We are heading to Germany/Austria in June (myself, husband, 13 and 14 year old kids). Our plan includes a couple of nights in Monschau, Cochem, Dinkelsbuhl, Munich (3 nights) , Salzburg and Vienna. Is it necessary to book accommodation before we leave, or can we "chance" it with Zimmer Frei or B&B's as we go? We are driving and like to have a little latitude.

Hi ang,

One never <i>needs</i> reservations.

One can always spend a few hours hunting up accommodations.

I think that it would be particularly entertaining to be dragging a couple of teens around while you do it.


In case you don't find that such a good idea, I can recommend http://www.ammoos.at/main.php?language=en&m=home%29 in Salzburg.

It shouldn't be too difficult to find accommodations in June in that area. Schools are not yet out for the summer and accommodations fill up as everyone goes on summer vacations. If you take the secondary highways and roads, often parallel to the Autobahn, you will see more of the "real" Germany and have better success with accommodations. It would be helpful to know some basic German in these locations.

You could also buy a voucher accommodations book before you leave with a hotel guidebook and make reservations the night prior when you know your specific travel plans. These are often family-run small hotels who have joined a major chain only for marketing purposes. Then, you would have flexibility to travel spontaneously, but be assured of a room at the end of the day.

Have fun!
Julia

I would not advise it, especially for the bigger and busier locations. We are booking for early June in some of those locations and have found many desirable places already booked up.

Consider the logistics of trying to find a place to stay in, say, Vienna or Munich on the fly. These are big cities with lots of choices but also lots of tourists. I don't know where you would necessarily begin once you arrive in the city, particularly after a day of driving. Salzburg is another high demand location.

In your case, you already have some special considerations because you are travelling with children, so you might find acceptable lodging, but be forced to rent two rooms.

This will also depend on what you consider to be acceptable and comfortable lodging and whether you are willing to live with something in an off location, or paying more, or willing to hunt around for a couple of hours.

I can understand the desire to be flexible, but it will come at a cost. A little advanced planning, particularly for the big cities, could save you hours of time you could spend enjoying your vacation.

If you do go this route, you might immediately call ahead or check in to the local tourist office to ask for vacancies. This might give you a centralized lead on accommodations without having to drive around or make dozens of phone calls.

Woyzeck is spot on.

Especially for Munich, Salzburg and Vienna you should plan ahead. If you check consolidator websites like hrs.com you should even get better rates than without reservations.
Or at least have a list of 2-5 favorites to make reservations a night ahead while traveling.
Hotels at the edge of Munich will usually offer much lower rates for the same number of "stars" and you won't have to go across central Munich during the rushhour and pay a huge amount of € for downtown parking (usually €20-25 per day).
Otherwise you can wing it.

Looking for places as you go means time wasted and less control of your overnight costs. Book ahead. Rooms for four are much less numerous in Europe than in the US. You might be able, if you book NOW, to secure one apartment in those places instead of having to book two rooms as you go (some family-run places may end up with only one room for two if left to the last minute.) Exercise your "latitude" by making driving,activity and sightseeing decisions as you go. All of that will amount to plenty of decision making already without concerning yourselves with finding rooms too.

Munich has tons of hotels of all levels around the train station which is a good area to be in. Once when wwe stayed on Schillerstrasse i counted 30 - 40 hotels within sight of the place we were staying. Give us your budget and maybe we can help you. FYI a car is not a bebifit in Munich, parking is expensive, horrendous and traffic is a headache. You might consider dropping your car when you get to Munic and dropping it when you leave.

Yes, when I think about it - definitely booking rooms for Salzburg, Munich and Vienna. And the thought of trying to find a room with teenagers in tow, maybe not such a good idea . I did a similar trip with my parents and teenage brothers in the late 1970's and trying to find rooms (and this was early December!) was stressful. But then there wasn't the internet back then, so how my mother managed a one month road trip across the US and two months in Europe for a family of 5 - I don't know - but I have new respect for her! Thanks for the help.

It is possible to look for hotels as you go. But that may take significant time away from sightseeing - finding a a place that you like in your price range with 2 rooms available (or an even rarer family room that will hold 4 people).

This is much more doable if you have a lot of time and don;t mind spending most of a day looking for a place to stay OR if you have generous budget and don;t really care how much the rooms cost.