The classic option: Hotels

From historic five-star deluxe inns to simple, homey one-star mom-and-pop pensions, you can find hotels to suit every taste and budget in Europe

You know the drill. This is the classic option for a place to lay your head whilst traveling. Doesn't mean it's the best—and rarely is it the cheapest (I've got two dozen lodging alternatives to hotels here)—but there's nothing wrong with a good ol' hotel room.

Heck, I've made much of my living over the past decade recommending hotels (along with restaurants and such) in travel guidebooks. Hotels are such a standard and widely chosen option, there's a whole section of this site devoted to how they work, how to find the best ones, the tricks to get a better/cheaper room, and the differences you'll find between most American and European hotels. You can read all about that here.

As for where to find and book a good hotel , I've partnered with Booking.com and Hotels.combecause they are the most inclusive booking engines for Europe I've yet found.

Unlike most other booking sites, Booking.com includes hundreds of choices for each city that are in the cheaper price ranges (one- and two-star hotels), plus lists apartments, farm stays, B&Bs, and other non-hotel options.

I've also begun posting my own hotel picks in every price category for Europe's major cities.