navigating the hotel crisis in europe

Even before the CDC lifted the return testing requirement for vaccinated travelers, we were seeing a huge influx of new inquiries for Europe — many of them last minute requests. And we’re not alone. Unless you’re planning six months in advance, there’s very little availability for hotels in most European cities right now. We’re having real difficulty finding suitable mid-range hotels in Amsterdam, Copenhagen, London and Paris, just to name a few of the most popular cities in Europe.

That’s a real problem if you’re looking for a custom itinerary for land-based travel in Europe. Highly-customized independent travel is our forté, and many of our supplier partners for Europe are turning away any bookings for the summer. We’ve never had a tour operator tell us that they’re not even willing to try to plan something, and yet — that’s the response we’re hearing right now.

We could try to cobble something together for you, but you’re going to be paying an arm and a leg for anything that’s well-located and high-quality.

But you do have options. Cruise lines — including some river cruises — have good availability on many of their European sailings this summer.

For Northern Europe, Baltic cruises are no longer stopping in St. Petersburg, Russia, which is the draw for a lot of people who might otherwise be booking those itineraries. So if you’d like to see Denmark, Sweden, Finland and Estonia, we could easily find a sailing where, rather than staying at expensive, sub-par hotels, you’re on a luxury small ship, like one of Windstar’s yacht cruises. Unpack once and your boutique hotel floats from destination to destination. We recently booked a lovely stateroom on a Holland America Norwegian Coastal Cruise with barely two weeks before embarkation. They’re spending a fraction of what it would cost to visit Norway—one of the priciest destinations in Europe—on a land tour.

In the Mediterranean, you could explore the Côte D’Azur, the Greek Isles, or the Croatian Coast on a cruise itinerary. One of our preferred cruise partners — Virgin Voyages, just launched a new ship in the Mediterranean, with overnights in Ibiza, it’s a great option for people who want to have a super fun cruise that will upend your expectations about cruise travel.

Not a fan of oceans? Our river cruise partners can take you into the heart of Europe on one of the iconic waterways of Europe — the Rhine or the Danube. Or, if you’d like to explore Portugal or France, we’d be happy to show you trips on the Douro or Seine. These incredible itineraries give you the opportunity to see new cities and towns each day, with so much included — meals (shop with the chef in the local markets, perhaps?), accommodations, sightseeing. It’s a great turnkey option to avoid sky-high hotel prices.

We know that lots of people have preconceived ideas about cruise travel, but we’re here to tell you that our supplier partners have a broad range of styles — from luxury small ships, to innovative sustainable eco-friendly vessels to gorgeous small ships on the rivers of Europe— and considering how much is included on these journeys, we think it’s absolutely possible to have an authentic experience immersing yourself in a destination, while staying on board a ship operated by one of our preferred cruise partners.

Think it’s too late to book Europe this summer? You don’t have to miss the boat. Drop us a line!