I booked mine in advance as I went, I did have a few hostels/ campgrounds that I booked before I left home but the majority of the hostels I booked the night or two before I went to the next destination. That allowed me to be open with my itinerary and stay longer/ shorter if I wanted to. Keep in mind you’re going to be traveling in the busy season so if you don’t book ahead, you run the risk of not being able to get a hostel! It happened to me in Paris and I ended up paying $80 a night instead of the $15 I had been paying along the way!

It’s really a matter of travel style. If you arrive in each city by mid afternoon and are willing to spend two or three hours trekking around looking for a place, you can always find someplace to stay and almost always find someplace decent that’s relatively cheap.

Sjohns’ strategy of booking a few hostels before you leave home and others a few days in advance as you’re traveling is a good one. Most of us who hang around this site always book the first night in advance — you don’t want to arrive jet-lagged, sleep-deprived, culture-shocked AND homeless. I’d also recommend booking more than a couple of days in advance if you’re sure of the dates and want to stay in a specific hostel, if you’ll be arriving at night, if there’s some sort of festival, concert, football (we’ve unknowingly hit Eurocup on three different trips) involved, or in more remote places where there aren’t a lot of choices. I always book the last night a couple of weeks in advance to assure a place with relatively easy transportation to the airport. Many flights back to the US leave early in the morning and a slight glitch can make getting to the airport on-time a hassle.