I booked budget Airbnbs in small towns while backpacking Europe and found 2 hidden-gem destinations I'd never heard of

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A composite image of the author in a cap and blue polo standing in front of a tub-shaped brown building with trees and grass in the background and a sunlit field in front of houses with mountains in the background

I backpacked across six cities and four countries in Europe in 2022, including Berlin and Zurich.
I booked two Airbnbs in the suburbs to save money, and the towns surprised me.
These crowd-free places were hidden gems. I would never have seen them if I weren't on a budget.

When I planned my two-week backpacking trip through six European cities, the last thing I expected was to be blown away by my budget bookings in the suburbs.

In October 2022, I traveled to Berlin, Vienna, Venice, Rome, Milan, and Zurich. In most of these destinations, I booked accommodations within city limits. But to save some money, I stayed in Airbnbs about an hour outside Berlin and Zurich by train.

Slube, a tiny home hotel in Neustrelitz, Germany.

When I visited Berlin, I spent two nights in a tiny-home hotel in Neustrelitz, Germany, for $140.

My hotel was a 20-minute walk from the train station.

A 3D map of Neustrelitz, Germany found in the town square in October 2022.

Sure, it would have been easier to wake up in Berlin. But to my surprise, I enjoyed starting and ending each day with a relaxing walk through a place I'd never heard of, where I spotted the occasional backpacker among mostly locals.

I thought it was a peaceful town with charming cobblestone streets. If I hadn't been traveling on a budget, I probably never would have visited it.

A composite image of two cobblestone street scenes in Neustrelitz with signs in the foreground and buildings across the streets behind them.

When I left Germany, with stays in Vienna and three Italian cities ahead of me, I was already looking forward to my final accommodation in Switzerland.

Zurich was the last stop of the trip. For $400, I spent two nights in a tiny wine-barrel home in a small village called Roggwil.

A cyclindrical tiny home next to another small building with two deck chairs in front of it, at night.

Roggwil rests in the rolling hills of Switzerland, and I thought it had the most striking scenes of the entire trip. On my final night in Europe, I took an unplanned hike in the area and caught a gorgeous sunset over the village.

It was an epic ending to my two-week adventure, and like in Neustrelitz, I couldn't help but think that if I hadn't booked that specific Airbnb, I would never have seen it.

I expected nothing more than a place to sleep in these towns, so I was pleasantly surprised that they felt like hidden gems. Neustrelitz and Roggwil were relaxing counterparts to my travels in Berlin and Zurich.

Next time I backpack through Europe, I'll find more accommodations in small towns to experience the slower pace of suburban life — and save some money.