bad idea?

We will be flying in to Amsterdam and staying for 5 nights. We then train to Paris and stay for another 5. We have another 5 nights till we need to be back in Amsterdam to fly out. We have hotel bookings for those first two legs but we%26#39;re thinking of waiting to decide whether we want to go back to Amsterdam or spend more time in Paris before we find a place to stay.

Those last 5 days will be dec 6-11. Will we be able to find a place to stay in Paris (or Amsterdam if anyone knows) if we wait to book till we%26#39;re there?

Thanks

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I think you%26#39;re pretty safe. That%26#39;s low season....

Les

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No problem. Sometimes it is a blessing in disguise, you can just go around and call the different hotels to see if there is anything available.

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No problem. Sometimes it is a blessing in disguise, you can just go around and call the different hotels to see if there is anything available.

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There are well over 2,000 registered hotels and guest accommodations in the city of Paris....you most probably even be able to extend your stay at your same Paris hotel if you want.....so the odds are that you will be able to find a room at one Parisian inn or another...and you won%26#39;t even need gold, frankincense, or myrrh...just your VISA card.

But against the possibility that you either cannot or don%26#39;t want to stay at you first Paris hotel, it would be a good idea to begin researching a few/several alternate hotels that appeal to you. Make notes with details (rates, addresses, telephone numbers personal pros/cons, etc--you can print out entire hotel web pages for reference) on each and carry these with you as aides-memoire/handy reference...you might even drop in on a few as you go about your travels (most hotels will allow you to check out a vacant room or two in the city to see if the photos match the realities. If you visit a hotel to check it out, it%26#39;s often good to visit mid-morning, while the staff is making up rooms. In addition to looking at vacant rooms, you may also be able to peek into occupied rooms as you pass while housekeeping is cleaning and making them up. Take the elevator to the top floor and come back down by the stairs.

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Staying over the additional 5 days in

Paris is an excellent plan !

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I%26#39;d stay in Paris for the extra time, having been to both (being lucky enough to live a mere hours flight away) there is a LOT more to paris than Amsterdam.

If you want to book when you get there, the best bet is to go to the tourist information (if you can%26#39;t stop in your first hotel) and they will book somewhere for you. It used to cost about 2 euros for the booking and they%26#39;ll find you one of the relevant star rating, not much choice on location though.

You are guaranteed to get somewhere though as they just ring round until they find somewhere for you.

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P.S

have you thought about going somwhere else for the other 5 days if you%26#39;re travelling back on the train to Amsterdam you could easily go to Bruges in Belgium which is a lovely City.

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We had thought of going somewhere else the other 5 days and have considered Belgium. I know there%26#39;s more to do in Paris but I still really like Amsterdam (I%26#39;ve been to both)I think there%26#39;s a lot more to it than the vices some people seek out. I really feel that it%26#39;s a very international feeling city.(does that make sense?) For some reason being there makes me feel like a citizen of the world rather than a US citizen. In Paris, I don%26#39;t feel like I fit in but I don%26#39;t care because I still love it. Sometimes it%26#39;s nice to feel %26quot;foreign%26quot; too..

Thanks for your advice, I think we%26#39;ll play it by ear. Maybe we will end up in Belgium. Maybe just for a couple nights or something..We will make a list of hotel possibilities for each city. That sounds pretty essential to me.

Thanks!