driving tour of France, book hotels in advance or during?

Hi all,

I'm planning on a driving tour of France in September, visiting the
Loire Valley and then out to Alsace. I'm trying to decide whether I
need to nail down an itinerary and book all the hotels in advance or
whether to leave the whole thing more open and find hotels each night.
That way the whole trip could be a bit more flexible and could also
compensate for the fact I'm not 100% certain of distances, how much
time I'll want to spend in each place, etc.

Could anyone provide some general advice on the subject of how easy it
is to find lodging each night? It's not necessary to have 4 star
hotels along the way, just comfortable places that aren't completely
disgusting. Between my girlfriend and I, we speak enough French to
communicate that we are looking for a hotel and to follow some
directions.

Any thought or advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Jason

I'm planning on a driving tour of France in September, visiting the
Loire Valley and then out to Alsace. I'm trying to decide whether I
need to nail down an itinerary and book all the hotels in advance or
whether to leave the whole thing more open and find hotels each night.
That way the whole trip could be a bit more flexible and could also
compensate for the fact I'm not 100% certain of distances, how much
time I'll want to spend in each place, etc.

Could anyone provide some general advice on the subject of how easy it
is to find lodging each night? It's not necessary to have 4 star
hotels along the way, just comfortable places that aren't completely
disgusting. Between my girlfriend and I, we speak enough French to
communicate that we are looking for a hotel and to follow some
directions.

Any thought or advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Jason


Jason,

My wife and I have traveled all over France (often in September) and have
*never* booked a hotel in advance. We have never had to sleep in the car
yet. If all else fails, there are the chain hotels along the major roads
just outside all sizeable towns. A bit dull but clean and cheap.

The only "problem" is that it is best to lock down your room before about
4:30 in the afternoon which might be a bit limiting if you plan to drive
later than that. A good place to find a room is the tourist office but they
often close at about 5 p.m. and few stay open later than 7 p.m..

You might consider choosing 2 or 3 base points where you can stay for a few
days in each. This spreads out the time spent finding and moving into / out
of the hotel. You don't say how long you are going for but we generally find
that 3 areas / hotels is about right for a two week trip. That way, you can
spend 4/5 days in each one and really explore the area but still see a bit
of variety. For somebody keen enough on driving to plan a driving holiday,
just about anywhere in France can be reached from just about anywhere in
France in one day. We've done the Pyranees to Brittany in one day and you
can't go much further than that. It might be a long day, but you will have a
few days in your next destination to get over it. Generally, if I do one of
those marathon drives, I try not to drive at all the next day and just spend
it "chilling out" in the new town. The day after that you can start
exploring the area.

To get some ideas, please feel free to visit our web site:
http://perso.orange.fr/terryr999/.

T..

wrote:

I'm planning on a driving tour of France in September, visiting the
Loire Valley and then out to Alsace. I'm trying to decide whether I
need to nail down an itinerary and book all the hotels in advance or
whether to leave the whole thing more open and find hotels each night.
That way the whole trip could be a bit more flexible and could also
compensate for the fact I'm not 100% certain of distances, how much
time I'll want to spend in each place, etc.

Could anyone provide some general advice on the subject of how easy it
is to find lodging each night? It's not necessary to have 4 star
hotels along the way, just comfortable places that aren't completely
disgusting. Between my girlfriend and I, we speak enough French to
communicate that we are looking for a hotel and to follow some
directions.

In those circumstances, I wouldn't bother booking ahead except if I
was going to a busy city during the working week.

It might be worth your while to get your hands on a booklet such as
the guide to the Logis de France, which gives some assurance of
standards, price indicators, phone numbers, and directions on finding
the hotel. If you use the Logis hotels, they are willing to book ahead
for your next stop, if you are minded to use such a service.

--
PB
The return address has been MUNGED
My travel writing: http://www.iol.ie/~draoi/

Hello Jason,

France in September don´t use to be crouded of tourists and so you
will probably find Hotels without real problem.

Altought, if you can preper your travel with time, has it is the case,
is always better to book hotels in advance and try to safe some money
on it.

Advanced online hotel booking is regularly more economic than going
direct to the Hotel and in most cases it gives the possibility to
change or even cancel the reserved Hotels without charge.

So I suggest that you preper your way in advance and book your stays at
http://www.hotelgate.net.

This site offers free reservation and cancellation (Usualy cancellation
is free till 1 or 2 days before arrival - Ckeck the specific advanced
cancel perioud of the choosed hotel when you book)

Have a nice travel.

No need to book in advance
If you sleep over in chain hotels, I would hold a reservation 1 or 2 days
beforehand

a écrit dans le message de news:
...
Hi all,

I'm planning on a driving tour of France in September, visiting the
Loire Valley and then out to Alsace. I'm trying to decide whether I
need to nail down an itinerary and book all the hotels in advance or
whether to leave the whole thing more open and find hotels each night.
That way the whole trip could be a bit more flexible and could also
compensate for the fact I'm not 100% certain of distances, how much
time I'll want to spend in each place, etc.

Could anyone provide some general advice on the subject of how easy it
is to find lodging each night? It's not necessary to have 4 star
hotels along the way, just comfortable places that aren't completely
disgusting. Between my girlfriend and I, we speak enough French to
communicate that we are looking for a hotel and to follow some
directions.

Any thought or advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Jason

wrote in message
ps.com...
Hi all,

I'm planning on a driving tour of France in September, visiting the
Loire Valley and then out to Alsace. I'm trying to decide whether I
need to nail down an itinerary and book all the hotels in advance or
whether to leave the whole thing more open and find hotels each night.
That way the whole trip could be a bit more flexible and could also
compensate for the fact I'm not 100% certain of distances, how much
time I'll want to spend in each place, etc.

Could anyone provide some general advice on the subject of how easy it
is to find lodging each night? It's not necessary to have 4 star
hotels along the way, just comfortable places that aren't completely
disgusting. Between my girlfriend and I, we speak enough French to
communicate that we are looking for a hotel and to follow some
directions.

Any thought or advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Jason

Instead of looking for lodging each night, my recommendation would be to
choose one place in the Loire Valley and another in Alsace. Both areas are
good for daytripping to see the attractions. For the Loire, somewhere
between Tours and Amboise would have you centrally located for visiting the
Loire between Angers and Orléans. In Alsace, between Strasbourg and
Mulhouse try Colmar, Riquewihr or Sélestat along the Route du Vin. We
stayed in Strasbourg and liked it, but I think it would be easier to tour
from one of the smaller towns. Both are lovely areas.

If you would prefer to keep moving around, the tourist offices are usually
the best resource for finding accommodation. I notice that Terry Richards
and Padraig Breathnach have already given you some good recommendations, and
I concur about both the Tourist Office and Logis de France suggestions. We
have stayed in a few of the Logis de France hotels and have never been
disappointed. Their restaurants are usually quite good, and after a day of
touring around it's nice to have dinner, wine, then walk down the hall to
fall into bed. We've also used the tourist offices in many a French town
to find accommodations. The most interesting have been in homes and on
farms.

Bon voyage!

GG

wrote in message
ps.com...
Hi all,

I'm planning on a driving tour of France in September, visiting the
Loire Valley and then out to Alsace. I'm trying to decide whether I
need to nail down an itinerary and book all the hotels in advance or
whether to leave the whole thing more open and find hotels each night.
That way the whole trip could be a bit more flexible and could also
compensate for the fact I'm not 100% certain of distances, how much
time I'll want to spend in each place, etc.

Could anyone provide some general advice on the subject of how easy it
is to find lodging each night? It's not necessary to have 4 star
hotels along the way, just comfortable places that aren't completely
disgusting. Between my girlfriend and I, we speak enough French to
communicate that we are looking for a hotel and to follow some
directions.

Any thought or advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Jason

IMO, there is absolutely no reason to book ahead in September unless you
want a specific hotel in a specific destination.

Would not have thought so.

Perhaps the best policy would be to book one night in advance from the
hotel you are already in. This assumes you use the Formule1, Etape,
Ibis sort of facility. Just pick up a guide at the first hotel you
stay in and all the relevant info will be in it.

Goggle for the above hotels may help.

a écrit dans le message de news:
...
Hi all,

I'm planning on a driving tour of France in September, visiting the
Loire Valley and then out to Alsace. I'm trying to decide whether I
need to nail down an itinerary and book all the hotels in advance or
whether to leave the whole thing more open and find hotels each night.
That way the whole trip could be a bit more flexible and could also
compensate for the fact I'm not 100% certain of distances, how much
time I'll want to spend in each place, etc.

Could anyone provide some general advice on the subject of how easy it
is to find lodging each night? It's not necessary to have 4 star
hotels along the way, just comfortable places that aren't completely
disgusting. Between my girlfriend and I, we speak enough French to
communicate that we are looking for a hotel and to follow some
directions.

Any thought or advice is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!
Jason

In september it is not necessery to book in advance,exept your first days
,after each tourist office will give you the information ,and why
not try the french B&b "Chambres d'hôtes",?
here good adresses for all France

http://www.likhom.com/
http://www.france-pittoresque.com/
http://www.samedimidi.com/


have a nice trip

Eveline
www.bandb-villa-bali.com

wrote:

Hi all,

I'm planning on a driving tour of France in September, visiting the
Loire Valley and then out to Alsace. I'm trying to decide whether I
need to nail down an itinerary and book all the hotels in advance or
whether to leave the whole thing more open and find hotels each night.

Wing it. Like others have said you'll always get a dull chain hotel
room. We like Etaps, cheap but clean and functional. In '02 we spent 2
weeks driving from Caen down to Dordogne and back via the French Grand
Prix. Apart from the nights before and after the race (for which we
booked into a Chambre d'Hôte weeks in advance) we just carried an
"Accor Hotels" book from the first Etap and called ahead about 5pm each
day when we knew where we would be.

Accor includes Etap, Ibis, Sofitel etc. and if you check their map
you'll see that most big towns have several:
http://www.accorhotels.com/accorhote...rech_par_carte

This was July. You'll have no problem in September.
Al