Holy budget lodgings, Batman!
You don't have to take vows of chastity and poverty or wear those itchy woolen robes to stay in a European convent or monastery for as little as $30. You don't even have to be particularly religious.
There are religious guesthouses scattered all over Europe, including the one attached to the Centro Culturale Don Orione Artigianelli in Venice (+39-041-522-4077, www.donorione-venezia.it). However, it's proof that religious lodgings aren't always th cheapest: this one charges €115 for a double room (still not bad, by Venice standards).
There are really two types of hospitality at religious institutions. Many, especially the convents, run actual guest houses, set up and administered something like a bare-bones hotel.
Sleeping for Free
Servas
CouchSurfing
Monasteries
Overnight trains
Sleeping in Airports
Crewing a Boat
Home Swapping
Hospitality Exchanges
Camping
The extent of the decor is usually a crucifix nailed to the wall above your bed—speaking of which, the Brady Bunch bedroom revolution hasn't hit convents. Like a 50s sitcom, the beds are narrow twins with a healthy, holy amount of space between them (though double beds are occasionally an option for married couples).
Convent hotels are often designed to house pilgrims (from big church trips to solo folks seeking enlightenment) and are most widely available in major cities, especially in Spain, France, and Italy, and particularly in Rome, as might be expected.
These religious guesthouses can charge anywhere from $30 to $180 for a double, but most hover in the $30 to $70 range, prayers for your immortal soul included.
The second type of religious retreat is with a monastic order that has, as part of its raft of vows, one of hospitality. Sometimes these places are in towns, but often they're at isolated monasteries. You might be housed in special separate guest quarters, or put up in a set of monkish cells set aside for drop-in visitors. Sometimes they are free; sometimes they ask for a nominal fee or donation (we're talking $5 to $10).
Often they just request that you respect their community and its values (be quiet, attend major masses, avoid throwing keg parties, that sort of thing), and don't blow in and out overnight basically just using them as a free crash pad.
Across town from Don Orione, the Foresteria Valdese in Venice is a fantastic cheap religious hostelry run by the Waldesians. It has both private rooms and shared dorms (the Post-It on the door there is letting you know how many bunks are left in the boys and girls dorms, respectively), and the kicker is that many of them are covered in 18th century frescoes and overlook a canal, and the prices start at just $25 a person. There's much more on this remarkable hostelry here.
Take a day or two to empty your mind and cleanse your soul. Wander the gardens. Sniff the flowers. If invited, eat in the rectory with the brothers. Contemplate the country you've been visiting, your life, God, that itchy rash that developed since you stopped washing out your clothes every night, whatever.
Not only is this one of the ultimate budget lodging options, it's also a great cultural experience, and a chance to get yourself out of your own head for a day or two, no matter what your religious affiliation or beliefs.
How to find that Monastery or Convent
There are several guidebooks to religious lodgings these days, including:
Europe's Monastery and Convent Guesthouses: A Pilgrim's Travel Guide by Kevin J. Wright (buy it), Bed and Blessings Italy by Anne and June Walsh (buy it), Lodging in Italy's Monasteries by Eileen Barish (buy it), and its companions Lodging in Spain's Monasteries, also by Eileen Barish (buy it), Lodging in France's Monasteries by Eileen Barish (buy it), and Lodging in Britain's Monasteries by Eileen Barish (buy it).
As far as online resourses go, Zefiro World (www.go-to-italy.com/English/Religious.htm) has a line on around 200 Villas and Monasteries across Italy—most of them pretty upscale hotel operations, not cheap dorms for pilgrims—of which at least a dozen are open to individual travelers (others suited to groups—whether your church group or anything else).
The famed Bascilia of Sacre-Coeur (www.sacre-coeur-montmartre.com) affords you the chance to stay in the heart of the storied Montmartre district of Paris for the pittance of around $15 a night, staying in the famed basilica's Ephrem Guesthouse. 'Course curfew is 9pm.
The Church of Santa Susanna (www.santasusanna.org) is Rome's American parish, has a remarkably useful Website that includes a page on convent accommodations across Italy, with the going rates and contact info for institutions in Rome, Assisi, Florence, Venice, San Gimignano, and San Giovanni Rotondo (where Padre Pio preached in Apulia).
Several major monastic and conventual orders list retreat programs and guesthouses online, including the Benedictines (www.osb.org) and Dominicans (www.op.org). Ask local tourism offices; do lots of Googling.
The famed Bascilia of Sacre-Coeur (www.sacre-coeur-montmartre.com) affords you the chance to stay in the heart of the storied Montmartre district of Paris for the pittance of around $15 a night, staying in the famed basilica's Ephrem Guesthouse. 'Course curfew is 9pm.
ShareThis
This article was last updated in January 2008 . All information was accurate at the time.
|
|
NoFrillsAir.com | BeyondHotels.net | EuropeTrains.org | EuropeHostels.org
About Us
Copyright © 2008–2010
