How to Sleep Cheap, From Cruises to Convents

· Cottages to Castles, 800-225-6290, http://www.cottagestocastles.com. This British firm has specialized in Italian lodging for 25 years. A four-person apartment in Tuscany's Castellina in Chianti starts at $780 a week, swimming pool included. A three-person villa on the Neapolitan Riviera coast starts at $1,100 a week.

· Britain's National Historic Trust, 011-0844-800-2070, http://www.nationaltrustcottages.co.uk. This nonprofit agency lists more than 360 properties in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Most rent by the week. A five-bedroom lighthouse-keeper's cottage in Devon, where hiking and bird-watching are popular, costs $1,618 a week in September but $918 in October. A medieval thatched farmhouse in Devon that sleeps six costs $1,354 in July, $688 in October.

Consider a Hostel

Don't dismiss hostels as the exclusive provinces of young people and backpackers. In Europe, families and older people also are regular guests. Dorms and shared baths used to be standard; many now have two-bed and family rooms. Cooking in hostel kitchens saves major bucks. Many also include breakfast buffets and simple meals in the price. In fact, some are more like hotels.

Some countries, such as Germany, Poland and Britain, have many hostels, ranging from inner-city to countryside. In Krakow, hostels are almost as numerous as hotels.

Universities often turn college dorms into hostels during summer vacation; inquire ahead of time. Or ask at tourist information desks at train and bus stations -- but arrive during daytime work hours. At Budapest's Keleti train station, for example, a hostel desk staffer helps you locate a bed. It's one way to snag a double for about $30 a night, if you don't mind unisex bathrooms.

Hostelling International ( http://www.hihostels.com) is a worldwide network of places that must meet standards for safety, cleanliness and service. In Reykjavik, Iceland, for example, a dorm bed is $23.50 a night, and a private double with bath, breakfast and 10 minutes of Internet is $124. By comparison, a double without bath at two-star Floki Inn Guesthouse in Reykavik costs $199 ( http://www.randburg.is/is/fosshotel).

A few years ago, hostels were not found on most online booking sites. That has changed.

"People are accepting that they have to trade down" in expensive places such as London, says Patrik Oqvist, Hotels.com's Europe expert. Places such as the 200-plus room Generator near Kings Cross Station in central London, he said, which costs $30 a night for a dorm bed, are attracting more interest on the site.

Other resources:

· Youth Hostel Association, http://www.yha.org. London Central, a new hostel near Oxford Street, starts at $36. At Pwll Deri in Wales, on the Pembrokeshire coast, a double room with bath is $63 in June.