Traveling in Tuscany June/July without a place to sleep
Mar 29th, 2008, 06:16 PM
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Traveling in Tuscany June/July without a place to sleep
Here in the states even during tourist season it's not difficult to snag a room or B+B without a reservation. Tuscany in the summer might be something else. Has anyone ever just driven around the reigion during this time of year without a base? I have visions of being somewhere, liking what I'm doing and just want to find a place local to stay instead of driving back to my base. Is this nuts or poor planning?
Mar 29th, 2008, 10:28 PM
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Clearly you have not traveled in the rural United States very much. Try finding a hotel room during summer vacation on major interstates, during baseball tournments, fairs, horse shows, conventions and tractor pulls. In some cities the hotels fill during major coventions and Expos. If you are willing to spend vacation time looking for accomadations, driving some distance to a place with availability, are not extremely concerned about price, and enjoy the flexability of traveling without reservations, then I say go for it. For some people the trade off is worth the flexibility. If it fits your temperament, it is neither nuts or poor planning.
Mar 29th, 2008, 10:41 PM
#3
"<i>Here in the states even during tourist season it's not difficult to snag a room or B+B without a reservation.</i>"
The States is a mighty big place. Don't know where you normally travel but if it is along the California coast, or wine country, the southwest canyonlands of Utah/Arizona, or just about any popular touring area it is definitely not true that one can find nice places/B&Bs in the summer w/o booking ahead.
Tuscany is much the same - not having rooms booked often means paying top dollar/€ for the last place in town - or not finding a room at all.
The States is a mighty big place. Don't know where you normally travel but if it is along the California coast, or wine country, the southwest canyonlands of Utah/Arizona, or just about any popular touring area it is definitely not true that one can find nice places/B&Bs in the summer w/o booking ahead.
Tuscany is much the same - not having rooms booked often means paying top dollar/€ for the last place in town - or not finding a room at all.
Mar 30th, 2008, 12:56 AM
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Polepiece,
I did exactly what you describe about 7 years ago on my 2 week exploration of Italy. Unless things have changed drastically since then, I think you would be fine.
The caveats I would throw your way:
-You can't be super picky about where you stay..you may end up sharing a bathroom.
-It helps to talk to other tourists you encounter and find out where they stayed. This is how we found a lovely family to stay with in Florence. They rented out the upstairs of their home to tourists, and the price of our room included a home-cooked dinner by the matriarch of the house.
-Your plans must be flexible. Some super-touristy areas will undoubtedly be full. This happened to us in Monterosso, and instead of heading elsewhere we slept on the beach under a pier. We were young and probably quite stupid, but we had a lovely time.
I did exactly what you describe about 7 years ago on my 2 week exploration of Italy. Unless things have changed drastically since then, I think you would be fine.
The caveats I would throw your way:
-You can't be super picky about where you stay..you may end up sharing a bathroom.
-It helps to talk to other tourists you encounter and find out where they stayed. This is how we found a lovely family to stay with in Florence. They rented out the upstairs of their home to tourists, and the price of our room included a home-cooked dinner by the matriarch of the house.
-Your plans must be flexible. Some super-touristy areas will undoubtedly be full. This happened to us in Monterosso, and instead of heading elsewhere we slept on the beach under a pier. We were young and probably quite stupid, but we had a lovely time.
Mar 30th, 2008, 01:45 AM
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We did exactly that on our first trip to Europe - June/July/August, covering Turkey, Greece, Holland, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France, England, Scotland, Ireland.
A couple of times we had to stay more upmarket than usual, and once (in Inverary) we ended up in the kids' bedroom of a family whose kids were holidaying elsewhere at the time, but otherwise things were OK.
Some tips: call at Tourist Info Centres when you arrive in town - they're generally helpful. Be flexible - if nothing in town drive on, but not on motorways - you won't find anything on a motorway, but several times we were saved by a "zimmer frei" or "chambre d'hote" or "B&B" sign simply appearing on an otherwise semi-deserted lesser road.
A couple of times we had to stay more upmarket than usual, and once (in Inverary) we ended up in the kids' bedroom of a family whose kids were holidaying elsewhere at the time, but otherwise things were OK.
Some tips: call at Tourist Info Centres when you arrive in town - they're generally helpful. Be flexible - if nothing in town drive on, but not on motorways - you won't find anything on a motorway, but several times we were saved by a "zimmer frei" or "chambre d'hote" or "B&B" sign simply appearing on an otherwise semi-deserted lesser road.
Mar 30th, 2008, 07:13 AM
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Tuscany is so popular these days I would not suggest a free lance approach. I do suggest getting more than one base---one in Chianti and then another in Val d' Orcia. The drive time will be tolerable.
Mar 30th, 2008, 08:05 AM
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Polepiece,
While the visions you describe are lovely, I think the days are over when you can travel to a popular place such as Tuscany in high season and have no trouble finding a place to stay. You might get lucky, but it's a gamble.
While the visions you describe are lovely, I think the days are over when you can travel to a popular place such as Tuscany in high season and have no trouble finding a place to stay. You might get lucky, but it's a gamble.
Mar 30th, 2008, 08:59 AM
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A lot of places have cancellation policies where you can cancel up to one day ahead. These tend to be more low-end chain places, but they do exist. You could book yourself into some of these so you know you'd have something, then call and cancel the day before if you find you don't need it.
But as the others have said, unless you are willing to: a.)spend many hours searching for something, b.)pay considerably more than you would need to if you booked ahead, and, c.)are very ok with either low end or high end accommodations, then I wouldn't do it.
But as the others have said, unless you are willing to: a.)spend many hours searching for something, b.)pay considerably more than you would need to if you booked ahead, and, c.)are very ok with either low end or high end accommodations, then I wouldn't do it.
