If you turn up somewhere and go straight to the tourist office, they will tell you what the position is. You will not spend six hours or even half an hour looking for accommodation. If the town has no hotel accommodation available, the tourist office will tell you that straight away, and they'll almost certainly suggest the best place to go to find somewhere. It depends, as I said before, on where you plan to stay. Seaside resorts may well be full in July, but commercial cities will be no problem at all.

Actually, Geoff, if the town is booked up, it's quite possible that it will take hours to find another room if it means going to another town and starting a search all over.
Shrink, if you're determined to follow this seat-of-your-pants plan, I think you should compromise...make reservations before you leave for the first night or two. Then, as your trip goes on and you have a better idea of where you'd like to go, contact the tourist office of your next destination a day or two ahead. You will still have some spontaneity in your travels, but also assurances of a roof over your head throughout the trip.

Tourist offices will know where hotel rooms are available from contacting other tourist offices and from their computer systems. The idea that you would spend hours trying to find accommodation in Germany or Switzerland is pretty absurd. In some cases, tourist offices will take your details and ask you to come back later, by which time they will have booked something - that has happened to me in Scotland and in the Scandinavian countries. The tourist offices in European countries are pretty efficient at dealing with people looking for accommodation.

We make reservations for the first night 's hotel (to get over jetlag), and the last night's hotel (before the flight), and otherwise just wing it. It has never been a problem, and we enjoy the freedom of deciding on the fly where to go next.

We just stop by the tourist office upon arriving in town and they find a perfect place for us every time.

Thanks folks!!
I really appreciate all your comments. I think you have talked me into a certain amount of planning. I wonder what people did before Fodors -- sleep in the streets I guess. Thanx again.
shrink