A bed for the night

One of the big advantages of camping when cycle touring is that you don’t have to worry to much about where you are going to spend the night. All options are open, rough it in the bush, use a camping ground, or book into a hostel or hotel.

If you do not have camping gear then your options are severely limited, especially when you are far from well-beaten tourist trails. Sometimes this is good as the hotels, hostels; B&Bs are used by business people so tend to have early breakfasts and substantial meals which are not overly rich. One the downside there are only a few to choose from and are often full. In some cases the hotels can be cheap and basic, in other cases extremely luxurious with room rates to match. Therefore, deep pockets and a healthy budget are required.

As cycle touring is not a predicable means of travel due to the vagaries of the weather flats, motorists and a host of factors outside of cycle tourism hotels we usually booked one or two days in advance.

Blois Chateau - Is there a spare room for the night?

The risk of locking in accommodation a week or two in advance is that you must maintain a schedule. This is possible if the distances travelled are short then it can be rather boring if the “attractions” are underwhelming. Too much distance can result in hard riding which is no fun.

We tend to book accommodation only one or two days ahead.

During June and July of 2010 we generally stayed in 2 and 3 star hotels when we travelled from Nantes to Besançon. The cheapest room was €35 per night; the most expensive was €200 per night and averaged around €75 per night for a double room with private bathroom. The cheapest and most expensive rooms were taken in situations where there was no other accommodation within couple of hours riding.

What is your experience when using hotels along EuroVelo 6?

Should we pack the tent for the eastern end of EuroVelo 6?

Alternatively, is there plenty of good cheap accommodation?