In this episode of Second Act Travels, Elizabeth explores one of her favorite ways to save money while traveling — staying at monasteries, convents, and abbeys. She explains why these unique accommodations offer not only affordability but also a rich cultural experience that allows you to connect more deeply with your destination. Perfect for travelers over 50 who value safe, clean, and well-located accommodations without paying luxury prices.
What You’ll Learn in This Episode:
- Why monastery and convent stays are ideal for midlife travelers.
- The kind of amenities you can expect (and not expect).
- How these stays help you save on travel costs while offering cultural immersion.
- Resources and tips for finding and booking monastery accommodations.
- Safety, comfort, and location considerations for solo travelers.
Resources Mentioned:
- Booking websites and search terms to use.
- Examples of monastery stays in Europe and beyond.
- Practical advice for first-timers.
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Transcript
Welcome to Second Act Travels, the podcast for curious midlife explorers ready to
Speaker A:trade.
Speaker B:Crowded summers for smart, meaningful, off season adventures.
Speaker B:If you're over 50 and dreaming of.
Speaker A:Meaningful travel that fits your freedom and.
Speaker B:Your budget, you're in the right place.
Speaker B:I'm Elizabeth and each week I'll bring you tips, stories and inspiration to help you
Speaker B:travel deeper, go further and embrace.
Speaker A:Your second act with confidence.
Speaker A:Well, welcome back.
Speaker A:Today's topic is monastery and abbey stays.
Speaker A:I thought that was very interesting and I hope
Speaker A:you'll learn something from it.
Speaker A:One of the areas in which I try to save money is on accommodations.
Speaker A:For me,
Speaker A:accommodation doesn't have to be fancy.
Speaker A:I'm there to visit a destination.
Speaker A:That's the way I look at it.
Speaker A:And I think about my hotel room,
Speaker A:the place where I'm staying as my bedroom and outside of the bedroom is the place I'm
Speaker A:visiting.
Speaker A:So I don't need a whole lot beyond clean,
Speaker A:safe and well located.
Speaker A:Other than that, I really don't care.
Speaker A:I don't need a chocolate on my pillow every
Speaker A:night.
Speaker A:It doesn't matter if I have a really tiny room.
Speaker A:It doesn't matter if I have an elevator or if I have breakfast included.
Speaker A:All I want is a clean,
Speaker A:safe and well located space to put my head at night.
Speaker A:Well, let's talk about why monasteries and convents are even options in the first place.
Speaker A:I mean, the fact is, is that monasteries and convents have lost members as fewer and fewer
Speaker A:people are going into religious vocations.
Speaker A:So these places need to be able to exist by earning some money because there aren't as
Speaker A:many people becoming nuns or becoming monks to help bring in income for the community.
Speaker A:They are open to everyone of all faiths, all backgrounds.
Speaker A:For me, it's the ultimate experience in shopping local.
Speaker A:Many rooms have been refurbished, they've been upgraded, they've been made en suite, so there
Speaker A:is a bathroom with private bathroom within your room and they are ready to accept
Speaker A:visitors.
Speaker A:The other piece is that without doing these conversions, without monasteries and abbeys
Speaker A:opening up to the public and trying to generate some income,
Speaker A:a lot of them would close and who knows what would happen?
Speaker A:Maybe a hotel chain would buy them up, maybe the building would be demolished or turned
Speaker A:into condominiums or something like that.
Speaker A:So for me, stay in a monastery or an abbey is absolutely about supporting a local community.
Speaker A:And whenever I tell someone that I'm staying in a convent,
Speaker A:they look at me a little strangely and then they say, well, what are they like?
Speaker A:So what are monastery and convent accommodations like?
Speaker A:First of all, do know that many places have been updated and refurbished.
Speaker A:Sometimes they are working monasteries or convents, but other times the whole building
Speaker A:might have just been turned over to accommodations for the public.
Speaker A:These places are not hotels per se and they're usually not offering a lot of luxuries.
Speaker A:So if you want chocolates on your pillow at night,
Speaker A:probably a monastery or a convent is not the place for you.
Speaker A:And if you need the plush chairs and the really comfy couches or something in your
Speaker A:room,
Speaker A:this is not the place for you.
Speaker A:Generally the rooms are pretty minimally
Speaker A:furnished.
Speaker A:They're comfortable, but they're minimally
Speaker A:furnished.
Speaker A:These rooms are clean and safe and economical.
Speaker A:So far below hotel rates usually.
Speaker A:But now for the sake of convenience, I'm going to refer to monasteries as inclusive of
Speaker A:monasteries,
Speaker A:convents and abbeys.
Speaker A:So I'm just going to use the one term,
Speaker A:monastery stays.
Speaker A:That includes convents and abbeys as well, and
Speaker A:also religious colleges.
Speaker A:So I'm just going to use that one term.
Speaker A:So the pros, very economical room prices, definitely far lower prices than staying in a
Speaker A:hotel.
Speaker A:Often find within a convent in the city a garden or an enclosed area,
Speaker A:maybe even a chapel.
Speaker A:So they're almost like oases in the middle of a busy city.
Speaker A:They can be really peaceful.
Speaker A:The last one I stayed in had, you know,
Speaker A:several areas where you could just sit and read a book or write in your travel journal or
Speaker A:something like that.
Speaker A:So those are some.
Speaker A:Now, of course, there are cons to everything for monasteries.
Speaker A:These rooms tend to book up,
Speaker A:so book your room well in advance.
Speaker A:You have to make your reservations as soon as
Speaker A:you commit to a trip.
Speaker A:If you're going to wait until you arrive in the town that day and reach out to the
Speaker A:monastery,
Speaker A:you're probably not going to get a room so several weeks in advance.
Speaker A:Also, cancellation policies, I've noticed, tend to be very different at monasteries,
Speaker A:which is tricky.
Speaker A:Once you purchase a room and usually you pay up front,
Speaker A:that money is non refundable.
Speaker A:And if you have a really good excuse for why
Speaker A:you can't travel,
Speaker A:it seems like monasteries will often refer you back to cancellation policies in travel
Speaker A:insurance.
Speaker A:So you would need to apply through travel
Speaker A:insurance for any reimbursement.
Speaker A:The other thing is there might be a minimum stay required and you can understand why if
Speaker A:they have very few staff on hand, that's fewer times they have to turn over a room.
Speaker A:So there might be a minimum stay, just know that.
Speaker A:But that'll be obvious to you in some of the websites we talk about.
Speaker A:The last con I think is that there may be a curfew.
Speaker A:Usually it's between 10pm and midnight, so for over 50 travelers maybe that's okay.
Speaker A:You may be able to make accommodations, they might be able to give you a key or something
Speaker A:like that if you know you're going to not be in by curfew time.
Speaker A:But if you're somebody who wants to go clubbing all night,
Speaker A:again, this might not be the place for you to stay.
Speaker A:So just know that as well.
Speaker C:There are three websites I use when I'm researching and looking for a stay.
Speaker A:In a convent or a monastery, and.
Speaker C:They'Re all pretty similar,
Speaker C:but These are the three that I like.
Speaker C:Monasteriesdays.com is the first site I use.
Speaker C:It focuses mainly on Italy, but also has a few
Speaker C:listings in Austria and slovenia, so nearby.
Speaker C:Monasteries.com is the second website out there.
Speaker C:It focuses on stays around the world, but primarily in Europe.
Speaker C:I've even seen listings for Egypt and Australia.
Speaker C:This site is interesting in that it also includes some tips for staying in a monastery.
Speaker C:Nothing out of the ordinary,
Speaker C:all what you would expect, but just just sweet to have that.
Speaker C:And the third site I use is Good Night and God Bless.
Speaker C:All these sites work very similarly in that you're generally not interfacing directly with
Speaker C:the property.
Speaker C:If you see a property that you want to stay
Speaker C:in, you actually have to fill out an online form and then submit it.
Speaker A:And then the people who run the.
Speaker C:Platform reach out to the property to.
Speaker A:Find out if there's space or not.
Speaker C:For you and then they get back to you.
Speaker C:So in one case monasterystays.com, you actually can put a second choice down.
Speaker C:They all work very similarly,
Speaker C:but play around with them, see which ones you like.
Speaker C:But those are the three that I use and if you know of any others, please send them along to
Speaker C:me overseas.
Speaker C:And over 50 mail.com I'll be sure to update my show notes.
Speaker A:Now if any of this has sounded appealing to you and none of it has put you
Speaker A:off or frightened you off,
Speaker A:just remember these few things.
Speaker A:Here's like the least you need to know about
Speaker A:staying in monasteries.
Speaker A:First of all,
Speaker A:be super careful about their cancellation policy.
Speaker A:Again, read the fine print and make sure that if you commit to something, you're pretty much
Speaker A:going to go.
Speaker A:I always double check the reviews on websites and actually this goes for any accommodation I
Speaker A:stay in.
Speaker A:I always want to get another good review to
Speaker A:back up what I'm reading, so I double check the reviews on my sites.
Speaker A:Now you can often do this with TripAdvisor.com,
Speaker A:you can cross check through the other monastery sites.
Speaker A:So maybe you'd book through goodnightandgodbless.com but you might want to
Speaker A:also read the reviews of that property on monasteries.com and vice versa.
Speaker A:Even booking.com might have a listing for you to look at.
Speaker A:So just double check everything.
Speaker A:Make sure that the description is exactly what
Speaker A:you're looking for and so that you're not going to be surprised.
Speaker A:Again, book well in advance.
Speaker A:You're not going to find openings on a whim.
Speaker A:As soon as you really commit to a trip even a month or two out,
Speaker A:get on and book if this interests you.
Speaker A:Also double check the location.
Speaker A:Now is it in an area near things you want to see or is it close to a public transport link?
Speaker A:Always do a little bit of background research about the neighborhood and the general area.
Speaker A:And again, this is a general recommendation for anyone staying anywhere.
Speaker A:I mean you always want to make sure that your hotel is in a safe neighborhood,
Speaker A:so just double check the location.
Speaker A:I'm going to put all the links in the show notes so not to worry about that.
Speaker A:That's it for monastery stays.
Speaker A:I Hope that the 10 minutes was worthwhile for
Speaker A:you and I hope this gives you an option for possibly saving money and having a unique
Speaker A:experience really is what it's about.
Speaker A:Thanks.
Speaker A:Look forward to seeing you soon.
Speaker A:So thanks so much for checking.
Speaker A:Second act travels out and I'll see you back
Speaker A:here soon.