Frequently Asked Questions

If you are travelling in the next few weeks, please check your inbox – we will have sent you an email with an estimated dispatch date.

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We grade our walking and cycling holidays, 1 being the easiest and 3 being the most demanding. You'll find definitions of our grades on our pages about walking holidays and cycling holidays.

We recommend suitable city breaks which can be added on to your holiday in the ‘extend your stay’ section of the relevant holiday page. Clicking on the link there will take you through to the city page with more information about the city and the hotels we offer there.

We can give you an indication of whether a holiday is currently available for your chosen dates when you contact us, but we won’t hold rooms for you until you start the booking process and pay a deposit, so it is possible that someone else makes a booking in the meantime. (For this reason, we advise you not to book your travel until the holiday is confirmed.)

We don’t show availability on our website for two reasons. Firstly, most holidays feature three or four hotels (sometimes more), many of which are too small to make it worthwhile for them to invest in a live online booking system. Secondly, to show availability would mean we’d have to compromise on flexibility, restricting start dates and extra nights.

There’s no easy way (see above). What we suggest is making a shortlist (or deciding which country, type of holiday, grade and scenery you’d like) and then contacting us.

We don’t count the days of travel as part of your holiday, so only number the days that you spend exploring. The best way to think of it is that the day that you travel to your starting point is Day 0.

Yes, you can do this before or after your Inntravel holiday, or, if you’re booking two or more holidays, in the middle if you so wish.

There are various options to extend your holiday. You can add extra nights into the itinerary, or combine the holiday with another, or with a city break. We make suggestions in the 'extend your stay' section of each holiday page.

The date range(s) shown at the top of a price panel and in the search results show the full operating season(s) of the holiday. The last date in each range is the date by which you must finish the holiday (eg if the season is 1 April-31 October, and it’s a 7-night holiday, the latest you can start is October 24, but if you decide to add two extra nights, you’d have to start on October 22).

No, it’s not practical for us to list every available option. Those in the flight list are the options most commonly booked by our customers. There is an even wider choice if you are happy to fly via Paris or Amsterdam with Air France or KLM, for example.

It’s also worth bearing in mind that the options listed in the table do not necessarily operate daily or for the entire period during which we offer the holiday.

We charge a fee for our flight-booking service, but there are two main benefits: convenience and peace of mind, including ATOL protection. If you ask us to arrange your flights, it is our responsibility to resolve any problems. In worst-case scenarios such as a significant delay or a cancellation, this could involve us rearranging your connecting travel or even booking an alternative flight and/or accommodation, all at no extra charge to you.

Yes, and many of our customers ask us to do so as they find it more convenient to book everything through us. See our travelling by air page for more information.

You should always wait until we have confirmed your accommodation arrangements to you.

You can choose to make your own arrangements or book travel through us (see the 'connecting travel' section on the holiday page for options and prices). If you do book it through us, we detail the route and timings on your personalised Itinerary. Further information is contained in the final travel documents sent to you before your departure, which provide every detail you need to know. Sometimes train or bus tickets can only be purchased locally, but we will provide you with full information of how to do so.

Sometimes we use hotels, sometimes we use other types of accommodation (see following questions) – it depends on what exists in a given region. Something that’s true of all areas and all holidays, however, is that we have visited and hand-picked every single place. Not all of them have star ratings, but don’t let this put you off – some countries such as Norway don’t have a classification system, while elsewhere smaller establishments and certain types of accommodation are often exempt from the classification process. By this token, the lack of a star rating is often an indication of a place’s charm and intimate atmosphere.

This is a type of accommodation found in France, best described as a guesthouse. There is usually just a handful of bedrooms, making for an intimate atmosphere. Often, meals are taken around a communal table, with your hosts and other guests. See our chambres d’hôtes page for more information.

These are working farms which can also accommodate guests. Some are charmingly rustic and quite simple, while others are very stylish, with lots of creature comforts. Being in the middle of a big estate, the accommodation tends to be very tranquil, and you’ll often find produce from the farm featured in the cooking.

In some countries, such as Spain, Switzerland, Norway and Greece, twin rooms with two single beds are the norm, so this is not usually a problem.

If you are travelling to Austria, Germany and northern Italy, however, you should be aware that many hotels offer beds comprising two mattresses with individual duvets, which, because the mattresses are side by side on one large base, are neither proper twin beds, nor a true double bed, but somewhere in between. In this case, you may prefer to book two single rooms.

We will reserve a double bed for you wherever possible, but in some countries, such as Spain, Switzerland, Norway and Greece, twin rooms are the norm (though some hotels will push them together for you). Similarly, in Austria, Germany and northern Italy, many hotels offer beds comprising two mattresses with individual duvets, which, because the mattresses are side by side on one large base, are neither proper twin beds, nor a true double bed, but somewhere in between.

You will almost always have a bedroom with en-suite facilities that include a toilet, sink and bath and/or shower. Of the hundreds of hotels and guesthouses we work with, only a handful have shared facilities, and we indicate these rare exceptions on the relevant holiday page and/or when you book.

At some hotels you’ll have a true single room, but at most hotels you’ll be given a double room for single occupancy. If you want to upgrade to a room with a sea view etc, different prices apply than those stated in the ‘room upgrade prices’ table, because these prices are based on two people sharing a room.

Whatever suits your family. If you’re a family of 3 or 4, you can choose to all be in the same room, sharing one bathroom, either with a double bed and one or two single beds, or with three or four single beds (the exact arrangements will depend on the hotel in question, but normally they will all be proper beds rather than sofa beds). If you’d prefer to be in separate bedrooms, that’s also fine. (Families of 5 or more will normally need to be accommodated in two or more rooms.) We will be happy to offer advice if you are unsure as to the best option for your family.

Outdoor pools are normally only available for use during longer periods of fine and warm weather, so it depends very much on when and where you are travelling, and local conditions at the time – an outdoor swimming pool at a coastal hotel in southern Spain is likely to be open for a longer period than that of a hotel in the mountains. Please tell us if a swimming pool is essential to the enjoyment of your holiday.

It’s important that you tell us about any special dietary requirements when you book your holiday. Please only tell us about requirements, not preferences – hotels, particularly smaller establishments, can only cater for essential requests.

It depends on the type of holiday you’ve chosen. Prices for snow holidays do (bar one or two exceptions) include flights, but prices for other holidays do not. This is because there is such a wide choice of routes and airlines and because our customers live all over the UK (and, indeed, the world!), meaning that what suits one customer may be completely wrong for another customer.

If you are arranging flights through us, we charge a booking fee to cover administration costs. Similarly, there’s an administration fee if you make any changes to your booking after you have been invoiced.

We sometimes have to charge a supplement to our published ‘by air’ and ‘by rail’ prices if you are booking after seats have gone on sale (usually 11 months beforehand for flights, 10 months for Eurostar) and there are no longer any seats left in the tariff band on which our prices are based.

To help with budgeting, it is also worth looking at exactly what is included in the holiday price. If you have chosen a holiday with dinner included every night and a picnic every day, there’ll be very little extra to pay while you’re on holiday other than drinks (which are not included in our dinner arrangements) and incidentals. If dinner and picnics are only included on certain days, obviously you’ll need to pay for meals on the other days.

We base our holiday prices on the date you arrive at the (first) hotel (normally the day of outward travel), even if the majority of your holiday falls into a different date band.

Prices for extra nights are based on the date(s) you are staying at the hotel in question. If your extra nights fall on 30 September and 1 October and there are different prices for September and October, you would pay the September price for the first extra night and the October price for the second.

All our prices are based on two people travelling together and sharing a room. The ‘single room’ price covers single occupancy of a room and applies not only to single travellers, but also to anyone requiring a room of their own. The ‘single traveller supplement’ covers luggage transfers and/or transfers to the start of walks, which again are normally shared between two people in our prices. This is shown at the bottom of each price panel.

Although we are extremely grateful to those customers who book with us time and again, our policy is not to offer loyalty discounts as it would mean we’d have to increase our prices across the board.

Yes. Provided that you are not looking to book too far in advance, we will let you know the guaranteed maximum price and, if you are happy with this, secure the accommodation for you. If, when prices are published, the price is lower than that quoted, we will re-invoice you at the lower amount. If the published price is greater, you will pay the original agreed price.

The one thing to bear in mind is that we review feedback of each holiday at the end of the season and sometimes make improvements as regards the itinerary and/or accommodation. If there are any such changes, we’ll advise you of these at the same time as confirming the price, and give you the option of cancelling with a full refund of your deposit.

Everything that you need for your holiday that we are unable to send to you electronically – any rail or other tickets you require, car hire vouchers, local maps, plus our detailed notes. The latter contain details of your accommodation; useful guidance regarding your connecting travel; cultural and historical notes about the region you are visiting; easy-to-read route notes for walking and cycling holidays; suggestions for sightseeing and eating out, if appropriate; and all relevant telephone numbers and addresses.

So that there is time to read through everything before departure, we normally aim to send all customers’ documents to their home address about two weeks beforehand, and we allow extra time in the case of customers living outside the UK. If you need us to send your final travel documents particularly early (because you are travelling elsewhere before your Inntravel holiday) or would like us to send them to an address other than your home address, please inform us well in advance.

For group bookings, we only send out final travel packs to the postal address of the lead passenger on each booking. Digital versions of the final holiday documentation can be emailed to individual passengers, which can be requested during the booking process.

 

Your hotelier or our local ground agent will be able to help out in most situations. Over the years we have built up such good relationships with the hoteliers that, in effect, they act as our overseas representatives, looking after Inntravel customers particularly well. If they are unable to help you or you need further assistance, you can contact our office or, for out-of-hours emergencies only, you can contact our 24-hour helpline.

It is a condition of booking with Inntravel that you are comprehensively covered for medical emergencies and repatriation. You may already have medical insurance, but do check that it covers you while abroad, that it covers Covid-19, and that the level of cover is sufficient – the cost of accident or illness that results in hospitalisation, or even repatriation to your country of residence, can be extremely high. We also strongly recommend that you have travel insurance cover for other eventualities, from costs incurred through cancellation or travel delay, to loss of luggage or personal possessions, and more severe events such as serious accident or illness while on holiday.

We don't sell insurance, but you can find details of one insurance provider that you may wish to consider on our insurance page.

British citizens must have a full British passport with sufficient validity to visit the countries featured on our website, but no visas are currently required. However, an electronic travel authorisation scheme is being introduced in 2023 for travel to countries within the Schengen area; see our passports and visas page for more details.

Non-British citizens should check visa requirements with the embassy of the relevant country (including any countries you are travelling through).

Whatever your nationality, it is your responsibility to ensure that you have the correct documentation.

Thankfully, things are pretty much back to normal now, but if it's your first time travelling since lockdown, you might like to read our Covid-19 page.

For all but a very few exceptions, no – our holidays are for individuals, not groups. This means that you can explore at your own pace, stop for a break whenever you want, start on a date of your choosing, and tailor the holiday to suit you (for example by adding extra nights).

No, because we provide you with all the information you’ll need (covering transfer details, restaurant recommendations and much, much more) and also because you’ll receive a really warm welcome at the hotels, most of which we’ve worked with for many years. If you have any questions about the local area, or have any problems, they’ll be happy to help. You can also, of course, contact the Inntravel office at any time; we provide an out-of-hours helpline for emergencies.

Yes, but because you will be exploring entirely independently with the help of detailed route notes, you should be confident at map-reading and ideally have experience of walking or cycling alone (if not, we strongly recommend choosing a holiday which passes through lots of villages, rather than in a remote area).

You should also take the usual precautions such as informing the hotelier of the route you are undertaking that day before setting off, carrying a mobile phone, wearing suitable clothing, and being prepared to turn back if the weather turns foul.

Our policy is not to accept dogs on any of our holidays, even single-centre ones, as there are too many considerations to bear in mind, such as whether taxi firms accept dogs for transfers to the start of walks, whether routes cross private land on which dogs are not allowed, and proximity to a veterinary practice.

English is widely taught in schools across Europe, so you will often find that hotel staff speak at least a little English, especially in larger towns and cities. In remoter areas where visitors are less common, we recommend taking a phrase book with you; any attempts to speak the local language will be greatly appreciated. If you find yourself completely stuck, you won’t be the first of our customers to resort to sign language and mime. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!

Most European countries to which Inntravel offers holidays use the euro. The exceptions are Switzerland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Croatia, the Czech Republic and, of course, the UK.

You should always be prepared for unseasonably warm or cool, dry or wet conditions, especially in mountain areas and at the start and end of seasons. We hope very much that you will be blessed with fine weather and our descriptions of the views assume that you are exploring in good, clear conditions. We indicate average daytime temperatures for each month on most holiday pages. For detailed advice about the best time to travel, please speak to our expert team.