Self Driving Tour in May without hotel reservations

It often depends on the time off year, but it REALLY depends for Normandy around the first week of June. The DDay commemorations are June 6, and while next year won't be a big anniversary like this year, it can still get pretty busy.

May is really busy time in France - the 1st and the 8th are both public holidays (they're also both Fridays) the 21st is a public holiday (it's a Thursday, but many people will add the Friday), and the 1st June is the Pentacost public holiday (it's a Monday)

Traditionally May and September are the busiest months of the year for people booking tours with us.

With a smart phone or a tablet and Wifi, you can just about always find a place to stay if you have a rental car. Making reservations on the fly is just not that difficult with modern technology. We usually use Booking.com.

It really depends on the time of the year. But I don't think it would be very difficult to find a place to stay. (not with the technology these days) as long as you are not very very picky and a little flexible.

You will be in very popular areas. May is busy and the lodging in general comprises of smaller hotels or B and Bs. Just reserve in advance save yourself anguish and decisions while on =vacation.
There are also larger French chain hotels along the way that may interest u. For example Accorhotel chain, Ck them out.

For a bit of adventure and off the beaten path touring there are plenty of B&B’s to look for. I have used many times those member of Gîtes de France, even places with basic comfort (1 or 2 épis) offered good value for the money and had never a bad experience. For Normandy the oppurtunity to stay in one of those lovely half-timbered cottages, depending the place you stay prices can go up in May. Btw gîtes are rentals, chambres d’hôtes are B&B’s. https://www.gites-de-france.com/en

From October through April, generally no problem traveling without hotel reservations.

I always book hotels in advance for travel May through September. You might still be able to find a room without booking in advance but the most interesting hotels will be full and the remaining choices, when they exist, will be secondary or less desirable locations. Sometimes you'll consume a great deal of time finding acceptable hotels unless it is done in advance.

Thanks for the advice.

It looks like a home base type of trip with pre-booked reservations will probably be the safest bet in May.