..and finally

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It seems lots of people search this website for travel tips, so here are the 53 places we stayed over the last 4 months from Boston to Moscow.


1.Boston, USA: YMCA, 3 nights

Clean shared bathrooms, functional rooms, great reception and decent breakfast (despite the warnings be brave and take all the bread you want ) and close to the city.

2.Vermont, USA: Greenwood Lodge, 4 nights

Clean accommodation with friendly hosts. Brilliant grounds (you can barbecue) and great shared kitchen. Tiny bathrooms might become busy in the high season.

3.Boston to New York, USA: Greyhound bus, 1 night

Travel in style?! Bus, driven by Samuel L. Jackson lookalike, arriving in New York at 5am.

4.Toronto, Canada: Canadiana, 3 nights

Clean dormitory rooms and bathrooms. Join the free pancake and coffee rush every morning, if the violent and greedy Germans students leave any.

5.Toronto, Canada: Courtyard Marriott Airport, 1 night

Big comfy beds, a sofa in your room, fresh cookies at reception and free airport transfer.

6.Anchorage, Alaska: 21st Street'International Youth Hostel, 4 nights

Young friendly owners in clean hostel accommodation. Prices include healthy free breakfast and free internet access. Supermarket and McD's nearby. We shared with the loudest snorer in the entire world.

7.Barrow, Alaska: Airport Inn, 2 nights

Mini kitchen in a comfortable Inn. Free DIY breakfast and friendly hosts.

8.Anchorage, Alaska: Days Inn Downtown, 1 night

Your average American inn chain, chosen for the free early morning airport transfer.

9.Denali, Alaska: Morning Mountain Hostel, 3 nights

Great log cabin accommodation run by young environmentally aware couple, close to Denali Park. The only cheap accommadation in the area. Organic foodstore at hostel and clean shared facilities.

10.Seward, Alaska: Snow River Creek, 2 nights

Log cabin and dorm accommodation. Cosy shared kitchen facilities, with free pancake mix and coffee. We had the entire place to ourselves.

11.Girdwood, Alaska: Girdwood Youth Hosetl, 1 night

If you can afford somewhere else go there. Clean room, but run by a dirty student drinking beer out of a jam jar.

12.Juneau, Alaska: Juneau Youth Hostel, 1 night

$10 a night stylish dorm accommodation with chores. Head to the Alaska Hotel for a drink, no alcohol, smoking or fun allowed at the hostel.

13.Alaska Cruise:
Alaska State Ferry, 3 nights

Don't book a cabin, take a sleeping bag and sleep under the stars or lay across the seats. If you're really lucky get the best bed on the boat - the foam matting in the childrens play area.

14.Vancouver, Canada: IH Vancouver Central, 1 night

Busy hostel in the centre of eveything. Free breakfast is a nice treat.

15.Victoria, Canada: Ocean Island Backpackers, 3 nights

Cheap private rooms in hectic hostel. Avoid the kitchen (and it's testosterone filled american students, attempting to out-do each other) at rush hour.

16.Vancouver, Canada: IH Vancouver Central, 2 nights

Back to the same place.

17.Vancouver to Tokyo: Continental, 1 night

Slick entertainment system, the nicest plane food we've had in a while and drinks served with a smile.

18.Tokyo, Japan: Andon Ryokan, 5 nights

Modern accommodation for a modern city in a futuristic ryokan. Book in for a jacuzzi and relax watching a DVD or two. Probably the nicest place we stayed.

19.Tokyo to Shikoku: Ferry, 1 night

Private cabin, not sharing a floor with 100 people as expected, and 10 free bowls of noodles.

20.Dogo, Japan: Matsuyama Youth Hostel, 2 nights

Best cheap accommodation in ancient spa town. Free tea and internet access in clean rooms with TVs.

21.Hiroshima, Japan: Aster Plaza, 3 nights

Floor to ceiling windows in clean spacious twin accommodation. Free kimonos in the room and all the shampoo you could ever need. Basiclaly a hotel at hostel prices.

22.Kyoto, Japan: Budget Inn, 3 nights

Four bed dorm living. Nothing special but cheap and clean.

23.Kyoto to Tokyo: Night bus, 1 night

Leg room warning.

24.Tokyo, Japan: Andon Ryokan, 2 nights

see above

25.Hong Kong: YMCA, 5 nights

Prime location next door to the Peninsula. Pricey for dorm accommodation but worth it for the large rooms, excellent bathrooms and hotel feel.

26.Guangzhou to Guilin, China: Train, 1 night

27.Guilin, China: Flowers International Youth Hostel, 2 nights

Great communal living space and clean rooms but bathrooms and toilets nastiest of almost the entire trip.

28.Yangshou, China: Chinese hotel (name unknown), 3 nights

Venue for a bout of food poisoning so lucky that this was clean and modern.

29.Gulin, China: Flowers International Youth Hostel, 1 night

see above

30.Guilin to Kunming, China: Train, 1 night

31.Kunming, China: Cloudland Youth Hostel, 1 night

Amazing hostel accommodation. Twin and double rooms have a living room and TV and shared facilities are modern and clean. The bars not bad either. And close to Happy Fish - the craziest restaurant in China. Think rollerskating 7-year olds drinking beer and a fire on the table behind us.

32.Kunming to Dali, China: Train, 1 night

33.Dali, China: Friends Guesthouse, 2 nights

Very cheap accommodation and lovely staff, but rooms vary wildly. Take a look around before you accept a room and avoid the death-bike hire.

34.Lijiang, China: First Bend Inn, 2 nights

Beautiful old Courtyard Inn, with shared bathroom facilities. The restaurant's a hit with visting Chinese tour groups which makes weekends noisy.

35.Tiger Leaping Gorge, China: Halfway House, 1 night

The perfect place to rest after a long hike. Enjoy the food and the toilet with a view.

36.Daju, China: Snowflake Inn, 1 night

Fabulous home cooking compensates for the basic rooms in this courtyard hostel.

37.Lijiang, China: First Bend Inn, 2 nights

see above

38.Chengdu, China: Sim's Cozy Guesthouse, 5 nights

Bitterly cold. Schoolhouse style rooms and helpful staff. Immaculate shared facilities but lack of heating in winter makes it less than cozy.

39.Chengdu to Xian, China: Train, 1 night

40.Xian, China: Jim Beam's Guesthouse (Ludao Binguan), 2 nights

One floor of dorm accommodation in chinese style hotel. Run by less than helpful prepubuscent Jim Beam, unfairly riding high on a glowing and inaccurate review from Lonely Planet.

41.Beijing, China: Downtown Backpackers, 10 nights

Amazingly good value accommodation in one of the few remaining hutongs in Beijing. Rooms without windows are a steal.

42.Beijing to Harbin, China: Train, 1 night

43.Harbin, China: Gloria Inn, 5 nights

The best hotel staff in China, and large comfortable rooms, opposite a new shopping mall and close to the river.

44.Harbin, China to Vladivostok, Russia: Train N23, 1 night

45.Vladivostok, Russia: Vladivostok Hotel, 1 night

60's concrete tower block with functional but cold rooms. Breakfast in egyptian styled restaurant.

46.Vladivostok to Irkutsk, Russia: Train 001, 3 nights

The "Rossiya", old but still chugging along.

47.Irkutsk, Russia: Baikal Hotel, 3 nights

Hotel on the edge of Listvyanka with great views of Lake Baikal and wonderful Russian food served with style. Empty and sometimes felt a little like the hotel in 'The Shining'.

48.Irkutsk to Novossibirsk, Russia: Train 15, 1 night

The most stylish train in Russia - new cabin interiors and modern bathrooms.

49.Novossibirsk, Russia: Hotel Sibir, 3 nights

Orange decor in over furnitured rooms (11 pieces! amazing). Breakfast is brilliant though, with leaf tea and decent coffee.

50.Novossibirsk to Ekaterinberg, Russia: Train 113, 1 night

Basic Russian train

51.Ekaterinberg, Russia: ??, 2 nights

Cosy hotel, with bright modern bathrooms and elegant breakfast area.

52.Ekaterinberg to Moscow, Russia: Train 15, 1 night

Friendly provodistas, free breakfast, lunch and dinner, Russian newspapers and linen.

53.Moscow, Russia: Hotel Ukraine, 4 nights

Stay in a Stalinist skyscraper and gorge yourself on yesterdays cream cakes at the buffet breakfast. Try to beat our best of 2.5 hours in the buffet.

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