Samurai_Kiwi

Hi All. My life is kind of disorganized, I was planning to go to Europe earlier this year but postponed it due to other rubbish going on. I don't like booking things far in advance because things always seems to come up, and it depends on how busy I am at work as well.

Anyway I have a rough plan which I will probably post soon, but it involves spending around 4 weeks travelling around Europe seeing the things I want to see most. Basically the plan is Paris (plus Loire Valley), French Riviera, Cinque Terre, Florence, Venice, Vienna, Castles on the Rhine, Munich.

I plan to book in the next week or so, for a trip in September and maybe early October. Is booking a month ahead leaving it too late.

If anyone wants to recommend any hotels I would appreciate that. I will be travelling alone, my budget is pretty small perhaps 100-150 euros a night. For me the most important thing is clean and quiet ! I am a very light sleeper and any traffic noise or music will mean I get no sleep at all ! If I stay at one of those chain hotels like Ibis I don't really care so much so I guess that could be a possibility.

I am amazed how organized some of the people on this forum are ! They seem to plan a year ahead and have everything coordinated down to the restaurant they will eat lunch at !

zeppole

You can answer your own question by going to booking.com, plugging in your travel dates for the cities you are going to, and reading user reviews for the available hotels.

You won't get results for le Cinque Terre, but for October you needn't worry about it. For Venice (and all of Italy), you can use venere.com instead of booking.com.

kfusto

You can read hotel reviews on tripAdvisor.com.

Use the search feature to pull up threads on the cities/areas you plan to visit and you will find a wealth of info. The many trip reports will be helpful to use to plan itineraries.

You are traveling at a very popular time and your budget is moderate. IME, the best value hotels/B&Bs book early so you may have to compromise on accommodations but your budget gives you some wiggle room.

ira

Hi SK,

IIRC, there are trade shows in Paris about the time you will be there. Check that out. Also check the dates for Oktoberfest.

For Paris, I can recommend http://www.hotelbonaparte.fr/

In Florence, http://www.bedinflorence.it/

For Munich, http://www.hotel-uhland.de/enwelcome.html

Enjoy your visit.

franco

I would start looking into Venice YESTERDAY. Nice accomodations in Venice typically book up half a year in advance, and the city is extremely expensive; you are on a budget, and can't accept any and all accomodation as a light sleeper, so you have certainly no time to waste.

Dukey

Re Munich...if it is DURING Oktoberfest you probably needed to book the hotel A YEAR AGO...although we have found places to stay closer to the dates but those can be few, far between, and perhaps not the "level" of comfort you like.

I honestly don't understand your comment about not liking to book ahead "because things come up"...I thought that was why for the most part hotels actually allow people to cancel without penalty but I guess I just misunderstand the whole thing.

Kay2

I posted this on Venice on an earlier thread:

There are several small 2* inns on the streets just to the left as you leave the train station. My niece and I stayed in a ground floor room with private bath and a/c a few years ago and were pleased with the location. Some of the inns in this area:

http://www.locandaorsaria.com/
www.hotelrossi.ve.it/eng/hotel.html
www.hotelguerrini.it/en/home
http://www.hotelcaprera.it/sito_ingl.html
http://www.hoteldolomiti-ve.it/htldo.../1024_main.htm

Paris:
I used Priceline to bid for a hotel.
My nephew stayed near des Gobelins or D'italie recently in a hotel found as others have suggested via Tripadvisor and booking.com and he was pleased.

Vienna:
Delta Hotel, Suitehotel and Ibis Messe (online specials)

I found our Cinque Terre hotel in a guidebook.
I didn't like my Munich hotel, so I wouldn't recommend it.

I don't know about availability during your time period. I have the most luck searching broad availability as mentioned before--booking.com, hotels.com, hrs.com, and then the hotel sites directly to see any specials.

Gretchen

Of course it isn't too late if you can get your flight, hotel reservations, etc. for the price you want to pay. You could even travel without reservations and go to the tourist office to get a room.

Fashionista

If you are flexible on where you go then you can book a few days before you travel. I admit its slightly different because I have shorter journeys, but I frequently decide on Wednesday to go to Paris or Amsterdam for the weekend. Sometimes you find things, sometimes you dont. In which case you go somewhere else.

It is useful to have a good list of places you want to see, just work your way down the list till something works. Being spontaneous is fun, but you do have to be a little more flexible sometimes.

bratsandbeer

I go on tripadvisor and read about the hotels or b&bs. Then email the b&b or hotel directly.

Vienna - try http://www.pension-suzanne.at/english/index_2.htm
It is a great location one block from the opera house. We liked this very much.

Venice - http://www.bbvenezia.com/
This is not by ST Marks Square but it is very inexpensive and we liked the location by a small neighborhood park right on the canal.

kerouac

Out of season, you rarely need to book ahead in France. In Paris, there are hundreds of one and two star hotels that are out of the internet loop, so even during the major events (fashion shows, trade fairs, etc.) there are rooms available off the tourist track.

Guenmai

I have a hotel thread. Type in the Search Box, Paris Hotels Left Bank Thread, or Paris Hotels Right Bank Thread. They're linked to each other. Happy Travels!

Sarastro

For France, the Loire Valley and the Cote d´Azur should present few if any problems finding hotels and/or restaurants during September.

However, Paris will be another matter as September is the absolute peak season for hotels due to numerous conventions and trade shows. Restaurant reservations will also be the most difficult to obtain during this month - there are plenty of restaurants it´s simply very difficult to obtain reservations at the more preferred or poplar eateries.

Parisian hotels are so difficult to obtain at this late date for September that I recommend your avoiding contacting hotels directly (what I usually do) and your going directly to booking sites such as:

http://en.venere.com/

http://www.parishotels.com/

http://www.parisby.com/

kerouac

Yes, September is absolutely the busiest month of the year. And yet my neighborhood hotels are never full.

Samurai_Kiwi

Thanks for all the advice. I will try and book things as soon as possible. I am somewhat flexible in my plans as well. So if I can't go to somewhere due to difficulty finding accommodation I am happy to miss it out and go there on a future trip. Similarly with regards to restaurants I'm not too worried about that.

I will make a point to avoid Munich during the Oktoberfest. Also when it comes to Venice, is it easy to find accommodation in nearby towns like Treviso, or does everyone have that idea?

franco

Don't even think about staying in nearby towns - for Venice, it's absolutely indispensable to stay in Venice proper. (Not in Mestre, either. And not on the Lido.) It would ruin the Venice experience, part of which it is to see no car for the days you spend there. Plus it would cost way too much of your time - commuting to Venice is very, very slow. Venice, with her boats instead of cars, is a really slow city.

jkbritt

if you want to stay a week in Paris, look at this studio. Probably around 300 to 350 Euro per week. We stayed there and loved it.

Nadine

Studio 30 sqm Paris 9e near Montmartre/Opera

E-mail : [email protected]

Website : http://locationparis9.canalblog.com