I will have a car for 3 to 4 days driving from northern Itlay to Rome; would like to just "wing it" with no hotel reservations, deciding each day how far to drive and where to drive. Is this a terrible idea? I'm always anxious about having a reservation but that means no freedom in each day.
Has anyone else traveled without hotel reservations? Does it work out ok?
Traveling just for 3-4 days in the MIddle of May (from Sunday to Wed night.)
Thanks for your thoughts.
We did this as a couple about 25 years ago, in early April, and it worked out well. However mid May is not off season. And you don't say if your locations will be in cities, towns, or villages. These days you should at least be able to book something the day before, to avoid any unpleasant surprises, like a festival you were unaware of. Of course, if you are flexible on the quality and/or cost of your accommodation...
Driving into Rome...that does not sounds like my idea of fun.
I concluded years ago, that having a fixed itinerary with reservations for accommodations that I could depend on actually provided me with more freedom than just "winging it." It may sound counter-intuitive, but...I'm at home now. I have fast, reliable internet, big-screen/multi-screen desktop computers, a hundred websites bookmarked, a stack of travel guide books at hand, and most importantly, all the time I need to research, find, shop around for, and then decide on where to stay and book that room. All I have to do is show up at my reserved room at check-in time, wave some ID and maybe a credit card, and I'm done. I can then go enjoy a heaping plate of pasta and a glass of wine, take a stroll for some gelato and go people-watching after dark - or do whatever the heck I want. That's freedom.
If I am "winging it" I have to try to do all that (well, most of that) at the end of a long day of sightseeing, driving, and dealing with foreign things, on a small screen, with possibly sketchy internet, and do it all long, long after all the best places have been taken, picking over the leftover rooms that others passed over...as the sun goes down and my remaining options dwindle with each passing minute. Been there, done that, often ending up in places that were funky, expensive, badly located, or some combination. After spending way too much and getting way too little on such places, I got over my perceived worry about being "locked in" to a fixed itinerary. No more winging it for me, I'm happier knowing that once I'm Over There, I'll make the best use of my limited time (see pasta, wine and gelato, above).
The way I look at it, the single most-limited commodity we all have is usable time at our destination. I would rather take care of the mundane tasks of shopping for a place to stay, in advance, in the comfort of my home, while I have plenty of time and other resources at hand, to research and decide long in advance, not when I/we are tired, getting cranky, and want to enjoy being in Europe. But that's me, YMMV.
No, not driving into rome. Will be driving to FCO airport to drop off car, stay at airport hotel overnight.
We usually leave a few days unbooked in our holidays, and have had success most times. However we usually travel April or October, so perhaps a bit more off season. We have just arrived in town and looked for a place but on our last trip we booked online the night before or the morning of, so we had a destination for the day. I had an online version of the Rick Steves Italy book and was actually able to just use the links in his recommended accommodations to reserve. The fact that you are looking at Sunday to Wednesday helps. The one time we had to really look was a weekend.
How picky are you about your hotel? if not, then you should be ok. There are also hostels, convents etc.
I think it makes a big difference that you'll be driving. I book at least two days ahead now, more for high-demand locations, but I'm dependent on public transportation.
Tony,
I would never wing it. I had two bad experiences with that and couldn't find lodging for many miles. On one occasion, we talked a hotel into putting us up in staff living quarters.
Plan your trip and plan what you will do in advance, you will enjoy it more because you will know in advance what to see and where to stay.
May is no longer shoulder season, we were in Italy this past May, and the country was already crowded. As I continued to track prices of hotels we had already booked, I observed that prices increased significantly as the dates approached, and availability was scarce. As others have said, do you want to be spending hours looking for lodging each night, and pay top dollar?
In either case, have a great trip and safe travels!
That's what I do most of the time (actually almost always), and I generally travel in Italy every year in July, so even busier than when you go.
I did so also last July in Puglia.
I made reservations on Booking while stopping for gas before going to the town/hotel where we decided to go and stop.
You can always find vacancies somewhere in town (or in the next town).
I usually stay at least two nights in each hotel though, and use that location as a base for short day trips. I don't like one night stands.
Thanks for your message, Roberto. My ipad has cell service, and I pay the $10 a day to use it while overseas, so one of us can drive and the other can look for potential hotels. At least, that's my hope. It's encouraging that you say it works for you.
in the past, when I have planned every night's stay in advance of a trip, I have felt constrained. In some places I think "oh, this isn't so interesting; I wish I had picked another place", but in other places, I think "oh, I wish we had stayed here two nights instead of just 1." In addition, I don't know how tired we will be each day: do we just want to keep driving and seeing more countryside, or do we want to stop? Just driving through some of the scenic areas sounds really nice.
My thought is to try it this time for just a few nights (after the tour ends), and if it works we could plan a longer driving trip in the future. It feels like there are so many potential places to see. Of course, there's no need to try to see everything, and sometimes choosing a limited set of destinations is better; you don't see as many. places but you enjoy them more.
Wow! $10 a day? Leave your US Sim card a home and purchase an Italian SIM just for your Ipad. It's no more than 10 euro a month (plus 10 euro for purchasing the SIM card). That's what I do. And for the phone I have T-Mobile, so I don't pay for any extra charges while overseas.
When you search for a place on booking, make sure they have some kind of decent parking accommodations and are outside the ZTL, in addition to whichever amenities you need. Since I travel in July, I generally choose places with a pool as well. You won't need a pool in May, probably not even A/C (although nowadays almost all hotels have AC).
My friend works for an airline and it is common for him and his wife to just go to Germany or Italy for a few days, these trips are usually last minute but she told me that they always book hotels online the day before getting to the next town. This allows them to go at their own pace but also have the day structured enough that they know they have a nice clean place to sleep that night. This is not my travel style as I usually have a budget I like to stick to and like to have certain amenities (as I get older this list gets longer).
In theory I love the freedom of booking at the last minute - you're on holiday, what could be better than total freedom?
In practice I've found I hate it when I have done it. I want to spend the time I'm actually on holiday looking at the landscape, visiting places, eating, walking, drinking coffee and people watching, not looking at my phone endlessly scrolling through accommodation options for the next night. Especially since you won't necessarily find accommodation in that delightful town/village which is just perfect for this evening. Having said that, to be happy, my accommodation must be clean, quiet, good value for what I'm paying, have parking which is preferably secure because who wants to unload everything just for one night and if it's a bit special, even better. All that I can best find at leisure in front of my computer while planning my trip, indeed it's part of the fun.
I think winging it works if a) you don't care much about the type of accommodation you stay in and b) you have a large budget .
Just my thoughts.
Actually David put it a lot better than me....I agree with him!
Well. So far I've never found a problem finding same day accommodations anywhere in Italy, not even in high season, and not even in Florence, which gets pretty busy. Obviously if you are set on a specific hotel, that hotel may be booked for that night, but there will be others in the same town or nearby that have vacancies, in any hotel class, for sure. You just have to be flexible and with a car you can be flexible. Having said that I don't like to sightsee places with my luggage in the car, because I don't feel comfortable to leave valuables unattended in the car, so I generally after I check in for a couple of nights or more and after dropping my bags at the hotel, unencumbered by luggage, then I go around sightseeing, however I don't necessarily make hotel reservations days in advance. I can do so when I depart from my previous hotel or the night before, but as I said I don't sightsee with my luggage in the trunk, except for extremely rare occasions. I don't want to have my car broken into and I don't want to have to carry my valuables (including phone, IPad, or even work laptop, and medical devices) in my back pack while I walk around places. You don't need to spend hours scrolling your phone while sightseeing. You can book your next hotel while at breakfast at the current hotel before checking out and heading to the next destination.
We also often don’t book ahead for road trips. But I do often do some research on potential places in various locations we may like and mark them in my Google maps. Then once we decide whefd we want to spend a night, We check the marked spots first. We often then call to see if they have rooms. Rates are often lower on the day. We often also use Booking.com.
