How far in advance should we book our hostels/hotels/apartments for our May trip? We are also going to book reservations at Museums/different sites and for the trains. But I think the trains can only be booked 90 days in advance. I'm not sure about the different sites.
Posted by
Sacramento, California U.S.A.
10226 posts
Depends on how firm your plans are. If you know where you will be and when, you should start booking now. I already have my reservations for my trip next September/October. When planning my trip to Italy last September, a couple of places I wanted had already been booked by January.
Posted by
Los Angeles, CA, USA
1003 posts
I booked my B&Bs for a May trip to Italy a couple months ago. I had no problem booking even very small B&Bs with 3 or so rooms, except in Rome where one place had already been completely booked up. If you're sure of your itinerary and are going to a popular place, or if you are picky about your accommodations or if you are on a tight budget, I would just book. Dont know where you are going but except for particular routes like say the London-Paris Eurostar, I don't know why you would need to book any trains in advance of your arrival and most museums probably don't need to be booked until a week or two before at the most unless you are going to be on a very tight schedule and really need to get into those places at certain times or if you're trying to get into something like the St. Peter's scavi tour.
Posted by
Frankfurt, Germany
8944 posts
Not sure where Debra got her information, but it is incorrect. Booking trains in advance will save you a ton of money, and it isn't just on the Eurostar route. If I walked into a train station today to book an ICE train from Frankfurt to Berlin, it would cost me 113 euro p.p. If I book it 3 months ahead of time, it will cost me 29 euro p.p. If you are using Regional trains there is little or no price difference, but sometimes you just want to get somewhere a little quicker. Using Regional trains to get from Frankfurt to Berlin would take me over 8 hours and involve a few train changes. The ICE only takes 4 hours. If I just want to ride up or down the Rhine, then the cheap, Regional trains are best. Some museums are booked ages in advance, if you want to see something like the Mona Lisa, but other museums need no booking at all. If you give us more specifics, like which ones you are interested in, then we can tell you whether or not you need reservations.
Posted by
Washington, DC
870 posts
As for your accommodations, if you have firm dates of where and when you will be, book them as soon as possible. I agree with Jo regarding the trains and museums/sites. Book your fast trains as soon as possible, but your slower regional trains can probably wait until you get there. If you are going to Italy, don't have much of a choice regarding advance train bookings since the Italian rail website does not take American credit cards. For the museums/sites, depends on which ones you want to go to. Some require advance booking, some it is highly recommended that you book in advance, some you can get into with a city pass, and others you can just walk up to. Where are you going and what would you like to see?