Booking hostels in advance?

[Michael]

Generally how far ahead do you have to book in advance?

Is it a matter of days or should I be planning my trip to a T right now? I like the idea of being somewhat flexible with my options so booking a few days in advance is preferable to a month or so...but I'll do what I have to do

[Kim]

That sort of depends on your destinations..

For example, when you get off the boat on the Greek Islands, there will be hoards (and I mean HOARDS) of people to greet you wanting to rent you a room. Obviously for this kind of situation, you don't have to book, you just go with the flow. (Make sure to ask where the rooms are - very important)

But, if you wanted to stay in the hostel in the Cinque Terre, I would definately make a reservation and it has to be done at least a week in advance or they won't accept it. (I recommend booking at least a month in advance for this hostel)

Reservations are good if:

• You are on a budget. Often the cheap decent hostels get booked up first.
  
  
• You have limited time in a city and don't want to spend half a day hunting down a place to stay.
  
  
• You are looking for a specific type of budget room - single, double, triple or quad. You can usually find a dorm bed without too much fuss.
  
  
• You aren't sure about major city holidays for the city you are going in. You could show up to a city and have everything be booked solid due to a festival or event.
  

Basically, if you are OK with a dorm bed and aren't picky about the hostel you will probably be OK if you phone a few days ahead of time and make a reservation.

We started out our trip doing this then threw in the towel, sat down and planned it out. Made the reservations then were done with it. Found it was taking too much time calling around etc.

Remember - if you make a reservation, you can always call them and ask them if they can push back the reservation by a few days. If you give them a couple days notice, it's usually no problem.

Kim

[Michael]

All good to know, especially Cinque Terra...as soon as I figure out if my boss won't fire me if I extend beyond July 3, I'll book it!

Thanks again Kim!

[nitsansh]

It depends on the place, depends on the time of year, day of week or time of day... and may be a matter of luck...

The time is important - the earlier you arrive, you have more options still open...
Weekends (fridays and saturdays) are more busy than midweek.

In big cities there are usually many hostels and chances are you'll find some place to stay... (it might not be the best or the cheapest, though) while in small towns with only one budget place to stay you better make sure you get it...

In my latest trip, the hostel at Piran was full on the weekend I planned to stop there, so I skipped it... in off season that's usually a result of a group booking the entire hostel...