Spontaneity Possible Anymore

Since it isn’t the main tourist season yet, you should be able to be spontaneous. Granted, you may not get your first lodging choice and you may spend some time looking for accommodation when you get into town. An alternative to being completely spontaneous is to book lodging a night or two before arriving in a town. Good luck.

If you’re not picky on location, quality and price, you’ll always find somewhere to stay. But you may have to compromise on one of those for the sake of spontaneity.

You can always pick a town in one of those regions and see what’s available for tonight. It will give you an idea. Just realize you’re traveling over Easter and spring break, which could significantly impact options and prices.

I would be wary the weekend of Easter, as the Monday after Easter is a holiday, so people may take off for a little weekend away.

I think you would still be able to find something, just maybe not your first choice (or second or third). You may have to pay more, or be further out especially on that holiday weekend.

You say you are staying for four weeks but only mention 10 nights in Paris, plus April 14-28. Are there any other days missing ? (I come up with about 24 days, which is a little more than 3 weeks.)

Thanks everyone. I agree that Easter is a risky time and maybe especially in a Holy Year. But this is what is happening.
Good idea Travel4Fun. I will see what's available for tonight. Thanks.

I would never do that. If you are a gambler, however, maybe you’ll enjoy the risk.

You should be able to find lodging with little problem. Just have some resources available, simple Google search can list hotels, maybe create a short list for each prospective area of places you have vetted.

I also use Booking.Com frequently, for example, I just picked 3 random nights a week or two from now, and 65 properties came up in Bayeux, many reasonably priced and well rated. The nice thing about booking, is it also shows properties that are booked, so you get an idea of availability vs demand.

Yes, you may run into spot issues, that "perfect" room may not be available, maybe you need to increase your price range or lower your standards, but you likely will do perfectly well.

I don't know. I think it is best to have confirmed reservations. The time for spontaneity is when you are planning the trip.

In 2001, for my third self-planned trip to Europe, the second one since the advent of the Internet, I decided to "wing it" for a few days late in my trip. I had three nights with no reservations. For the first night I had hoped to stay in a small town in Baden-Württemberg, where I thought my g.grandfather had been born. When I got there, I found there was no place to stay (a was very small town) so I went on to the next town on my itinerary and checked into the place for which I had reservations for the following night, and they took take me a day early.

The next unplanned night, I was in a somewhat bigger town, also the birthplace of a g.grandfather. I went to the TI office and they got me a room. I was nice and at a good price. Had I made reservations in advance, and known about this place, I probably would have reserved it.

The last night, I again came into a town where I had reservations for the following night. Instead of going to that place, I went to the TI office and they got me a place. It was farther from the train station than the place I had reserved for the next night, and a little more expensive, but not bad, but I probably would not have picked it if I were reserving in advance.

Two things I concluded from my "wing it" experience.

1. A lot of people are making reservations in advance. When they find the "perfect" place, they don't say, "Oh, that's too nice or too inexpensive. I think I will leave it for someone without reservations." No, they take it, and you get what they didn't want.
2. TI offices have a rotating list of places, and they give you the next one on the list - not necessarily the best place, or the closest, or the least expensive place, just the next place. If you really want to get the best place, do the research yourself.

Since that experience, I have always had reservation for my entire trip.

Have you at least tested some dates for lodging in locations you are considering? Do you know about festivals, sporting events, holidays, and such that can really wreck spontaneity, particularly in smaller towns?

Up until around 25 years ago it was possible to be "spontaneous", booking only the first and last nights of a trip, meaning showing up somewhere without a room reserved and relying on the TI, but you are playing with fire in 2025. Last time I did it was 2001, and I got lucky on one hotel in Oslo, but I got burned in Helsinki, and for future trips I booked all hotels in advance.

The issue with needing restaurant reservations is more recent, started noticing the growing trend about 10 years ago, and it has really become a "thing" post Covid. I generally find that the smaller the city, the more important it is to have reservations. I spend more of my time these days in the big cities (Paris, London, etc) and I find that it is possible to eat well making restaurant reservations on the day before or even the day of by using apps like The Fork, and Open Table, and booking through Google Maps, but for special meals, I tend to book a few weeks in advance before leaving home in the US.

I am a genius of excellent lodging when planned ahead and an utter failure at road trips without reservations. Our worst hotels have been 'spontaneous' because it was all we could fine. We once thought we were sleeping in our car having struck out at our entire list of local hotels in a region -- finally found the worst hotel ever.

If you plan to be spontaneous at least craft a list of hotels at spots you are interested in and call ahead a day or two before

It is a little easier now with the internet than in the past since now at least you can stay on your phone searching for a. place --

It should be. Although there's a lot of domestic tourism at Easter, french people tend to visit either their family home, or the homes of other family members. As long as you're prepared to stay in hotels that cater mainly for workers or business you should be ok. I'd still book 2 or 3 days ahead though.

Tourist attractions will be crowded, and some of the more popular will be full.

I used to be spontaneous, quite successfully.
However, these days there is so much tourism that I wouldn't risk it.
My trips are precious experiences, and I would hate to end up in a hotel less than nearly perfect from my point of view.
Also, you could end up spending a whole lot of time trailing round trying to find somewhere, getting more and more anxious.

Even more amazing to me is the length of time you have to book ahead in restaurants these days. In popular towns, Bayeux for example, you could end up hungry on a Sunday or Monday when many places are closed.

As one person with flexibility, I think you'll be fine. I'm looking to go to Paris alone in early May and just started looking today at some hotels I know. They're available.

You do have a second important holiday during your four weeks where everything will be closed, May 1. Be sure you are in a larger city that day. There may not be any transportation, though.

If you are still in France, May 8 is a holiday, too, but more like an extended weekend for us.

Actually, Easter is more of an extended weekend but one for family gatherings, which means traffic jams and family groups everywhere. Very few people in France celebrate it religiously. Just be aware that the Monday following Easter is a work holiday.

14-28 April precisely coincides with Paris school holidays, and 14-21 is Paris + all of Northern France and the Marseille/Nice area, plus 21 April is a public holiday, so you might have more trouble than you expect.
Perhaps have a look at what's available in your target destinations at your rough target dates, to get an idea?

Such generosity and knowledge! This is my first time to be on the forum and I am grateful to each of you for your encouragements and cautions. How comforting to have both general and specific insights e.g., about holidays, and a hotel that takes last minute reservations.

I have booked more accommodation because of what you've kindly shared. Spending the time on my butt at the computer at home will give me more time to be present in the places I visit. Hands down I'd far rather blow with the wind and stay longer or shorter depending on what is tickling my fancy, but am giving in more to the reality of Now.

At the moment my rough plan is those 4 days at the start and 6 days at the end of the trip in Paris, as I mentioned in my original request for help. Then I'll move to Rouen, then Bayeux, I hope to get to St. Malo. Perhaps I am spending too much time in recollection of WW II, and will come away with a heavy heart, well, I will, no doubt about it, but Paris at the end will alter that.

And I do have 5 or 6 days after Normandy and Brittany and before returning to Paris that I could spend elsewhere. I am open to suggestions but no obligation. You have already been so helpful and generous.

Thank you.

Oh. Yes, I do want the cute hotels and nice meals, which appeals to me as a truer experience of France than a sterile hotel. But I can adapt.
Thanks again.

well you do get experiences if you don't reserve. I remember the hotel room we finally found that had a poured concrete platform with a thin foam mattress for a bed like a prison. And the place that reminded me of Norman Bate's hotel -- we were the only people there and they stole our market bought strawberries. And a room in a Campanile that literally was over the highway below and we could hear trucks switching gears under us all night.

Planning ahead I remember a wonderful king size bedded room in a charming hotel and dinner on a terrace overlooking a lovely town and winding river.

What I find with "spontaneity" these days is it is mostly a shift from doing the planning at home during free time to doing it while on vacation during time that is precious to me. IOW - in both situations I would be looking over my hotel options and weighing some reviews, the area and the various other nuances, but at home, the process would be only as rushed as I wanted it to be while on vacation, it would be a looming and approaching deadline.

For me, I'd rather trade an hour or two during my regular "life" than the same hour or two while on vacation where I could instead be enjoying the time in France.

Another thought is the cancellation policy of the hotels you picked in advance. If you plan all of your accommodations for the period - each with a flexible cancel/modify policy - you could still pivot within those limits. Ie - pick a nice place in the countryside with a good cancel/modify policy, and if you decide you want to stay or go somewhere else, cancel/modify and enjoy.

Probably I should have arranged to be born 20 years earlier.

Funny thing - even 20 yrs ago we were done being "spontaneous" in the hotels we stayed at. Almost 30 years ago, following RS's advice on our England & Wales trip, it was literally the worst part of the whole time adding layers of stress to the trip. Keep in mind that was still the call, fax, and maybe e-mail (very rare) era for reservations. The few places we had reservations made us decide that we were not traveling that way again, despite Rick's continued suggestion to do it that way.

I booked flights for 12 days in Normandy/Loire/Paris in early March for early May when air fares began to decline, roughly 60 days in advance. I have group of 4 so need two hotels at each stop. Struggled considerably to find hotels in convenient locations that I preferred and that were well recommended by Rick and others here. 60 Days out was a struggle. Also booked restaurants online at 7 PM for each night, purchased timed entry tickets to multiple sites. Spontaneity seems to have left the building I fear. I made direct contact with several hotels all of whom said "it's really busy - sorry". We have been to France five times over the past 24 years, it certainly is much different now. The folks we are traveling with this is their first and only (trip leader I am!) trip to France and many sites are "must see".

Cheryl, coming from Canada, if you are not "warred out", think about the WW1 Canadian Memorial at Vimy:
https://www.veterans.gc.ca/en/remembrance/memorials/vimy
It's really moving - and fascinating.

Spending the time on my butt at the computer at home will give me more time to be present in the places I visit.

You are exactly right, Cheryl !

Hi Cheryl:
I’m booking accommodation in E. France and Paris now for September.
When I look every couple of days, I can see that places I liked and bookmarked are now fully booked.
I’ve now booked what I want, just to be on the safe side.
I just like to know where I’m sleeping every night.

However, I still look occasionally to see if there’s something I might like better!
I always book places that can be cancelled up to almost arrival day.