Booking Ahead in March/April?

I have had the oppurtunity to travel around Europe many times. I always travel in the off season. Specifically, before May 15 or after September 15. I never had a problem with reservations. However, I do call the day before my arrival at my destination.

Personally, I'd rather "lock in" my sleeping location and leave the go-with-the-flow part of the trip to the rest of the day. Many places can serve as a base camp for great spontaneous day trips. With a little kid, the last thing you need is to search for a hotel while you're tired. Without question book for Easter weekend, it may already be too late for some places, and the week before and after Easter can be just as bad.

We like to wing it like you. You may have to accept an unknown place and do some looking but it does make travel flexible. A suggestion:

Using Rick and venere.com, pick out places you would like to stay in your potential cities (multiple places per city). Write down hotel names, contact name, phone number, email and web site and carry list with you. Save a LOT of time as you can call ahead or quickly send email or check web site w/o having to find them again.

Get a cell phone and get a local SIM card (see my posting in Technology tips for step by step procedures for finding one). It sure is nice while on the train to the next city, not only to be able to call ahead and find a place but to be able to have them call you back.

Personally, I don't want to waste a minute of my valuable time phoning around to see if there are openings at various hotels, etc....especially with a 2 1/2 year old around. If you must, check various loations' cancellation policies, book them now, then cancel within the allowable time if you change your itinerary in Italy. BTW, Easter Week is a very popular travel time in Italy, and that includes the following Monday, which is a holiday.

There has been an ongoing discussion on this site about whether or not it is better to reserve accommodations ahead. It seems to boil down to what are you going to feel most comfortable with: Disadvantage of booking ahead is it commits you to doing some itinerary planning now and commits you, sort of, to a certain itinerary altho reservations can usually be canceled without penalty if you give them notice. Disadvantage of NOT booking ahead is that you have to be prepared to spend a certain undeterminable amount of time and energy every afternoon stopping seeing and doing the things you came to see, to focus on getting a place to sleep for the night. Part of it depends on whether you have a car or not, how many people in your group, and how flexible they are about not knowing where they will sleep each night. Often you don't have the choice re price and quality that you would have if you book ahead. Having a 2-year old makes a difference too, I would think.

DO NOT WING IT WITH A 2.5 YR OLD! Are you crazy? :-) Seriously...I winged it for years backpacking around on different trips...LOVED it...thoughht I'd never travel any other way...THEN I had a child. We have travelled with him to Europe since he was 3months old (he's 7 now) ...and we've had wonderful trips...couldn't be more memorable. But...I REALLY do think you need tot ravel a little differently with a toddler - it will make life less strefful. really. trust us. book way ahead. make your biggest desicion where to eat :-) (which CAN be a be thing when you're with a toddler! ha! or even hungry husband ;-) book. book. book. book. need I say it again??? If it makes you feel better, book at places that have a 6pm day before cancellation policy - then, you have something lined up, but can always cancel if you find something better or your plans change...but you won't be stuck! Also...in Italy, some rooms are TINY and they cannot accomodate an extra cot-it make sit more important to book..

...ahead unless you want your child in the bed with you. Be awar as well that you should DO YOUR RESEARCH...some hotels in Italy will charge you for a TRIPLE room even if your child is only two (!!!) this is totally crazy in my opinion :-) so you need to find places who will not count your baby the same as an adult. Now...that all said...I have been ging to Europe for years now :-) and have never, ever booked a museum in advance and ver had a problem...I just never know if I'll be in a museum mood or what the weather's like :-) find a place to sleep though. Have a great trip!

Thank you all for your thoughtful responses. I had no idea that it would be such a subject of such hot debate! I really can't get my head around booking the entire 5 week trip ahead of time. It seems like a lot work and how do I know where we are going to want to go 3 weeks into it? I like John's idea of doing the research ahead of time and then calling when we know when we are going to be there. It's like the best of both worlds - being well prepared without the commitment.
I'm sure I'll have a strong opinion on the topic too once I've made the trip.

Please keep in mind that if you are looking for accommodations in towns or cities where Christian pilgrims travel to esp during Holy Week and Easter Week, you might have a difficult time trying to find decent lodgings. I would book ahead under those conditions. Othertimes, wing it if you are so intrepid; you'll find something eventually.

Tami, I, too, will be in Italy over the Easter holiday, in Rome. I started looking for lodging in Rome in December, 2007, and, believe me, there wasn't much to choose from then, and there's even less to choose from now. I also found that hotels and B&B's were tripling and quadrupling their normal rates during this period. If your first stop is in Rome, I strongly advise you to make sure you have a place to stay before you arrive.

Good luck...

Bonnie