Hi, so I’m planning to go to europe for 2 months this summer (june-july) and I wanted to know if I must book my hostels in advance or if I could just book day to day once I get there? (I’m just afraid that hostels are going to be full)
Here are the cities I’ll visit :
Budapest, Vienna, Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, Bruxelle, London, Paris, Barcelona, Madrid, Lisbon
Amsterdam I would book in advance for sure. The rest as you go but monitor how many beds are left daily
Half of Europe’s under 25s will be doing the same thing, so I would book. You may want to consider visiting some smaller towns and countryside or coastline rather than just cities, although this would mean scaling back the number of destinations that you are covering. Spain will be very hot at that time of year.
If you are not picky about where you stay, you probably will find something.
You are visiting very popular cities at the height of the tourist season. The centrally located hostels will book up first so if you're fine with staying on the outskirts or in hostels that are not as nice, then you'll have no trouble finding places to stay. There are many different kinds / qualities of hostels so read reviews carefully.
When I decide to stay in a hotel, I book it because of its location primarily and since my trips are in the summer. In that sense, I'm picky as to which hostel I want to stay in, or if I want a private room over a dorm room, sometimes I don't care which, ie taking the dorm room over a private one.
There is a Wombats hostel in Berlin, (near Alexanderplatz), 3 in Vienna, one in Budapest, and one in London...very recommendable. I've stayed in Munich and Vienna with Wombats.
Budapest: Book Hotel in advance, train in and out a few days in advance will be safe, plane in and out .... now
Even for two months, you have a lot on your itinerary. In my opinion, just doing Spain and Portugal takes about 3 weeks. Also, why skip Italy, it is the greatest.
Use Kayak and/or TripAdvisor for low cost B&Bs.