What is the YHA?
The 229 Youth Hostels throughout England and Wales provide a major national resource. Together, they account for over 13,500 bedspaces which places the YHA in the top league of accommodation providers. But it is the location of the hostels which makes them a truly unique asset. Over the years, sites have been found in some of our most spectacular landscapes, in remote hill country, on Heritage coasts, or lowland woodland settings. Many Youth Hostels are in villages or small towns, where they are close to the countryside but also are accessible to other facilities and form part of the local community. Hostels range in size and comfort – from former shooting lodges to pretty village cottages and Victorian mansions. Many are in incomparable locations ideal for walkers. As a body of some 293,000 members in England and Wales, the YHA is a social movement, enabling people of all ages to meet others in a special atmosphere of friendship. The international movement, of which YHA England and Wa
The Youth Hostels Association (YHA) was founded in the 1930s “to help all, especially young people of limited means, to a greater knowledge, love and care of the countryside, particularly by providing hostels or other simple accommodation for them in their travels, and thus to promote their health, rest and education”. The YHA operates hundreds of Youth Hostels across England and Wales (despite the name they’re open to all ages), in both rural and urban locations. Joining the association allows you to stay in them as well as the 4,500 hostels operated by other hostelling associations world-wide. You can find out more about the YHA at their web site. If you’re interested in other countries’ hostelling associations (including Scotland and Northern Ireland) check out our Links page.
