Saw a YouTube where a couple went all over Portugal and did not make hotel reservations and easily found rooms in every city. This was in 2024 "shoulder season".

We will arrive LIS on 24 Sep and fly out on 6 Nov. Itin is arrive LIS and go by train direct to Porto. Then Coimbra, Tomar, Evora, Faro, Seville, Lagos and ending in Lisbon. We already booked hotels in Porto and Coimbra. I think I would like to wing it for the rest for a few days ahead or look when we get there (except maybe Lisbon and Seville).

Am I nuts for even thinking this? Thanks in advance. Steve PS: when I posted another question awhile back there was question of why not fly into Porto and fly out from LIS. One is already have no change reservations and two is the fares were better into LIS.

If you are driving I would strongly suggest reservations for the large cities. That way you can establish the parking structure you will use closest to your hotel. There are streets in Seville where I would not take a car and where your hotel might be located.

I agree with Michael about the advantages of booking in advance of you have a car. Parking is NOT always available in these locations, or might be available only some distance away or at a very high cost.

If going by public transportation, I think it depends on your tolerance for less than ideal lodging -- there's a difference between finding a place to put your head and finding one where you WANT to put your head. You should be able to make reservations that can be cancelled with 24 hour notice using booking.com, so you wouldn't be ceding all your flexibility.

You are not at all crazy for thinking this is possible. I am more likely to reserve now than I used to, but I still leave some days open. Sounds like you have your head on your shoulders according to your OP.

Thanks all. We won't have a car (subject to change). I'm usually anal about having things all in concrete probably because of being retired Army and being 83. Thinking I'll stick to my old ways since it has done me well. Did 45 days in Europe last year and all lodging was reserved through Booking before we left the States and all were good. As always, appreciate the counsel. Steve

I always reserve because I do not want to waste time during my trip looking for a place to stay. I also like having a nice place to stay in a good location at a good price.

Unless there is some festival in the town you are going to, I'd wing it.

Seville appeared quite crowded when we were there in October. Without calling ahead to see if a room is available, coming into this city without reservations represents the possibility of schlepping luggage from one hotel to another, finding them full.

I use APPs on the train on the way in or the night before at the previous hotel. Schlepping (over 40 years) I've never done.

"I always reserve because I do not want to waste time during my trip looking for a place to stay. I also like having a nice place to stay in a good location at a good price."

100% agree.

I use APPs on the train on the way in or the night before at the previous hotel. Schlepping (over 40 years) I've never done.

I would just like to point out that the OP exempted Seville from this strategy.

I think that in today's world, I prefer to have reservations so you are able to plan how to get to hotels and places of interest from train station and can reserve the level of accomodation you are used to staying in. Plus you need to check for hours of operation and closures in places you plan to visit, but you can adjust later on as. needed. October can be very crowded as people want to avoid traveling in the summer heat.

I travel with a flip phone, not conducive to internet searches.

There is a huge difference between having a 6 week itinerary set in stone with every single night booked ahead of time and booking a few days in advance. IMO, unless you are extremely picky about where you stay, booking a day or two in advance should be sufficient. (Lodging at first and last destinations is obviously a different story and should be pre-planned.) In your shoes, what I would do is prior to your trip research lodging in each place you want to stay. Make a list of 2 or 3 places in that town you would like to stay in, and keep that with you. A day or two before you want to visit a city, make a booking from your list of acceptable lodgings. Unless there is a something extraordinary occurring, like a festival, concert or trade fair, you should be fine.

Someone above said that they didn't like to waste time on a trip looking for lodging and someone else talked about schlepping your luggage from place to place looking for a place to stay. With what I suggested, this wouldn't happen. And, you also need to remember that other people may have booked lodging as a backup or are waiting to find a better price, and then they cancel at the last minute opening up rooms.

What if you really like a place and want to linger? Will you regret being "forced" to leave because of a rigid, locked in itinerary? IMO, having a rigid itinerary makes your trip less personalized and takes away one of the major advantages of traveling independently. It also doesn't allow for serendipity, which in our travels often provided the best experiences.

I realize that things have changed since the pandemic (but I also have been reading that revenge tourism has now declined), but in all of our years of travel (and we did a lot!) we only had a lack of lodging fiasco once. We had pre-booked a hotel in Regensburg, Germany, for 3 or 4 nights and were planning to make the 3 hour drive from there to the Frankfurt airport for our flight home to the US. In theory this plan should have been great. But, during our stay in Regensburg we were told that there was a lot of construction on that autobahn. So, we cancelled our last night in Regensburg and decided to just drive towards the airport in Frankfurt and get a room somewhere closer to the airport. This was a Thursday in summer. We couldn't find a room anywhere until a small hotel owner finally took pity on us and called a friend at a local hotel/B&B and found us a room. It turned out that this particular weekend there was a frisbee tournament with 10,000 attendees. But, that was a one off.

Give yourself some flexibility.

Obviously, there are pros and cons and each of us has our preferences. FWIW, I would note that having a reservation does not FORCE one to stick to a pre-formed plan, though one would probably need to assume the cost of a a night or two at a lodging one had already reserved if one chooses not to stay there. That's always an option. I certainly don't think that having a pre-planned itinerary with fully booked reservations makes a trip "less personalized" or that it eliminates any advantage of traveling independently. Again, we each have our own approach to travel.

Well, now you folks have me thinking again. Really interesting posts that I appreciate and others will find interesting for their journey. Julies, very thoughtful points. Thanks everyone! Steve

I long for the days when we could just play it by ear the way we did years ago. Perhaps if there are only two of you booking one room, you'll have an easier time of things; not having a car perhaps makes it a bit riskier. I do like the idea of booking the large cities in advance. So many times you have to book in advance for the sights you will see so also having a set place to stay is only reasonable.

Please come back and tell us how things went after your trip; I, for one, would love to read about it.

Me, too!!

While continuing to acknowledge that there is no right or wrong answer, I’ll mention a few more considerations since that the OP is now reconsidering waiting to make reservations.

· I can’t honestly say that I don’t have time to search options for accommodation while on the road; I can say that I do not want to spend ANY time doing that while traveling. With the few moments of “free time” I have, I want to catch up on my journal or write to friends or just savor the many memories I’ve been accumulating.

· Searching while on a trip probably requires access to wi-fi. Although it’s widely available these days, not everyone has access at every moment, and so finding time to search might also mean finding a place with wi-fi access.

· I make terrible decisions when travelling! And I don’t want to make decisions when traveling, beyond things like which wine to have with my meal, whether to have a second cup of coffee with breakfast, or whether to walk or take a taxi – decisions about momentary preferences. YMMV.

· Tomar and Evora are relatively small and have a limited number of accommodation options in their historic cores. The options that are available vary widely in price, availability of various amenities (such as an elevator), and favorability of ratings. Over breakfast one morning last April, I spoke with a couple who were considering stopping in Tomar the next day. After about a half hour of searching, they found ONE option; it was so expensive and so unsuited to their preferences that they ended up debating whether to skip Tomar.

I’ve travelled without reservations; I’ve travelled with a list of well-researched options; I FAR prefer booking ahead! That said, I recognize pros and cons that each of us must weigh in light of our own preferences.