Pre-book or take a punt?

Grip Fast · Post by **Grip Fast** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 4:46 pm

I want to try to be a bit flexible on my home-bound journey up through France.

Those of you who are experienced travelling through France, would you normally pre-book hotel stops, or just take a chance on finding one when you've gone as far as you want on a day? Is it easy to find a room for the night?

I'm planning on 2 full days travelling up through France, with the Eurotunnel on day 3. So 2 overnight stops.

Boxadog 2000 · Post by **Boxadog 2000** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 6:14 pm

I have travel led through France,Spain,Germany extensively over the last 40 years and have only ever pre booked less than a half a dozen times.
Generally booked when in a large group

popsky · Post by **popsky** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 6:34 pm

If your solo and riding on your own I would probably just turn up, we always pre book our trips only cause we like to know where we're stopping and what's on offer, but then your limited to that schedule.

andy griff · Post by **andy griff** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 6:39 pm

What time of year ?
If its now then no need to book unless you want to know where you are staying. If its Bastille day then yes !

Overall, I have found French accommodation very good including recognising the way in which we motorcyclists like our bikes looked after - have even seen a hotel move his car from the garage to get our bikes in - which was nice.

tanneman · Post by **tanneman** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 7:18 pm

Getting a room in a hotel or a space to camp is considerably easier outside of silly season. We check were we want to stay over and check the rates. If we like it we turn up unannounced. So for so good.

If you for example will use the same hotel chain for your travels ask at reception if they can book the next days stay at your destination. Sometimes you get a bit of discount.

Fw190 · Post by **Fw190** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 7:19 pm

I always set targets, if you have a booking and know where you're going it helps at the end of a long wet day on the bike. you know what you can achieve in a day.

If you're travelling over the Easter weekend then I'd book chap, hunting for a bed for the night when you're cold wet and tired ain't fun.

my thoughts, safe travels

Ty

tanneman · Post by **tanneman** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 8:29 pm

Ah yes, now that it is mentioned. Get accuweather on the phone. If it looks like rain for the next day then it is best to check into a hotel. The Garmin type navs and Sygic has addresses stored for hotels. So if you wing in on the hols a few phone calls in the morning can save you a bother later in the day when you expect nasty weather.

We ended in Caen 2 years ago travelling back to Blighty. Woke the morning to a sombre sight of rain through the north of France. Scuppered any idea of staying another day in France and moved the tunnel booking which was cheaper than booking a hotel for the eve. You got to be flexible in that respect when taking a punt. And it allows you to head into a different direction than the foul weather. No escape for us that day, the rain stopped just the other side of Bishop's Stortford.

But it is always good to know where you are going to end up. Nice hotel pre booked with secure car park. An evening stroll with the missus to a good recommended restaurant. The good life.

Grip Fast · Post by **Grip Fast** » Tue Mar 31, 2015 9:58 pm

Many thanks for the great replies - given me some ideas to consider. I'm travelling down with a couple of other guys this weekend and we have everything pre-booked. However, I'm coming back solo the weekend after and only have the tunnel booked.

I might wait until I get down there so I get a feel for the journey, and I can always book something during the week if I want to fix the return.

I do like the idea of being flexible about route and timing, but I also like to have an endpoint to aim for each day, especially if the weather is dodgy.

Boxermed69 · Post by **Boxermed69** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 4:31 am

As has been said, should be no worries this time of year. TBH, during our 3000 mile jaunt last May/June we didn't have any problems finding a hotel with rooms. We didn't pre-book at all; just took stock of where we were over lunch and where we'd likely get to at a decent hour. Then fired up Google on the phone and found a couple of hotels. Pitched up early evening and had no issues. 2nd hotel choice was for insurance but didn't need it once. We tended to stick to Ibis, Novotel and the like. Not the cheapest but not bad, and you know what you're gonna get.

Did commit a bijou faux pas (see what I did there?) - our penultimate day was 5th June. Made good progress north so decided to stop in Bayeux. Found an Ibis in the centre of town and turned up. Place was rammed with coaches. My mate's turn to book/pay. The receptionist laughed at him - "You do know what day it is tomorrow?" Yep, only the 70th anniversary of D-Day. Plonkers! We were lucky - the Ibis sister hotel, about a mile up the river, had one room left. It was 180 Euros but sod it.

So, check your dates against a list of French national holidays and, er, big events. Like what we didn't...

Mike

GRAgusta · Post by **GRAgusta** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 4:18 pm

We used to live in France, generally booked ahead during the Summer months.

But a good tip would be go visit first fortnight in September. The locals all holiday July / August and most stay at home. 1st September they ALL go back to work, hotels are empty.

slparry · Post by **slparry** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 4:37 pm

GRAgusta wrote:We used to live in France, generally booked ahead during the Summer months.

But a good tip would be go visit first fortnight in September. The locals all holiday July / August and most stay at home. 1st September they ALL go back to work, hotels are empty.

agreed Septembers a great month for visiting France, we used to do the Bol in September and never had a problem

Blackal · Post by **Blackal** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 4:56 pm

I always like to know where the night will be spent, rather than leave to chance.

As long as the mileages are comfortable, then being able to choose the town and hotel, so that the accommodation is what we want, and there are some bistros/bars/restaurants to suit - then that is my preference.

Sure - we've arrived earlier than expected sometimes, and could have managed another 50 miles or so.......... but the availability of a booze boutique means that the time isn't wasted ...........

But - everyone is different.

Al

GRAgusta · Post by **GRAgusta** » Wed Apr 01, 2015 8:26 pm

Blackal wrote:I always like to know where the night will be spent, rather than leave to chance.

As long as the mileages are comfortable, then being able to choose the town and hotel, so that the accommodation is what we want, and there are some bistros/bars/restaurants to suit - then that is my preference.

Sure - we've arrived earlier than expected sometimes, and could have managed another 50 miles or so.......... but the availability of a booze boutique means that the time isn't wasted ...........

But - everyone is different.

Al

Al

TBH this is normally our modus operandi, if Mrs A is going to enjoy her holiday to the max the hotels have to be correct ... well researched, and well delivered.

We have had a few wild card nights abroad, but normally our itineraries are booked up well in advance and we have never missed one despite some incidents along the way.

Tapio · Post by **Tapio** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 3:58 pm

My itinerary is always very loose. It contains a bunch of tourist traps, nothing more.
Never book anything, not ferries, not hotels, not camping sites, nothing.
Never had any problems, except once last summer when a hotel was out of vacancy in Bratislava.
If I plan on staying for a few days and the weather is good, I look for a camping.
If it's late, it's raining and i'm tired, I look for a hotel.

I have this app: https://play.google.com/store/apps/deta ... ripadvisor
it's great! You come to a town, start it up and do a search for hotels. You can filter your search for price and/or distance from where you're at (GPS on). When you find a hotel that seems nice it tells you how many vacant rooms there are at that hotel (forgot that in Bratislava!).
It even asks you if you want to have help finding the hotel. Tick yes, and it navigates you to it!
I strongly recommend it. No more planning ahead for me!

popsky · Post by **popsky** » Thu Apr 02, 2015 5:28 pm

GRAgusta wrote:
Blackal wrote:I always like to know where the night will be spent, rather than leave to chance.

As long as the mileages are comfortable, then being able to choose the town and hotel, so that the accommodation is what we want, and there are some bistros/bars/restaurants to suit - then that is my preference.

Sure - we've arrived earlier than expected sometimes, and could have managed another 50 miles or so.......... but the availability of a booze boutique means that the time isn't wasted ...........

But - everyone is different.

Al
Al

TBH this is normally our modus operandi, if Mrs A is going to enjoy her holiday to the max the hotels have to be correct ... well researched, and well delivered.

We have had a few wild card nights abroad, but normally our itineraries are booked up well in advance and we have never missed one despite some incidents along the way.

This is exactly us and our trips Mrs P is most discerning