Some youth hostels have strong connections with mountain and mountaineering, none more so than Pen y Pass, in Snowdonia. Today the outdoor magazine TGO has recognised the hostel's history. The hostel started as the Gorphwysfa Hotel, a coaching inn. Many many famous mountaineers stayed there. The hostel, at the start of the track up Snowdon, is ideally... Continue Reading →
The man who invented youth hostels
When German schoolteacher, Richard Schirrmann, moved to Altena, a small town surrounded by the Sauerland’s wooded hills, in 1903, life for the newly married, 29 year-old teacher was full of promise. The following is an extract from the biography of Richard Schirrmann. The Sauerland is an outdoor paradise for those escaping the industrialised cities of... Continue Reading →
SIMPLY HOSTELS 