My 2 daughters (ages 18 & 20) are traveling to Europe together (arrive in Luxumb. & depart from Athens) on a 6-week backpacking trip in beginning-June through mid-July. The more they (& I) look around online at hostels and small hotels, the more we notice that the concept of traveling without reservations might be crazy in this day. My similar trip 25 years ago had one reservation for the first night's arrival, and only because without internet, we wanted the stress that first night. 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 and each lodging option. Is it still possible to travel in Europe without hotel/hostel reservations? Are reservations only required for the busiest destinations (Venice, Paris, Barcelona, Rome, Amsterdam)? If that's so, what are the hardest places to find accommodations in Europe so they can focus on pre-booking those places? Thank you so much for any advice.
Posted by
London
1351 posts
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.
Posted by
Republic of Texas / U.S.A. / Magyarország / Budapest
26196 posts
Can shoe-string budget teens still backpack Europe without
hotel/hostel reservations?
Yes. Easier now with internet.
Posted by
Salem, Oregon, USA
3986 posts
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).