s first Cycling City more than 15 years ago, and you’ll find plenty of options for cycle hire. Try the 13-mile rural cycleway from Bristol to Bath, or for something shorter opt for the three-mile Bristol Docks Loop, which passes SS Great Britain.
Rather be on two feet? Join the Blackbeard to Banksy Ultimate Bristol Walking Tour for an upbeat insight into the city.
YHA London Thameside
YHA London Thameside marked its official inauguration on 24 March 1993 when it was opened by none other than Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. As a purpose-built hostel, the property doesn’t have a lengthy past, but what it lacks in age it makes up for in historic surrounds. The district it forms part of, Rotherhithe, was home to shipyards and working docks for hundreds of years, while the Brunel Museum — dedicated to the first tunnel to be built under the Thames, in 1843 — is mere minutes away by foot.
Passing almost right next to the property, meanwhile, the Thames Path National Trail can be followed as far as the Cotswolds — or, more manageably, along the river into the heart of London, passing Tower Bridge, St Paul’s Cathedral, the Tate Modern, the London Eye, Big Ben and more. If this sounds too much like hard work, be aware that there’s also a River Bus that plies the water (the nearest served pier is at Doubletree Docklands).
The property has a restaurant and licensed bar, but if you’re keen to keep up the historical theme, however, try strolling to the nearby Mayflower pub, said to be the original setting-off point for the famous America-bound ship of the same name.
