Rome nightscene © Wojtek Kutyla

A great way to experience another culture and save expenses when travelling is to stay with locals rather than opting for an expensive hotel room. If you don’t already know people at your destination, check out these websites:

Couch Surfing: “CouchSurfing is a worldwide network for making connections between travelers and the local communities they visit.”

Global freeloaders: “GlobalFreeloaders.com is an online community, bringing people together to offer you free accommodation all over the world. Save money and make new friends whilst seeing the world from a local’s perspective!”

The Hospitality Club: “Do you love meeting people from other cultures? Do you love traveling? Do you love helping other people? Then this is the place for you to be!”

Free-Stay.com: “Why pay for a holiday hotel when you can stay for free in someone else’s home? Links to a great choice of holiday swaps worldwide.”

Travelroomers: ”This site offers you the chance to travel the world for a simple trade, become a part of the travelroomers community and it will will revolutionize the world of travel forever.”

Servas: “Open your doors to Servas International, a network of peace. Doors you will never close. Friends you will never forget.”