Two schools of thought constantly clash: those who book absolutely everything before departure to “have peace of mind,” and those who prefer to decide on the spot to maintain flexibility. Both are right—and both are wrong, because the real answer depends on the type of activity, not a general travel philosophy.
What Must Be Booked, No Exceptions
Some sites physically limit the number of visitors per time slot—major museums, monuments with capacity limits, excursions with a fixed number of seats. For these places, not booking in advance doesn’t mean “keeping flexibility”; it means “risking not accessing them at all,” or accessing them after a queue of several hours that could have been avoided. The Louvre, Sagrada Familia, the Alhambra, the Sistine Chapel: booking a dated ticket isn’t a comfort option, it’s a condition of access during peak season.
What Never Needed Booking
Conversely, a large portion of activities that people book “for security” objectively don’t need it: a stroll through a neighborhood, a market, most parks and viewpoints. Booking them changes nothing about the experience, other than adding a time constraint to a moment that would benefit from remaining flexible. The reflex to lock everything down in advance, driven more by anxiety than by real necessity, transforms a trip into a series of appointments rather than an experience to be lived at the moment’s pace.
The Case of Restaurants: It Really Depends on the Establishment
Highly sought-after restaurants (often identifiable by their repeated presence in several independent guides) sometimes require reservations weeks in advance during peak season. Others—the majority—can be easily discovered on the spot, and booking in advance removes the possibility of choosing based on your mood at the moment, or based on what you find along your route.
A Simple Rule to Decide
Before booking anything, ask yourself one question: “If I can’t access this, does it really ruin my plan, or will I easily find an alternative on site?” For the first category, booking is non-negotiable, as early as possible. For the second, booking offers no benefit—and removes the element of spontaneity from the trip, which is often part of what you came looking for.