France in the Summer - Hotel reservations necessary

Yes they are. It's the height of tourist season in two touristic areas.

I think Bets makes a good distinction.. if you were randomly driving around.. you can find these super cheap motels outside the cities.. but they are no where near any sights .. often in rather industrial areas.. just off highways. I have stayed in them, but we were only in transit from Paris to Zermatt.. not heading to two regions that will be filled with summer tourists. ( and we of course had reservations in Zermatt)

You can go to tourist information offices when you arrive in town and they can usually find you somewhere to stay.. but you may pay more ( by booking ahead you can find deals for nice places) and their locations may suck. This also uses up valuable touring time.. if you have a month fine.. but for a short trip.. I wouldn't do it.

Piggybacking on this question . . .

I'll be in the Bourgogne area June 19-23. Will I be there before the tourist season, or should I make reservations now?

Burgundy in June is tourist season -- you may find something especially cheap chains on the highways but I wouldn't travel this area without reservations. I did it once in May before the height of tourist season and literally feared I would not have a place to sleep -- I had a list of charming hotels and we drove to 6 before finally grabbing a bed at a really crummy chain hotel. I still remember the room -- the bed was a concrete pedestal poured into the floor which had a foam mattress on it. Oddly the restaurant attached to this place was quite good.

At minimum phone ahead a day or two -- but in an area so lovely and popular, I would go ahead and book now. The other factor is that it is easier to get nice places by planning ahead. And it doesn't take up hours of your precious time.

With only 10 days I would stay in Paris and day trip to some of the many wonderful small cities and towns in the immediate region-- there is plenty of variety to be had. Take a look at a few of our local trips in the 'Day trips from Paris' category of the travel photo journal below.

If you do decide to drive around Burgundy, I would train to Dijon or some other city in Burgundy on arrival and get a car the next day and then finish the trip in Paris so you don't have a last minute rush to get back to your city of departure.

janettravels44
www.janettravels.wordpress.com

My husband and I have traveled all over Europe during the summer without reservations, including Provence. That said, we usually travel for 4 - 10 weeks and have the luxury of time.
The up-side...you can stop in whatever town looks nice to you and try to find a place to stay. You can go wherever you want and stop whenever you want.
The down-side...it will eat up a lot of your time to find a place. Hunting for lodging can easily take up an entire afternoon. Even when you do find a place, it may not be up to your expectations. You often have to settle for whatever is available, which is often available because no one else wants it. We would frequently have to move on to another town as sometimes nothing was available in the towns we wanted to stay in or the places available were dumpy.
Since you only have 10 days I would make reservations. Don't waste daylight on something that is easily done ahead of time.

I often travel without reservations but usually its because I don't have a specific plan or know what I want to do. It sounds like you do, so I don't think there would be a benefit to waiting to choose a room. I would pick a central location and do day trips to explore the area. You don't need to move around a lot... just settle in somewhere and see as much of the area as you can. Be aware of the market schedule and plan your trips accordingly.

If you have wifi or Internet access you can check booking.com up to the last minute to find a place without driving/walking around looking for a hotel. I would book some places ahead during your time period, though.