ways to use CouchSurfing other than a free place to stay

Couchsurfing is a great tool for many travellers, but there is so much more that you can use this website for other than grabbing a free place to stay.

Here are a few tips to give you an idea of what else you can use Couchsurfing for:

Borrow a bike.

Some city’s are best explored on bike and some CouchSurfers are more than happy to lend you their bike for the day as long as you keep it in tip top condition. When I went to Iceland, I sent an email around the community of Reykjavik and received a great response, this saved me a lot of money and also helped my legs out a little. A lot of people have bikes sitting around and love to contribute to helping the environment.

Learn a language

CouchSurfing not only allows you to search for hosts but you can also search for languages. See if anyone in your local community speaks a language your trying to learn and see if they want to join you for a coffee. You quickly might discover that you helped both each other out.

Grab a shower

For those who have a tent or on a cycling expedition a couch might not be what you seek, but a shower gratefully appreciated. If you explain that you would love to meet for a chat and grab a shower, you might be in luck, maybe you could turn it into a lunch break and a wonderful opportunity to meet someone new in a unique location. As crazy as it sounds I’ve actually done this in Switzerland and I was not the first person to request this with the host in question.

Sell some items

Maybe you have been in one place for a while and have collected some items you want to get rid of, put them up on the community page and find out if anyone is interested in any of it or if they know of any local markets or second hand stores.

Join some local meetings

All major cities have a CouchSurfing group and many have a very dedicated community full of weekly meetings. When I was in Vienna my CouchSurfer took me to a 100+ CouchSurfing beer hall meeting, was an incredible experience and one I will never forget.

Unique tour guide

Not everyone can host, but some are very passionate about meeting other cultures and sharing their side of the city. If you search for “meet for a coffee” you will be surprised to find a lot of people who can’t offer a couch, but happy to show you around, you never know what you might discover and get a great insight while meeting a local.

Car share

There are lots of subgroups on CouchSurfing that cater for car sharing, have a look and see if anything pops up towards your onward journey. I once met an Australian couple that did just this and ended up being jetted from one side of Germany to the other by a fighter pilot enjoying a break from work, taking his new BMW for a test spin and just wanted to share the fun with someone else.

Ask for some advice.

Locals are very informed, they have lived there forever and they normally would be more than happy to answer a few questions for you such as what’s the best phone provider or any ideas on finding a place to rent during your stay, you can even arrange a meet up once you arrive.

Couchsurfing.org is way more than just a free hospitality website, it’s a community of passionate people looking to meet new people, make the most out of your travels.

Do you happen to have any more tips you could add? Feel free to post below in the comment section: