Do I really need to book rooms in advance for France, Amsterdam, and Italy?

You are unlikely to need reservations unless you need to be absolutely certain that you stay in a given place at a given time. As you are flexible, you should not experience difficulty in finding a room. In the 3 trips we have made to Europe , we have seldom made advance reservations and have never been closed out of lodging in the places we went. We wouldn't be surprised if Rick's advice was to reserve ahead if you travel in peak season but not to worry if otherwise.

I think it depends on how tightly you plan your trip, and your comfort in winging it.

I used to book a day or two in advance, as we went along. Then I decided that I didn't enjoy the stress and the time that went into chasing down the next night's accommodations (it always seemed to take longer than I expected, and more often than not we ended up in places that were way down our list).

Nowadays I'll pretty much always have things booked a month before we leave for Europe. We end up getting our first or second choice of places, rather than taking whatever is left on short notice. In my experience, the best places listed in Rick's books are often booked up solid far in advance. Sure, we're "locked in" that way (so we have less freedom to change our plans), but OTOH we have more freedom to just enjoy the trip each day, knowing that all we have to do is just get to the hotel room that's waiting for us.

YMMV.

Paris hotels are booked up September through October,, in October, fashion week, and lots of business conferences, plus all the tourists who think they are avoiding crowds by not going in July or August( this is mostly true in September, LOL )

There are however thousands of rooms ,, but you must be flexible on where you stay and what you will pay,, rates are often( but not always) cheaper when booked ahead online.

It is still peak season in many respects in places like Paris, as for the countryside I am sure you will easily find rooms...

Thank you. I should have been more specific about the cities. We're planning on London, Paris, Amsterdam, Venice, Florence, and Siena.

I was in Italy at this exact time last year until October 2. We definitely needed Venice and Verona reservations: Venice just because it's Venice, and Verona because there is a big convention that goes on this week, generally, there. I'm not sure about Florence, Lucca, or Rome. But just in case, I had them all arranged two months ahead of time. I don't like unpleasant surprises, but apparently you may get them cheaper at the last minute... if there is availability.

I should add as well that from the research I did last year, late Sept/early Oct is not considered "off season" in Italy. Off season doesn't start till more like mid to late October, from my understanding.

It varies a bit in different regions of Europe but the entire month of September is still considered to be "peak season", there's just not as many Americans around after labor day. I'm traveling to Switzerland and Holland at the end of this month into October, and hotel prices are sky high, and a couple of hotels I checked with are completely booked. Amsterdam is popular year-round and you should always make a reservation whenever you visit.

I wouldn't show up in a big town without reservations. Little off-the-beaten-path places, sure, that's usually not a problem, but bigger cities can have a lot going on -- conventions, sports events, holidays in that country that we don't have here.

Things have changed a lot travel-wise since 1998, especially since more and more small hotels and B&B's have gone online. It's now easy to go online and actually see the place where you'll be staying and book it ahead of time. Used to be that booking a room overseas involved expensive phone calls, so people didn't do it that often.

Take a look at hotel prices AND reviews on TripAdvisor. 50-100 euro for a double room is "low end" accommodations for popular cities (your destinations). Early October is still high season in much of Italy.

Also, do you want to spend your time in Europe looking for hotels or enjoying the sights?

Given the cities you have mentioned and the price you want to pay, why not book ahead of time. Nice, inexpensive hotel rooms go fast and given the ease of booking in today's technological age, I would go ahead and spend the time securing rooms at home rather than allocating time at your destination trying to locate a reasonably priced hotel rooms. You could be sipping coffee at a cafe in Paris rather than looking for a room or staying a little longer at that Italian museum.

Thanks very much. You've convinced me!

Ellen,

Although you're now "convinced", a few additional comments....

September and October ARE the fall shoulder season, and in my experience Europe can be very busy at that time of year (and that includes smaller cities like Siena).

I've found those who fail to pre-book accommodations often have to pay more than they budgeted, accept lodgings in what may be a "dodgy" part of town (or in the outskirts) or lodgings that are a bit of a "dump". They usually have to spend valuable touring time looking for someplace to rest their head when they arrive in each new city.

Happy travels!

I think I do quite well on affordable accomodations by not prebooking.

I travel primarily in shoulder season and prefer traveling without reservations because I value flexibility.

I'll typically make reservations for my first night and last night and simply call ahead in the morning when I need to book the next place during my trip.

I think a lot depends on what you are looking for. Since I'm happy almost anywhere, prebooking isn't as big of deal. Hostel? Fine. Bathroom down the hall? Fine. Owners don't speak English? Fine. If having an ensuite "American-style" room where the staff all speak English is the minimum you will be happy in, you should prebook.

The only time I've been worried about going homeless was during Octoberfest - even then I found a perfectly nice pension at the normal rate for the night (about $25 at the time).

I would recommend at the minimum booking your 1st and last nite in advance. As for the others, its a tradeoff. We've travelled without reservations in Sept and have always found a room, but sometimes it takes 1-2 hours of trudging around. Also the less expensive places are more likely to be booked, pushing you into the 100E+ a nite places.

I think the need to book in advance depends in part on the flexibility of the traveler. One thing Rick tries to do I think is encourage a flexible attitude.

I wonder what has changed: the availability of rooms, or Rick's perception of his readers?

Adam, maybe it's more because of the internet. It is so easy to find and book accommodations online that more and more folks are doing it. And because of the weak dollar, so Americans are more price-conscious. Also, it seems like there are more tourists every year, too. More Europeans who can afford to travel, or who can't afford to go far afield so are staying in Europe, more Asians who have the wherewithal and the language skills to travel independently....

I'd agree with Chani. The internet is a fantastic intermediary for information, but it has several side effects which can be good/bad depending on your opinion of what things were like pre-internet. If you have some antique to sell, 15 years ago your option was what local dealers would pay. Now you can have people across the country bid on it. For hotel rooms, 15 years ago you would only know in advance about the handful listed in guidebooks or the brochure if you contacted the tourist board for the area. I remember collecting those free guide booklets as I traveled so that if I came back to a town I would have more options if I wanted to reserve in advance. Many hotels had to wait for tourists to show up and town and find them. Now with this forum and others, as well as the plethora of websites for rentals, it is much easier for tourists to find and reserve rooms in advance.

FYI, I had a hard enough time finding places with vacancies that I'm glad I'm making the reservations now, and I've ended up mostly in the 100-150 euro range per night. Your predictions were spot on.