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How to meet people in hostels: 12 things that work

Updated 6 October 2026 · By the Tablamigo team at Hookstep

Pick a hostel with a busy common room and a kitchen, go and sit in it before you unpack, say hello to your dorm mates and go to whatever the hostel has on tonight. Most hostel friendships start with one of those, and the hostel you choose matters more than anything you say.

We make Tablamigo, so weigh that. Hostelworld details come from hostelworld.com/socialpass and its US App Store listing, and Nomadtable details from its US App Store listing and nomadtable.app, all checked on October 6, 2026. Prices change, so check them before you buy.

Pick the hostel before you pick the bed

Whether you meet people is mostly decided at booking. Check these before you pay:

• Read what guests say about the atmosphere. Search the reviews for "social", "met people" and "atmosphere". Hostelworld's listing says its ratings cover value, location and atmosphere, so look at the atmosphere score, not only the overall one.
• Look for shared space. A bar, guest kitchen, rooftop or courtyard puts guests in one place together. A corridor of bunks doesn't.
• Check the events. Family dinners, quiz nights, pub crawls and walking tours seat strangers together. If the page doesn't list them, ask the hostel.
• Dorm or private room? A dorm of four to eight beds gives you roommates to talk to every day, and very large dorms are livelier and louder. A private room in a social hostel works too, because you meet people in the common room and kitchen, not in bed. A private room in a quiet hostel is the combination to avoid.

12 things that work

1. Go to the common room before you unpack. Groups form on the first evening, and it's easier to join one early than on day three. Lock your bag away and sit somewhere shared for an hour. What goes wrong: "recharging" on your bunk until tomorrow.
2. Say hi to your dorm mates when you arrive. "Hi, just got in. How long have you been here?" is enough. You're sharing a room anyway, so it's the lowest-risk first conversation.
3. Use the kitchen. Cooking next to strangers invites comments. Ask what someone's making, offer your extra pasta, or wash up beside someone.
4. Eat breakfast in the common room. If it's included, take a table with a free seat. Everyone is awake, hungry and not yet in a group for the day.
5. Go to the hostel's own events, even the cheesy ones. At a quiz night or family dinner everyone is there to meet people. What goes wrong: a pub crawl of 40 splits into friend groups, so a dinner or a tour is an easier start.
6. Ask the front desk. Staff know what's on and who is heading where. "Is anyone else going to the waterfall tomorrow?" is a fair question.
7. Join the hostel chat before you arrive. If you book through Hostelworld, the app has chats for the people staying at your hostel, so you can say hello before you check in. What goes wrong: a chat is only as busy as its guests make it.
8. Keep a deck of cards in your bag. Shuffling at a common-room table draws players over without you asking anyone.
9. Ask where people are going next. Overlapping routes give you a reason to travel together or meet again two cities on.
10. Say yes to the first group plan. When a group decides to get food or head to the beach, go, even if you're tired. What goes wrong: "maybe later". Later rarely comes.
11. Post your own plan. "Rooftop dinner, 8pm, four spots" on the notice board, in the hostel chat or in an app gets more takers than "anyone want to hang out?". Give a time, a place and a number.
12. Stay two or three nights, not one. Friendships need repeat contact: the person from dinner is at breakfast tomorrow. A new hostel every night resets you to zero.

See plans near you on Tablamigo

If you're shy or an introvert

• Ask to join instead of starting something. "Mind if I sit here?" takes less effort than opening a conversation, and works as well.
• Pick small events and aim for one real conversation a night. A dinner for six is easier than a party for forty.
• Give yourself a job. Cooking or dealing cards gives your hands something to do and others a reason to talk to you.
• Set a stop time, and take quiet evenings. "I'll stay an hour" is easier to start.

When the hostel is quiet

Sometimes the common room is full of people on laptops. Take the same effort outside: a free walking tour, a group day trip, a class or a plan from an app. More in how to meet people while traveling solo. Heading to India? See where solo travelers meet there.

Staying safe in a hostel

• Lock your valuables. Bring your own padlock, since not every hostel supplies one, and keep your passport and cards in the locker when you go out.
• Look after your drink on pub crawls. Set your limit before you start, keep your drink in your hand and go home with people you came with.
• Meet new people in shared spaces first. Don't follow someone to a private room on day one.
• Women can choose a female-only dorm. Hostelworld lists mixed and female-only options, and Tablamigo has women-only plans that only women can see and join. See our solo female travel guide.
• Tell someone where you're going, never lend money to people you've just met, and keep chats in the app until you've met in person. More in our safety guide.

Apps that help (and when they don't)

Hostelworld is a hostel booking app for iPhone and Android with a social side. With a booking you get City Chats for your destination and Hostel Chats with the guests at your hostel, plus traveler profiles, shared Travel Plans, direct messages and events such as pub crawls and walking tours. Without one, you can buy the Social Pass: €4.99 for a week, €9.99 for a month, €19.99 for 3 months or €59.99 for a year. It's a one-time purchase, not a subscription. It's the easiest option if you're booking hostels anyway, and helps less once you move to a hotel or apartment. More in our Hostelworld Social Pass alternatives.

Tablamigo shows plans from travelers near you on a map: dinner, drinks, a day trip, a coworking afternoon. Tap join and you're in the plan's group chat, or post your own. There's also a list of travelers nearby, women-only plans, an optional selfie check, 18+ only, and AI moderation of group and city chats. Tablamigo is free: every feature, no ads, nothing to buy. Paid plans may come back later, once lots of people use it. It works wherever you sleep, which helps when your hostel is quiet. It's new, so in many cities you'll be posting the first plan, and there's no iPhone app yet, though the web app runs in Safari.

Nomadtable is built the same way: a map of activities travelers are doing nearby that you can join. It has iPhone, iPad and Android apps, and its US App Store listing showed more than 20,000 ratings (4.7 average) on October 6, 2026. It has its own short post on hostels. Plus is a paid upgrade; our Nomadtable comparison has prices. You can install all three, and our roundup of apps to meet travelers covers more.

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