hotel reservations or not?
 

I am planning a trip to Prague,Ceske Krumlov, Vienna, Salzburg and Croatia for early June. I would love the flexibility of not making hotel reservations but that intimidates me a bit. I am traveling alone and have been to Europe twice before. I have seen some people end up with no place to stay,especially on weekends, what is your experience on finding rooms? I also prefer a pension or hotel to just renting rooms with a shared bath. Thanks!

Deb <BR>I can't speak to the availability of pensions in those cities, but this issue is one of those personality tests. <BR>Spontaneity vs planning, assurances vs <BR>risk-taking. Only you can decide for yourself, it depends on how you'd feel about coping with worst-case scenarios. <BR>I'm a planner myself, but even with that in mind I still recommend that you at least book a place to stay for the day your get off the plane and the night before you return, just to be assured of that much comfort and peace-of-mind on arrival and departure.

Deb, there are two schools of thought on this... the only cities you mention that I have been to are Salzburg and Vienna,I would recommend you make reservations at those cities since they are VERY popular tourist destinations especially in June. I have done Europe both ways and to be honest IMO having reservations is much less stressful! Yes no denying you loose flexibility...but what you loose in that you make up for in time, money and aggrevation. It is possible that you will arrive late at night in a city and not be able to find a room that is in your budget, (we ended up spending $200.00 extra one night during a festival in Canterbury England) something like that can really punch a hole in a budget. Also location, I like to take walks and there for search for a safe location with easy access to sights I want to see, in advance rather then end up staying "who knows where". Also, when I get to say, Salzburg I want to toss my bags into a room, lock the door and go out for sight seeing and meals... I really don't like getting into a town and spending the first couple of hours trying to find a place to stay. My husband would just as soon travel "as the wind takes us" however, so usually I book us into rooms in the major, popular cities, where price and location are a definate issue, then I leave a night or two in between for "whatever" then we have some flexibility and some freedom. Good luck.

The above advice is pretty good. If you do decide to go without some reservations I have one suggestion. Start your hotel search early in the day. Some of the small places lock their doors early. My wife and I have done it both ways, with and without reservations. We generally have no problem finding a nice place in the smaller towns of Europe as they are too small to advertise much and depend on the traveler passing through. Local tourist info booths can also help you. They are usually around the train stations and can be requested by price class. The large towns can get a little more difficult especially if you run into a convention you were not aware of that has the large places full. Good luck. Always an adventure!

Many years ago, my wife and I took a cruise. We met several older couples who had decided to wait to travel until they retired and then found themselves in such bad physical condition that they really didn't enjoy it. We decided then to travel as much as possible while we were still young. We're in our 70's now, and fortunately still traveling, but we never regretted that decision.

Good advice, sounds like you are advising I stick with my reservations since I do mostly go to larger cities. Maybe I will leave out one or two nights just to get a taste of what one goes through to find a place and leave it at that for this trip. Thanks for the input.

Because of the time of your travel & the popularity of the places, I would make reservations. For Prague, try www.avetravel.cz They have hotels/penzions in all price ranges & descriptions (some pictures). We stayed at Penzion Balbin, near the Muzeum Metro & Wenceslas Square. It is 5-10 minute walk to just about anywhere you want to go, has locked door to street so safe (upper stories of apartment building with elevator). I think it is $80/night for 2 during high season, clean room with shower & toilet, good serve yourself breakfast, and helpful English-speaking staff. <BR>For Vienna, try nethotels.com The hotelpension Arenberg is within the ring, affiliated with Best Western but maintains the old world charm of Wien (has queen size bed and pictures of famous people who stayed with Frau Arenberg when she owned it), easy walking to U-Bahn, Stephensplatz and has homemade Muslei! I paid about $50/night. Another option is Hotel Drei Kronen, near the University and easy walk to the Opera. It is not as fancy as Arenberg but very nice & convenient. Good breakfast and nice room. Both had shower & toilet in room, Arenberg had bath as well. I paid a little less than $50 there. Both have limited rooms so sometimes hard to book.

Linda, thanks for the great information. I will check them out.

Deb, I checked the nethotels site and it has Salzburg as well, and even Balbin in Prague ($53 for single).

Great info from Linda. Thanks! I'm headed to Vienna, Prague, Krakow in June. I have a dumb question: what exactly is a pension? Husband and I are travelling with 2 young kids, is this a better option to hotel?

Mo_G: Topping a seven year old thread is usually not the best way to get new info. But to answer your general question - a pension is sort of a guest house. Often smaller than a full service hotel but bigger than a B&amp;B. But that is just in general.

for last minute in Prague, go on www.travel.cz You can book a day before you get to Prague, or just show up in the city, call them, they send a car to get you from the airport, etc, take you to their office , and set you up with a place to stay. Last minute bookings get big discounts, and I would do that if I were in your situation.

Hi, doing this for 20 years and never had to make a reservation at that time of year. Only if there is a place you absoutley need to stay at like your first night and last night there. Only reservations I make. Have fun!
G

What about Vienna? Are last minute discounts available? I would like to book before I leave, but I just can't decide where to stay. I have looked at some good alternatives to pricey hotels. A few of the places got good reviews. What worries me is 1) I'm sensitive to cigarette smoke and the last room I tried to book had a non-smoking option if available. I've also heard that even if you need to also request a nonsmoking floor as the smell penetrates into the nonsmoking rooms. 2) If it doesn't state that there is airconditioning with individual controls in the room, I'm afraid it will get warm. 3) Our train arrives at 7:38 in the evening and we have reservations at 8:30 at Griechenbeisl. We only have 2 nights to spend in Veinna. I would like something close to the center of town and convenient to the train station. (Although it seems that we arrive in Vienna at one station and depart at another.)

I would prefer to spend a little less on hotel rooms so that we can spend more on touring, shopping, etc. Sometimes, the hotel itself is part of the experience of a city (if there is history or culture involved with the hotel)and it is worth the price. Any advice appreciated!