Looking for unforgettable, affordable experiences for the months ahead? Here are 24 ideas for hostel trips in 2025 — because after all, calendars are there to be filled. Happy travels!
1. YHA Ambleside for wild swimming
Lake Windermere, on the hostel’s wonderfully scenic doorstep, is renowned for its open-water swimming. Head out early in the morning to make the most of the quiet or check out swimthelakes for guided swims.
Stay at YHA Ambleside
2. YHA Grasmere Butharlyp Howe for discovering Wordsworth
Named 2023’s Small Visitor Attraction of the Year by Visit Cumbria, the Wordsworth Grasmere Museum takes you inside the writer’s fabled Dove Cottage, which has been brought back to life.
Stay at YHA Grasmere Butharlyp Howe
3. YHA York for getting gory
The multi-award-winning Bloody Tour of York gives a hugely entertaining 90-minute romp through the darker side of York’s past. Your host is Mad Alice. Need we say more?
Stay at YHA York
4. YHA Hartington Hall for going underground
This grand Peak District hostel is well placed for all sorts of natural spectacles, but it’s hard to top the nearby Poole’s Cavern, a two-million-year-old limestone cave.
Stay at YHA Hartington Hall
5. YHA Liverpool Albert Dock for dance music
The fabled Baltic Weekender returns to Liverpool from 31 May–1 June, shaking the city’s foundations with grime, techno and house music. Dancing shoes on.
Stay at YHA Liverpool Albert Dock
6. YHA Stratford-upon-Avon for theatre
The world-famous Royal Shakespeare Company has three permanent theatres in Stratford, giving multiple options for soaking up sonnets and soliloquies.
Stay at YHA Stratford-upon-Avon
7. YHA Windermere for meeting Peter Rabbit
Located just minutes away from the World of Beatrix Potter, this Lakeland hostel makes a memorable base for a family getaway.
Stay at YHA Windermere
8. YHA Manchester for Pride
It’s now almost 40 years since the first Manchester Pride was held in 1985, and the event has become a colossal festival over four days in late August, with a spectacular mass parade.
Stay at YHA Manchester
9. YHA Bristol for getting curious
Bristol’s harbourside science museum We The Curious reopens in the first half of 2024, making the city an even brighter option for a family city-break.
Stay at YHA Bristol
10. YHA Brecon Beacons for exploring Bannau Brycheiniog
The hulking majesty of Pen y Fan is enticingly close to this popular hostel, but it’s just one of many superb hikes in this part of the national park.
Stay at YHA Brecon Beacons
11. YHA Black Sail for a unique stay
There truly is nowhere quite like YHA Black Sail. Beautifully remote and accessible only by foot, it makes an unforgettable base for a Lake District break.
Stay at YHA Black Sail
12. YHA London Oxford Street for visiting Van Gogh
In 2024, the National Gallery marks its 200th anniversary by hosting its first ever Van Gogh exhibition. Running from mid-September until January 2025, Van Gogh: Poets and Lovers isn’t to be missed.
Stay at YHA London Oxford Street
13. YHA Helvellyn for hitting the slopes
This hostel sits almost 1,000ft up one of the largest peaks in England, with excellent self-guided hikes and first-rate mountain biking.
Stay at YHA Helvellyn
14. YHA New Forest for getting in the saddle
Hire a bike (or bring your own) and explore the villages and woodlands of this peaceful swathe of pony-dotted countryside. Great for all ages.
Stay at YHA New Forest
15. YHA Whitby for haunting beauty
You’ll find some of Yorkshire’s most dramatic coastal scenery around this atmospheric mansion, which sits in the shadow of the ruined Whitby Abbey.
Stay at YHA Whitby
16. YHA Beer for fossil-hunting
The Jurassic Coast is one of the best spots in the UK for beachcombing, with the very real chance of uncovering prehistoric fossils at your feet. Lyme Regis is close by.
Stay at YHA Beer
17. YHA Dartmoor for getting outdoors
Of all the National Parks in England and Wales, few have the wild pull of Dartmoor’s rolling green contours, where you can truly feel you’re getting away from it all.
Stay at YHA Dartmoor
18. YHA Cambridge for sampling a brew
There are endless good reasons to visit the university city, but for connoisseurs of good ale, May’s Cambridge Beer Festival is a highlight — it’s CAMRA’s longest running festival.
Stay at YHA Cambridge
19. YHA Ironbridge Coalport for museums
History-mad kids will love the Ironbridge Gorge World Heritage Site, the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution, where no less than 10 family-friendly museums can be explored.
Stay at YHA Ironbridge Coalport
20. YHA Wye Valley for kayaking
Based on the banks of one of the UK’s prettiest rivers, the Wye, this hostel is primed for water-based activities, with kayaking a particular highlight.
Stay at YHA Wye Valley
21. YHA Street for hostel history
Our oldest hostel is this chalet-style beauty in the Somerset hills, with some 93 years of guestbook entries under its belt and the timeless pull of Glastonbury close by. Be sure to climb the famous Tor for a sweeping view across the region.
Stay at YHA Street
22. YHA South Downs for art
The seaside town’s Towner Gallery hosts the Turner Prize until mid-April this year, and has a fine permanent collection too. Its emphasis is on 20th-century British artists, and the gallery is particularly renowned for its works by Eric Ravilious, whose watercolours capture the rolling beauty of the South Downs.
Stay at YHA South Downs
23. YHA Tintagel for myths and legends
Immerse yourself in the age-old world of Merlin’s Cave and Tintagel Castle with a stay at this extraordinary clifftop hostel on the north Cornwall coast.
Stay at YHA Tintagel
24. YHA Sheringham for seeing the seals
There are many good reasons for visiting the north Norfolk coast, among them taking a boat trip to Blakeney Point to marvel at the local seal colony.
Stay at YHA Sheringham
Photo credit: Adobestock – Danoz / dudlajzov / harlequin9 / Ian Woolcock / Jaroslav Moravcik.
Read next: Nine hostels for fabulous winter breaks in the UK
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