Can shoe-string budget teens still backpack Europe without hotel/hostel reservations?

For me, personally, I would book all accommodation in advance. Otherwise you will spend a significant part of each day trying to source a place to sleep for the night, and you might wind up left only with options that are a bit beyond your budget. In addition, a lot of the most popular sites need to be booked in advance, which also takes away some of the spontaneity. Here in London, we used to be able to decide on a Saturday morning what we wanted to do that day, and are finding more and more things (like museum exhibitions- not even for particularly famous artists!) are fully booked in advance. I think part of that is with the internet it's easy to book things in advance so more people do, plus during covid a lot of places started requiring advance online booking and people got in the habit. It may still be possible to travel spontaneously if you really are extremely flexible (including financially) with what you do and where you stay, and are going to less popular places, but if you want to see/stay in any popular places I would not risk it.

Can shoe-string budget teens still backpack Europe without
hotel/hostel reservations?

Yes. Easier now with internet.

Since most people travel with a computer in their pocket, research on the road is not nearly as time consuming as it once was. Do they have a general idea of the route they want to take? If so, I'd suggest they look at rough time frames and any big holidays that might fall in places along the way (e.g., Bastille Day in Paris) because reservations will be pretty necessary there. They are traveling in peak season regardless.

If they want some flexibility, I might book ahead in some the cities along the way and potentially wing it in between. That way they have something certain at least. You don't say what kind of budget they are following, but if they want private rooms at hostels or popular small hotels, they probably should plan ahead. Same goes for saving money on train travel (some tickets are MUCH cheaper booked ahead - depends on where they are going though).

Better to sit in front of the computer now than throughout the trip. It's the same reason the old-school Eurail pass doesn't make sense anymore, especially on the low-budget end of the spectrum. You can book your long-distance train travel in advance for less than a pass costs. Where you CAN book ahead online, usually you MUST book ahead online. In addition, if they want to visit both Barcelona and Athens, unless they're planning to fly, they will need to plan a route that will allow them to cover this much ground in 6 weeks. A way to save some time is to start with a recommended itinerary such as the RS Back Door 21-day tour: https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/europe/europe-21-days-2026
AI can also generate an itinerary that makes geographic sense.

The better rated hostels tend to fill up in advance rather than having day-to-day availability. Assume this is doubly so for women's only versus coed dorms. A site like hostel world can help by putting multiple hostels in front of you. I suggest that they make a hostel reservation while on the train to their next destination city. Train time is a great time to review and finalize plans for the next few days.

As long as they are not too picky about the quality of their accomodations, they should be okay.

That time of year, I would probably book a few days ahead of time in case they need to make some route adjustments.

I'm currently in Europe and only have about 10-12 days of accomodations booked. I'm still trying to decide which route I'm going to take. This trip will last until mid-July and I'll probably spend tomorrow, May 1, a holiday, booking the rest of my trip. The closer it gets to summer, the busier its going to get.

Given the crowding that's been occurring in Europe over the last few years, there's no way I would travel without hotel or hostel reservations. Travelling without reservations could mean spending hours wandering around an unfamiliar city hauling heavy backpacks and looking for a place to sleep, What would the alternatives be if they couldn't find anything? That's a waste of valuable sightseeing time (IMO) and certainly not a scenario I'd be comfortable with.

Just a info: with "ages 18 & 20" they are legally seen as adults in most European countries.

In July and August Europe's coasts and festivals (e. g. music) are the most booked places. Summer vacations in most countries.

In not main touristy areas without special events you can still travel and find accommodation without reservation. For main destinations which are also business destinations it depends often on weekdays, e. g. from a Sunday to Monday you will find something easily.

I would dare to do this without fixed bookings to allow more freedom of travel. I mean they are young and will find something nearly everywhere.

Tip: read the "Foreign travel advice" by UK Gov for each country.

Travelling without reservations could mean spending hours wandering
around an unfamiliar city hauling heavy backpacks and looking for a
place to sleep,

Yes - but if they have a smart phone, they can book two or three days ahead to keep their flexibility. It's not "book all from home" or "wander around looking". I did that in Wales and England last September and had no problems.

Disclaimer: I was not on a "shoe-string budget". That might make a difference.

The question is "Can shoe-string budget teens still backpack Europe without hotel/hostel reservations?" And not, would i do it.

Fromers famous book "Europe on $5 a day" was published in 1956. The $10 a day revision in 1974. $10 in 1974 is about $66, and with good decisions about where you go, that is very possible today. Rome in August, maybe not, Luxembourg definstely not. Give my kids €100 a day and I wouldn't worry a bit.

Room bookings? Not like you gotta find a new place every night and you have Google and Booking.com to find it with. Finding a $30 to $50 bed in Budapest is possible year round. Not one i would sleep in, but not one i would be afraid of my son sleeping in.

I would show my kids (i did actually) London and Paris and Rome with my help. Then tell them to wander Eastern Europe on their own.

There's something not mentioned in the original query. It's all very well asking about accomodation but what about the travel??? How will they do it? This could be more in need of reservation - some trains need reservation even when they are empty, long distance buses may need it because they have a business model that doesn't have local agents or on board ticket sales.

They need to sit down in front of the computer and check what is actually possible, and then how hard it might be. Take for instance Athens, it's becoming very hard to get there overland, probably by bus from Bulgaria which might need to be caught well inside Bulgaria. Or there are the ferries from Italy. But chances are it will need a reservation at least a few days in advance.

Deciding to head for a town without a reservation assumes that there is somewhere to stay when you get there. They may not need a reservation but they should check places actually exist - and that those places are actually open all year. Early June is not overly busy in europe but a town without suitable accomodation doesn't need to be busy to be a bad idea. Definately reserve first night, and why not in Luxembourg? First money saving tip is that bus, tram and 2nd class train travel within the country is FREE. https://luxembourg.public.lu/en/living/mobility/public-transport.html

They also need a reilable weather App, not one with comforting smiley face type icons but pressure charts and preferably Jetstream forecast. The best argument for no reservation free spirit is that you can move to avoid miserable weather, which could be a risk north of the Alps.

PS Barcelona is not really a logical routing from Luxembourg/Amsterdam to Athens

Better to sit in front of the computer now than throughout the trip. It's the same reason the old-school Eurail pass doesn't make sense anymore, especially on the low-budget end of the spectrum. You can book your long-distance train travel in advance for less than a pass costs.

But you do things on your 'phone, or other mobile device, when sat on the train. The whole point of Eurail is that you are travelling on a whim. It's a different travel style to how many on here travel- where you know months ahead of time which city you will be in on a given day, so can commit to certain trains, usually the fastest ones. With Eurail you just hop on and hop off at will.
Say you are in Budapest today, and had planned to go to Athens the "normal" route via Bucharest etc tomorrow, but suddenly decide you like the idea of cutting down through the Balkans instead.
You can do that with Eurail. So it certainly still makes sense used correctly.
Where trains run out there will be buses, such as Flixbus (but likely others) which are dirt cheap and almost always have last minute availability. Don't travel with US preconceptions of bus=Greyhound=awful. In most of Europe most of the time the opposite is true.
Even in France, with a bit of thought, if you can't get a booking at a good price on a TGV, you can get to most places on non TGV services (slower, but seeing a lot more of France). In some ways that is where even good travel planners like the DB (German railways) one, have their limitations.
Get the European Rail Timetable (a book, used to be the Thomas Cook European Timetable)- you will find routes you didn't know existed, even from reading the Man in Seat 61.
An example of that is the old chestnut of Budapest to Vienna. I can find probably half a dozen rail routes on a paper map- yes the one we all know is the fastest by a country mile- but I'll bet you the others will all take you on the sort of interesting journey I did at that age where I wasn't just going from tourist hot spot to tourist hot spot- dare I say it "travelling like a local" . Very likely it will also find me cheaper places to stay which aren't booked up months ahead.

With Eurail it doesn't matter if you have to stay half an hour out of Amsterdam to find somewhere cheaper or available. Likewise Barcelona think out of the box and find a beach town on the suburban railway network if need be.

This will give them travel skills that will set them up for life, and give true memories.

Very interesting topic. Pull out your cell phone, pick any city in the world, and try to find a hotel room for tonight. I did this, using Expedia, and what I found was that there are always rooms available anywhere in the world. For example, for tonight, in Venice, there are lots of rooms available, but they are not cheap. But if I look at rooms for May 2, there is a room available for $58, one for $70, etc. But several miles from the island itself.

For Paris, you can get a room for tonight for $76.

Of course I am doing this on April 30. I'm not doing it in June or July when they will be traveling. And I'm not being picky about the neighborhood.

If you have plenty of money, you can find accommodation for tonight anywhere in the world. But on a shoestring, I would recommend reserving a couple of days ahead.

I asked Gemini about getting a reservation at a hostel in a major European city on short notice, and it gave a lot of really good advice, but basically, it said if you want to stay at a good hostel in a major tourist city, you need to book it well in advance. But a short train ride outside of that city could yield a good hostel on short notice.

Side note: Mom, make sure your daughters have travel medical insurance, OK?

The Other Marty, this sort of trip means if you do go to Venice you only spend one night and maybe that means the next 5 nights have to be in a village and have to be 30 euro hotel rooms. I havent run into a train company yet that wont see you a ticket same day. Cheaper on your phone the night before though. Same with the busses. What is going on here is viewing the kids holiday thorugh the grand parents eyes and in that perspective then of course it doesnt work. Let them go, whats the worse that can happen? ehhhhhh, never mind. Well, have them watch Midnight Express (1978) first.

Just a info: with "ages 18 & 20" they are legally seen as adults in most European countries.

Age 18 is the legal age of majority in the U.S. as well, so I'm sure that's not an issue for them.

That said, I remember those days as well. I would book the first night, and that was it, and the rest I just booked along the way. That was back when the UK had their wonderful "Book-a-Bed-Ahead" program, where you could be in one town and have the TIC call ahead to the next town to book a room for you. Those were the days 😊

I agree that it can certainly be done as they go. But it does help to book ahead at least a few days. For one thing, it would save time once they arrive at their destination, as others have pointed out. It sounds like they're going to mostly cities, and those are always easier to find places at the last minute.

One thing they might do is spend some time researching places before they leave, including hotels that they might be interested in booking, and then keep those in a file someplace on their phones so that when they get a few days away from that destination, they can then go back and make their bookings.

I also agree with the post above that mentioned trains. A lot of trains and hotels get more expensive the closer to your time you get. So they should probably check on that as well. The more research they do ahead of time, the easier it will be for them to "wing it" as they travel.

"With Eurail you just hop on and hop off at will."
Not quite. Even with a Eurail global pass (732USD), you need to make (and pay for) seat reservations for some trains.

Absolutely. And I think technology makes it much easier for kids and much less nerve-wracking for parents than say 1990.

You need to find place to sleep... your phone will tell you what's available tonight.
You need a train ticket.. open the app and buy one the fits your schedule
You want to hook up with friends... you message them live rather than picking a future time and place to meet.
Your parents are freaking out about you.... they can message or call. No more phone cards and collect calls.
You want to retain your memories... that supercomputer phone is also a ridiculously great camera; with infinite rolls of film

Probably. But they will save time & money if they book ahead.

I decided to switch one of my locations while on my last trip to Italy. Yes, there was still lodging available, but I paid much more than if I had made a reservation a few months ahead. It’s not just the busy cities you mentioned; smaller cities have less inventory available, and the less expensive & slightly nicer options will be gone.

”They were hoping for a more free-spirited trip with less sitting in front of a computer for hours before the trip to plan each destination.”. I could interpret this as either they would like lots of flexibility, or that they don’t feel like putting in the time to work on maximizing their experience in Europe. Hopefully it’s the former. : )

I did this in the 1990s. I learned quick to have the hostel I was staying at call ahead to the next hostel I wanted to go to reserve me a bed. This was when they were all part of Hostelling International. It was only one day or less in advance so it didn’t impact spontaneity.

My kids have managed a version of this within the last 10 years. But I think they booked more than their first night. I'd be inclined to look at what the cancellation is on some hostels and do some tentative booking ahead of time, that they could potentially cancel if a preferred itinerary is available. One of the risks too of last minute bookings in summer is finding places that are air conditioned, so booking some more " luxurious " spots for their budget ahead of time, can be a nice chance to rest and clean up.

Kids dont need air conditioning. They sleep ... well you know ... different.

At an age of 18 and 20 you are much more flexible and adventurous than when you are getting older. It’s not that you have to take unnecessary risks (personal safety), but many problems get solved once on the move and I think that are lessons you have to learn to make you travel wise. Give room to mistakes, many have most of the time good memories about those silly situations you have experienced because of things went not as planned.

Nowadays with a mobile phone or a tablet you can book as already remarked a few days ahead. Buy at home a Lonely Planet guide of the countries you want to visit and get a rough idea about planning. Such a guide has good info about budget eating and sleeping and more. But don’t be too rigid as it kills the fun (when you are young) to my opinion.

Wish them a safe and happy trip.
Personally, I love doing research and booking in advance. I think it is important to find good lodging at the best locations.

This should apply to two young women backpacking over Europe.
1) Do the research on where and WHAT to visit and WHERE to stay. Places like Venice, Rome, Amsterdam, Paris and Barcelona can be expensive and some, hard to find affordable places to lodge.

2) I think Europe is generally safe for young women to travel, but in some large cities, it is best to avoid some areas of those cities. Research should help with this concern. We lived in Germany over 35 years ago and it was generally very safe, even at night, but our German friends now tell us that it is not as safe as it was years ago. This is true especially at night. Also, the women should carry their valuables (wallet, credit cards, cash) in a money belt or neck wallet. Those large cities, especially Barcelona, Paris and Rome are notorious for pickpockets.

3) They should purchase medical insurance to cover them for their trip. American Express offers cheap prices for this that includes evacuation.

4) They should be advised to check in regularly by phone or email stating where they are and their status.

5) Some key sites in Europe like the Sistine Chapel, Coliseum/Forum in Rome need to be booked in advance. Consider doing that before travel. Also, they will probably use trains to travel and should be aware of how to do so at the proper websites. Also, tips on what are the best trains, like high speed trains from Paris to Barcelona, or Rome to Venice.

I really appreciate all of the different perspectives offered here. Thank you!

geovagriffith: Genuinely curious where your friends live. I live in a 300k city near Frankfurt and never felt any problems. Some places like Frankfurt main station are a bit unpleasant, but at least that one was already 35 years ago. More of a feeling/vibes issue, I assume…

They live in Augsburg.

geovagriffith: Thank you! Tbf this again feels a bit like more of a vibes thing, since at least when official statistics are taken into consideration, overall cases have halved since the nineties - though I have not dived into the nitty-gritty of what types might have surged, and for what reason (and a discussion will probably lead too far in a travel forum)

I hope they have a wonderful trip! It's life changing!

Do not let your daughters wing a trip and travel without reserving all their logging places, trains or buses, major museums and sites, and so on, in advance, at home, before their trip!! Do not worry about whether reservations are "required". Just make the reservations in advance anyway just to be sure your daughters don't waste time trying to find places to sleep!! You need to know they have safe places to sleep before they leave home!

Your daughters need a written day-by-day itinerary with all their reservations for hostels and transportation listed. You should get a copy and they should each carry a copy with them in a rigid plastic folder or in a pencil case.

If this matters, the first time I went to Europe was for a 4 week summer class when I was 24. The next time I went to Europe was when I was 33. I went to London, England. I wasn't sophisticated enough to travel outside London. It was a solo trip. I reserved a room in a hostel in advance, just to increase my chances of having minimal contact with other English speakers. I had a written list, not a day-by-day itinerary, of what I thought I wanted to do. The next year I went to Italy. I made 3 reservations in 3 hostels, all in advance before I left home. I wrote myself a day-by-day itinerary. I printed it and had it in a rigid plastic folder along with printed tickets... I had a problem in Athens, Greece, in 2017. The hostel I had reserved a space in cancelled my reservation because the employee couldn't verify my credit card in advance. I had a problem and had to get a new card about 8 or more weeks before my trip but I forgot to update my card information on booking dot com. I had two hours of dread trying to identify an alternative hotel or logging place I could stay at. Multiple places didn't have space. I ended up finding a small group of young adults in bar who one of them volunteered to call a place I found online to verify that it had a space and then I hailed a taxi to the place and checked in at 12:20 am.

One of the issues I think we have here are that I'm guessing most of us on this thread are long past backpacking age. It's not a type of travel most of us do anymore and maybe never did, or at least not with cell phones and online booking capability for hostels, trains, museums and whatnot. You know; stuff that wasn't around in the 70's and 80's, and not for all of us in the 90's/early 2000's. The RS forums are great but are heavily populated by more 'mature' travelers, for lack of a better term. Some of us also have to consider things that aren't as big a deal to young adults, such as dealing with lots of stairs, no air conditioning, traveling with CPAPs or lots of meds, etc.

jjertl, what sources are your young ladies gathering the bulk of their info from? I'm wishing that Lonely Planet's Thorn Tree forum was still around- it catered to more diverse age and nationality groups than RS - but your daughters may be using Reddit or some FB groups? They might look at The Saavy Backpacker (https://thesavvybackpacker.com), the Broke Backpacker (https://www.thebrokebackpacker.com), Rshoestring (https://www.reddit.com/r/Shoestring/) and, yes, Hostelworld.

I would personally agree with at least booking a bed in the arrival location in advance, and understand that while beds elsewhere might be available on the fly, the BEST ones in popular locations are apt to have filled up in advance, as already mentioned. They do also need to pay attention to any attractions on their must-see list that book up in advance.

Hate to mention this but what the heck: tell 'em to be careful with alcohol if they enjoy adult beverages? Wandering around with a foggy head is a good way to let the guard down and end up with valuables gone missing. 'Nuff said.

Hey, it's an adventure, right? Not everything will go like clockwork but that's where good stories often come from! Buy them both a journal as a bon-voyage gift: my mother kept hers, from a college summer cycling/hosteling across Western Europe in 1953, for the rest of her life.

Something which I think is indispensable for a backpacker travelling by public transport is the European Rail Timetable- https://europeanrailtimetable.eu/

It is so much better than just plugging A to B into a journey planner. It is one of the ways you find the lesser known places. Being an old fogey I would always buy the paper version, but there is also a digital pdf version, they will be more capable than me of reading PDF's on a screen.

Paris to Barcelona is one of those routes where folk here use the TGV (and pay a premium to do so). Yet there is also a night train from Paris to La Tour de Carol (terminates short at Toulouse on certain dates, for morning connections), for one of two very scenic but slow routes to Barcelona (plus the opportunity to add another notch to their list of countries visited, and add a quick trip to Andorra).

No supplements to pay (unless they want a Couchette on the old school style French overnight train). Sometimes that is what travel is about to me- not always the fastest route or going from one tourist hot spot to another. I will admit that these days my preference would be the day train from Paris to Toulouse, overnight hotel, then day trains to Barcelona, but that's ageing for you.

I thought I read somewhere that the authorities might need to see evidence of your first logging place.

No. Your daughters should research what places they wish to stay at, at home before their trip, rather than getting stuck with whatever is available at the last minute because they didn't make reservations in advance.

There may be some differences in personality. For example, I have a brother who refuses to make plans in advance if I see him. Actually, he doesn't contact me, doesn't reply, and it has been half a year since we talked.... Some people are like him: they can't stand to plan what they will do, in advance, before the last minute. I can hardly stand to leave home without a semi-detailed plan about what I will do. Obviously I don't have a written plan on weekends when I go to an event or to a local park or do random errands but I don't drive around randomly either. I write myself a written itinerary if I am going to do a solo trip and if I will be far from home for about 3 or more days. Maybe you can't follow an itinerary when you travel with somebody? I don't have anybody to travel with. I really have no clue how people can stand to travel far from home without knowing exactly what they will do.

I really have no clue how people can stand to travel far from home
without knowing exactly what they will do.

Yet some do, or to a point that would be personally uncomfortable for you. Very kindly but we all travel differently so your way - that of a 40-something solo gentleman who enjoys regimented itineraries - and what these "free-spirited" young backpackers envision for their trip may be very dissimilar. That's OK. They may take some of the suggestions provided above and not others. They may learn some as they go. All good.

I think we are all in agreement. The ladies should indeed go backpacking across Europe without knowing their plans in advance. To achieve this they will take a Rick Steves tour without first reading the itinerary. Of course, their mothers will go with them.

I think it's still do-able, as long as you're happy to sacrifice a degree of comfort and accept that you may miss out on things. Or potentially pay a lot more on occasion to get out of a jam.

Recent examples:

• I wanted to extend a trip to due to amazing weather and my plans for the next day having changed. I was already staying in a female-only hostel dorm, but the extra night was in a mixed dorm. Was it unsafe? No - curtained bunks, lockable storage and good key card security. Were the bathrooms a bit ickier and did I see the odd person, er, without a towel? Yes. (This was Amsterdam, by the way.) Lasting damage? None. 😉

• I got a last-last-minute invitation to visit a friend in Denmark. The direct train connection was sold out, and I couldn't afford the flex ticket (i.e. not train specific) that would have got around the problem. So I left at the crack of dawn and changed trains three times instead. Tedious, but I still got there and had a great time.

• Spontaneously stayed much later on a trip to a Christmas market than originally planned. But then there were train problems and I was staring down the barrel of a very uncomfortable trip with three hours wait at an intermediate station late at night. So when I got to the intermediate stop, I walked out of the station and into the hotel next door where I'd booked a room online ten minutes earlier. Out of budget, but worth the splurge. (But also only possible since I had a credit card with a bit of leeway and the city was big enough to have spare hotel capacity.)

• In Switzerland: had bought a day saver pass well in advance and had detailed plans for a very nice outdoorsy day trip from Zurich one day in August. But then the weather forecast was absolutely and accurately vile (9C and very wet). So I checked the timetable, and got the earliest direct train to Locarno via the scenic route instead. Emerged on the other side of the Alps to glorious sunshine. The entirety of my research was what I did on the train while I was a) awake, and b) had internet connectivity. Did I see all the recommended sites? No. Did I eat lots of gelato, have a wonderful scenic boat trip and a great swim? Yes. Did I have to walk halfway back to Locarno from Ascona to make the last decent train because I misread the bus timetable and was running out of roaming data? Also yes. Did I consider a spontaneous overnight to avoid this and find nothing? Yes. Do I have regrets? No way.

If these stories make you and your daughters wince and/or quake in horror, then I suggest you encourage them to plan and book in advance. If not, then enjoy the spontaneity! (But maybe have a pre-booked element here and there to recover from the chaos and to do the washing. 😅)

Were the bathrooms a bit ickier and did I see the odd person, er,
without a towel? Yes. (This was Amsterdam, by the way.) Lasting
damage? None. 😉

LMAO! 🤣 😂