I will be traveling with a few other people in September to France, Spain, Germany, Austria and Italy for two weeks. We've only booked our hostel in Paris, which is our first stay. Is it safe to book the rest of our hostels on the go? or is it better to plan most of the trip ahead of time?
Thanks for any advice.
I would book ahead of time. That will give you peace of mind that you will have a place to sleep. But, I'm the planner type, so I can't stand not to have plans in place.
Have fun! I'll also be in France & Italy in September. (I booked our hostels/hotels 9 months ago)
I am struggling with the same question right now, to book ahead or not to book ahead. My friend is a bit more of a planner than I am so we have booked some places already (also going in Sept.) but I went to Europe 10 years ago (when I was 22) and really enjoyed the spontaneity of the trip. We were able to add cities, even countries, that we didn't plan to go to because of the great recommendations of other travelers that we met along the way. It did take up a decent amount of time to find hostels in certain places but that was also in the middle of high season, in June. I can't imagine that you wouldn't be able to find anything, but I guess you have to figure out what is most important to all of you. Maybe book a few and leave a couple days open here and there for some flexibility. That's what we'll probably do! Have fun!
Yep, I have definitely re-confirmed : )
My daughter and friends wanted to do the "book as they go" route for their 3week trip to Europe. As it turned out they really had a pretty set itinerary -i.e. days where the transportation was already booked (cheap flights, couchettes on the overnight train) or a set day to meet others in a particular city. There really wasn't much wiggle room in the route they would travel except that they could have had the option to stay a day longer in one or two of the cities if they really liked it.
They ended up reserving all of their hostels ahead of time. They found - to their surprise and mine - that many of the hostels with good reports were already booked. It was definitely not like when I hosteled through Europe as these places are online and take Internet bookings just like any hotel. Sometimes they would find a place that had room for 1 or 2 but not the 3 or 4 that they had. They even enjoyed looking at and discussing where to stay - just made them more excited about going!
Christy, I hope you have reconfirmed your reservations. When we went to Ireland a few years ago we booked our B&Bs in November for our April trip. Two of our five booked places "lost" our reservation in cleaning out their records for the new year. These were places that closed for the winter and reopened in the spring. We had printed confirmations of our reservations with us but were still unable to stay there because they were full when we arrived.
If you are looking for hostel rooms for four, make reservations as far ahead as possible. Dorm rooms are easier to book on the spot. In Sorrento two years ago I just showed up and had a 4-bed room to myself at the hostel there. So, it just depends...
The hostel in Menaggio (Lake Como) wants a reservation, then a re-confirmation the day before arrival. It's very popular and in a wonderful setting.
I am also traveling around that time - Sept/Oct. I have decided to go ahead and book everything. Perhaps look to see if the city has anything going on that would cause places to book up beforehand.
It's a good thing you have Paris booked. I am looking at hostels in Paris right now and it's down to some slim-pickings...seems a sporting event (I think the World Cup or something) is going on.
