100 Years of Hostelling

The international hostel movement was born 1909. This year, the 100th anniversary of hostelling is celebrated all over the world by Hostelling International, the only global network of national hostel associations.

100 great hostel experiences

To celebrate the 100th anniversary of hostelling, Hostelling International launched a competition with a Round the World Trip at stake. hihostels.com visitors were asked to share their best hostel experience, either as a short story, a photo or a video. The lucky winner was Christian Andres Torrico from Argentina. His best hostel experience, captured on photo, was a hostel excursion in the Andes. Click here to see the winning photo and 99 more great entries.

The hostelling history

The hostel movement was founded in Germany by the school teacher, Richard Schirrmann in 1909. He came up with the idea when he and his students were caught in a thunderstorm during an excursion and were offered accommodation in a school.
Find out more about how it all begun.