We are a 60s-something couple, planning to do a modified RS driving tour of France from mid-October to mid-November this fall. Itinerary is roughly: Paris-Rouen-Bayeux-Amboise-Sarlat-Albi-Carcassonne-Avignon-Beaune-Colmar-Reims-Paris, with some deviations. Although my slightly OCD personality says to make reservations for each night, the carefree wanderer in me says to wing it in most of the areas outside of Paris (first and last night). What have been your experiences either way?
~Darrel
My experience is that you can pretty easily wing it, though I agree with reserving for Paris at the two ends. I've done it at that time of year in Provence a few years ago and last October when staying in St. Jean-de-Luz, Amboise, Chinon, Beynac, Guerand, Pont-Aven, Roscoff, Cancale, St. Mere Eglise, Honfleur, and near Etretat. All except the first were booked on the same day of arrival, usually in the afternoon.
Looking for a place to stay upon arrival in a town is a bit of a waste of time in my opinion, but at that time of the year, it's pretty easy to book places as you go on a rolling basis: i.e. book Bayeux while in Rouen, Amboise while in Bayeux, etc.
Best done carrying a tablet - smartphones work too of course but I don't find small screens to be convenient when looking for hotels. Then, call the hotels directly once you've chosen. 98% of French hôteliers have some English or some English speaking staff at hand these days.
Last-minute online bookings don't always get recorded, from my experience.
I'd say wing it also, unless there's some special place you want to make sure you stay on a particular night that might be in demand. We try not to "wing it" in the sense of waking up without knowing where we'll sleep the next night. We try to set up our accommodations a day or two ahead, preferably online, so we don't spend sightseeing time searching in new cities. But you may be braver, or want to eyeball a place before you decide you want to sleep there.
You didn't ask, and you've probably figured this out already, but it's much easier to spend at least two nights at a destination, giving you at least one full day to explore without having to change hotels. With a month to travel you should be able to do that, especially if you won't be spending much time in Paris.
We rarely book much beyond first couple of nights and the final night prior to departure. For us, a room is a clean bed and bathroom. Balconies, views from the room, etc., are not important criteria. However, as we travel we tend to book either the next day or that morning for that evening. By then we generally know where we are going to be.
I would wing it with the caveat that I would have researched hotels of interest in each area we expect to end up, and add their information to my spreadsheet before the trip so my choices (location/price/amenities) are pretty clear when we do book during the trip.
You may be genius at winging it for hotels in France but I am not and by far my worst hotel experiences have come from doing this. Fall is high season in France and particularly in Paris -- don't even think of doing it for Paris. September is the most busy hotel month there. For the rest, have a list of hotels you find desirable for each area you plan to visit so you can call a day ahead and reserve as you go. This gives you flexibility but also you don't end up at the Norman Bates hotel like we did where we were the only guests, the shudders flapped and they stole our strawberries. We have always had great luck researching and booking great places. We have always paid more for some pretty terrible places trying to wing it and who wants to waste time looking for a room. We once drove from hotel to hotel on my list and each was full until I was genuinely afraid we might end up sleeping in our car when we found a place that had a room. It was like a prison cell i.e. a concrete poured platform in the room with a foam mattress on it and similarly functional one piece bathroom. Oddly the restaurant with this hotel was unexpectedly good. The magic of lowered expectations.
Mid October is still high season in Paris, I suggest that accommodations be booked as soon as possible; now would not be too soon.
Booking outside of Paris for late fall should be relatively easy, even for same day stays.
If you're travelling with a tablet or phone, it's pretty easy to go on booking.com or expedia or hotels.com the night before or day of and book somewhere. (Or for deals on last minute stays, try hotwire). Will it be the best place? Maybe not. Will it be crazy expensive or super cheap because all the good moderate stuff is gone? Probably. But you don't need to waste you're time at a tourist office or anything trying to find something. And with a car, you're a little more flexible to drive.
Personally, I'm more comfortable having everything booked a few months out, but I'm fussy and tend more towards the cheaper side of moderate, so I like to have a choice. The only time we didn't have something booked months or weeks ahead was when we went to California, and one night we didn't have a set place on the PCH. The night before we decided to stop 'here' and I used my ipad, went on expedia and booked a hotel
Wow, consensus has been reached! Thanks to all for the wise input. I agree that the first and last night (Paris) should be reserved ahead of time; and, we will do that. Your comments have validated my thoughts about being a bit more carefree this time around and letting the wanderlust take over. Thanks again for your comments.
~Darrel
Note that your biggest risk traveling this way is having your car stripped of your luggage, so it is always wise to get to your lodging and stow your belongings and then tour. If you must sightsee with your luggage in the car, follow the obvious rules. NOTHING visible including a sweater or newspaper which may be thought to hide something and encourage a break in. Never open the trunk at a stop; make sure everything is stowed at an earlier stop so when you arrive to sightsee you just get out and don't open the trunk. Leave no valuables; carry meds, papers, money, cameras in a bag you take with you when you leave the car, even for lunch. That way you only loose your toothbrush and your clothes and not your passports and meds.
the problem a traveler has is that they don't know if a particular area is rife with thievery rings who prey on tourist cars. If you see a lot of glass on the ground, that is a clue, but otherwise, it is prudent to get to your lodging and stow your stuff so you don't have to worry about it.
We did a two week trip in France last October. We reserved our first night in Beaune and 2 nights in Normandy area. Other than that we extended stays in the two places we had reserved, and received the next stop a day or two before as we better knew what our schedule was. We used booking. com and had no issues finding places to stay on short notice, and we were even traveling with a dog.
First trip in Europe I'd ever done without booking 95% of every night. But we were traveling with my brother and sister in law, saw we adjusted to their travel method, and it actually worked out great.
