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Serious reservations

Here's how to stay ahead of the hordes in 2012.

In the Upper Midwest, travel can be competitive.

Many events are so big and so fun that everyone wants to go. If you want to go, too, you'll have to act fast to stay ahead of the crowds.

Sometimes, you need to know when not to go. In Chicago, G8 and NATO summits will be held the week of May 15-22, filling hotels and likely disrupting tourist movement.

And then there are such huge gatherings as EAA AirVenture July 23-29 in Oshkosh, which fills hotels throughout east-central Wisconsin.

The first week of January is the best time to go after hard-to-get reservations.

Most people rebook their lodgings as they're leaving after a big festival. But often deposits are due in January, and there’s always someone who doesn’t send one and forfeits the room, so you can snap it up.

Call now if you want to go to such huge events as Apple Festival in Bayfield, when 60,000 people cram themselves into the tiny northern Wisconsin village of 611, and Nordic Fest in Decorah, Iowa, when 75,000 people pour into town and rooms are so hard to get they're practically a family heirloom.

One of the hardest reservations to get is a room in Duluth for Grandma’s Marathon in June, when 14,700 runners and 30,000 to 40,000 spectators fill the town.

Hotels fill up the day after the previous year’s race, and, with hundreds of people calling every month, few hotels bother to keep waiting lists.

But in February, many people who reserved last June will find out they didn’t get into the race, and they’ll start to cancel. That’s the time to call hotels, as well as during the third week of May, when 30-day cancellation policies go into effect.

There are many ploys that increase the odds of getting a reservation. It’s best to call the day after a big event, but if you have to call later and the inn is full, ask to put your name on the waiting list.

And look for new properties that haven’t been advertised much. Peruse city Web sites or ask the staff at visitors bureaus if there are new places to stay.

The prize rooms go to people who pay attention, ask questions — and make a lot of calls.

To reserve the choicest cabins and lodges in Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa and Michigan state parks, be at the phone a year in advance. 

The best campsites in state parks also go fast. For Iowa campsites, call three months in advance; for Michigan campsites, six months in advance; for Wisconsin campsites, 11 months in advance; and Minnesota campsites, a year in advance (though the reservation line will be down until March 1).

For summer weekends, you’ll increase your odds if you also reserve for Thursday night; then, you can make your call a day earlier. You must use the site Thursday, however, or forfeit the entire stay.

Winter is a good time to look for summer weeks at lake resorts, where the best cabins on the best weeks rarely come up for grabs, and for rooms in Duluth, Chicago, Milwaukee, Door County and anywhere on the Fourth of July.

Book fall weekends at North Shore cabins in Minnesota and inns along the Mississippi River as early as possible.

If you know you want to take Amtrak or the Megabus at a certain time — say, to take the kids to Chicago during spring break — book as soon as you see a rate you like; the cheapest seats sell first.

Before booking fares to Chicago, first check its convention calendar to see if a huge convention is in town; if so, rooms will be very expensive.

Big conventions/events in 2012 include the Chicago Auto Show, 100,000 people over Feb. 10-19; America's Beauty Show, 47,500 people over March 3-5; International Home + Housewares Show, 60,000 people over March 10-13; Kitchen & Bath Industry Show, 60,000 people over April 24-26; National Restaurant Association, 54,000 people over May 5-8.

During the summer, NeoCon World's Trade Fair brings in 40,000 people over June 11-13. In fall, the IMTS conference brings 94,000 people Sept. 10-15; Ryder Cup, 200,000 people Sept. 25-30; and the Chicago Marathon, 40,000 people over Oct. 6-7.

Halloween usually is a great time to visit, but this year, the PACK Expo is bringing in 65,000 people Oct. 28-31. And Christmas shoppers might think the week after Thanksgiving would be a good time to visit, but 58,000 members of the Radiological Society of North America  are in town then, from Nov. 25-30 in 2012.

This month-by-month guide will help you nail down the most-coveted and hardest-to-get reservations.

Here's our guide to the biggest and best events of 2012.

JANUARY

January is a good time to reserve for any place you want to visit this year.

Reservations for backcountry camping permits in Michigan's Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore are accepted starting Jan. 1, and a drawing is held the third Thursday in January. After that, reservation requests are filled as they come in.

The group campsites and individual sites at Mosquito and Chapel campgrounds go fastest. Forms are at www.nps.gov/piro; for details, call 906-387-3700.

In the northeast Iowa town of Decorah, Nordic Fest on July 26-28 draws 75,000 people to the town of 8,500. A reservation in one of the town’s motels or B&Bs is nearly impossible to get, so most people camp or stay in private homes or rooms at Luther College. The college’s best accommodations are new townhouses with kitchens, then air-conditioned rooms. 

Reservations open in early January; call 563-387-1538. Eventually, people book rooms as far away as Rochester or La Crosse.

In Minnesota state parks, reserve a cabin or guesthouse for next New Year’s Eve weekend. In Tettegouche State Park, the four cabins on Mic Mac Lake and the Illgen Falls Cabin are in particular demand for the holidays.

Reservations for cabins, suites and guesthouses in state parks can be made a year in advance online or at 866-857-2757, toll-free in the United States and Canada. Starting March 1, reservations can be made daily between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. (after the first day of availability, on-line reservations can be made 24 hours a day).

Lodgings in Minnesota state parks also are in demand for the long Martin Luther King weekend.

Iowa also has a nice variety of rustic and modern cabins in state parks. They book a year in advance.

Reserve early for the best choice of entry permits into the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Entry permits for two Fall Lake entry points and three on Moose Lake will be allocated by lottery until Jan. 19. Others will be first-come, first-served at www.recreation. gov starting Jan. 25.

Starting Feb. 1, phone reservations will be taken on weekdays, 877-444-6777. For more, see Minnesota's Boundary Waters.

In Michigan state parks, campsites can be reserved six months in advance. At some campgrounds, particularly those on the beach-lined west coast of Lake Michigan, 100 percent of sites can be reserved, so it's crucial to reserve early.

At Porcupine Mountains Wilderness State Park on the Upper Peninsula, 80 percent of sites can be reserved.

Cabins in Michigan parks also are coveted and can be booked a year in advance.   Call 800-447-2757 or go to www.midnrreservations.com.

FEBRUARY

When Valentine’s Day falls on a Friday or Saturday, rooms at inns and B&Bs book up several months in advance.

On Wisconsin's Chequamegon Bay, the folksy Book Across the Bay ski and snowshoe benefit race/tour between Ashland and Washburn, Feb. 18, now attracts 3,500 people, so book early.

The American Birkebeiner between Cable and Hayward, North America’s largest cross-country ski marathon, fills northwest Wisconsin, Feb. 23-25.

In Iowa, the deadline for mail entries in the cross-state bicycle tour RAGBRAI is Feb. 15, and the deadline for on-line entries is April 1. The ride, July 22-28 in 2012, limits  weeklong riders to 8,500. Entries are accepted by lottery.

In Iowa, campsites can be reserved three months in advance at 877-427-2757.  Only 50 percent of campsites can be reserved. For details, call Iowa state parks at 515-281-5918.

MARCH

St. Patrick's Day is on a Saturday this year, so reserve weekend lodgings as soon as you can.

If you're a foodie, reserve far in advance for Chicago Neighborhood Tours, especially Taste of the Neighborhoods, four new Taste tours and the new Hops & Barley: Pubs & Microbreweries tours, which are sure to be popular.

Reserve early for spring-break trips to the indoor water parks of the Wisconsin Dells. The three best and biggest are the Kalahari, Great Wolf Lodge and Wilderness Resort.

Many other hotels around the region also have indoor water parks that children will think are plenty of fun.

Going to Chicago by train is a great spring-break trip. The cheapest seats sell first on Amtrak, so reserve as early as possible at 800-872-7245.

APRIL

This is the time to reserve accommodations for big summer festivals, if you haven't already.

MAY

If you want to go to the annual Great Taste of the Midwest in Madison, the second-longest running craft-beer festival in North America, you'll need to send in a mail order for tickets or show up in person the first week of May at one of various vendors in Madison.

Only 5,000 tickets are sold for the event, Aug. 11. It's held from 1-6 p.m. in Olin-Turville Park, and brewmasters from more than 100 Midwest breweries serve samples of 500 beers. 

This month, the big festivals begin. One of the best is Tulip Time in Pella, Iowa, which brings 150,000 people to the town of 10,000. It’s May 3-5, timed to coincide with the blooming of 250,000 tulips.

In Chicago, G8 and NATO summits will be held the week of May 15-22, filling hotels and likely disrupting tourist movement, so it may be best to visit another time.

Wisconsin's state parks have nine cabins for people with disabilities. They’re very popular and can be reserved a year in advance; reserve now for next year’s Memorial Day weekend.

Modern cabins are in Buckhorn, High Cliff, Mirror Lake, Kohler-Andrae and Potawatomi state parks and at Ottawa Lake in the Southern Unit of Kettle Moraine State Forest and in Richard Bong Recreation Area.

Rustic cabins are at Copper Falls and Blue Mounds state parks. Reservations are taken by individual parks; for information, call 608-266-2181.

JUNE

In Wisconsin, campsites can be reserved 11 months in advance, 888-947-2757, so now is the time to think about reserving for next year. In 2013, Memorial Day is May 27, the Fourth of July is on a Thursday and Labor Day is Sept. 2.

The most in-demand campsites are in Peninsula and Devil’s Lake state parks and the Crystal Lake and Clear Lake campgrounds of Northern Highland-American Legion State Forest near Minocqua.

In Wisconsin, some park and forest campgrounds have a high percentage of first-come, first-served sites; look for one of those if you’re not able to reserve far in advance. Arrive on Wednesdays or Thursdays to increase the odds of finding a campsite without a reservation. 

The annual Wright Plus Housewalk is held June 2 in Oak Park, Ill., with interior tours of eight private homes designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and his contemporaries, plus entry to three other Wright buildings. Tickets for the tour, $85-$100, sell out far in advance. Phone orders begin Jan. 5.

Grandma’s Marathon in Duluth is June 16. Many hotels have three-night minimums, and most raise rates for the weekend. Check in February and May for cancellations.

In March, dorm rooms become available at the College of St. Scholastica, the University of Minnesota-Duluth and the University of Wisconsin-Superior; shuttles serve guests who stay there.

In Chicago, the Blues Festival, June 8-10, draws more than half a million people.

JULY

Summerfest, which Milwaukee calls “the world’s largest music festival,’’ brings nearly a million people to the lakefront festival grounds. It’s June 27-July 1 and July 3-8 in 2012. Hotels fill, but there are always rooms available at the very nice dorms of Marquette University.

Then there are Milwaukee's big ethnic festivals, starting with PrideFest and Scottish Fest in June and ending with Indian Summer Festival the weekend after Labor Day; in between, there’s Juneteenth, Polish Fest, Bastille Days, Festa Italiana, German Fest, Irish Fest and Mexican Fiesta. 

Taste of Chicago has been shortened and no longer is held over the Fourth of July; it's July 11-15 this year. But it'll still attract crowds.

In Madison, the Art Fair on the Square and Art Fair Off the Square draw more than 200,000 people to the Capitol/State Street/Monona Terrace area. They're July 14-15.

The tourism behemoth in eastern Wisconsin is the annual EAA AirVenture in Oshkosh, which draws 700,000 to 750,000 people and fills up every hotel room within a 50- to 60-mile radius. The Experimental Aircraft Association festival is July 23-29 in 2012. The Oshkosh housing hotline is 920-235-3007; for festival details, call 920-426-4800.

This is the time to start looking for a lake resort for next year, though some resorts have last-minute cancellations. If possible, drop by resorts in person while traveling in the area this summer.

It's also the time to reserve weekends and holidays in Minnesota state parks for next year.

Split Rock, which has a very scenic location on the North Shore but not many sites, is the hardest-to-get camping reservation, followed by Temperance River, Tettegouche, Itasca, Gooseberry Falls, McCarthy Beach (on the Iron Range, near Hibbing), Bear Head Lake (near Ely), Judge C.R. Magney, Jay Cooke and Cascade River.

In Minnesota’s state parks, 70 percent to 80 percent of campsites can be reserved. Call 866-857-2757 or reserve on-line.

AUGUST

In Sturgis, S.D., a quarter million people on Harleys will attend the Black Hills Motorcycle Rally Aug. 6-12.

In western Minnesota lakes country, the We Fest country-music festival fills the area around Detroit Lakes, Aug. 2-4, though most festival-goers camp on the grounds.

The Bayfront Blues Festival is the other big weekend in Duluth, Aug. 10-12.

In the far northeast corner of Minnesota, it's notoriously hard to find close-in rooms for the Grand Portage Rendezvous and Powwow, when re-enactors from across the continent converge on Grand Portage National Monument. Reserve right after this year's event, Aug. 10-12.

SEPTEMBER

The Labor Day Bridge Walk over the Mackinac Bridge, the third-longest suspension bridge in the world, fills lodgings within a 50- to 100-mile radius of St. Ignace and Mackinaw City, Mich., and especially Mackinac Island. 

In Chicago, Jazz Festival draws 300,000 people over Labor Day weekend, Aug. 30-Sept. 2.

In La Crosse, Oktoberfest draws 150,000 people to the shores of the Mississippi. It’s Sept. 28-Oct. 6.

OCTOBER

Apple Festival in Bayfield fills the Wisconsin village on Lake Superior to bursting; people stay as far away as Duluth. It’s Oct. 5-7 for its 51st anniversary.

The Fall Art Tour in southwest Wisconsin on the third weekend of October has become extremely popular, with many devoted customers returning year after year. Artists open their studios in and around Mineral Point, Spring Green and Baraboo, with shoppers taking in the fall scenery between stops.

Accommodations for fall in Door County are in high demand. Leaf color stays beautiful through the third week of October.

Reserve as soon as possible for fall-color weekends on the North Shore. For peak inland color, aim for the last weekend of September; for peak color along the shore, the first weekend in October.

Because of the Education Minnesota teacher conference, Minnesota schoolchildren have a four-day weekend Oct. 18-21, and the shore is packed.

NOVEMBER

This is a quiet month. But more and more people are reserving a cabin or villa on the North Shore to watch the gales of November or fix Thanksgiving dinner.

For information about rentals, see Renting a vacation house.

Holiday festivities get going this month; see Great holiday festivals.

DECEMBER

This is the month to shop. Chicago is full of holiday shoppers, many of whom come for the open-air Christkindlmarket in Daley Plaza, which starts on Thanksgiving and runs through Christmas Eve.

Hard-core shoppers should go the first weekend of December so they also can hit the annual One of a Kind fine-arts sale at the Merchandise Mart.

North of Milwaukee, shop-filled Cedarburg fills up on the first weekend of December, when it holds three big arts and crafts fairs.

Information

For more on popular events, call Minnesota Office of Tourism at 651-296-5029, 800-657-3700, and the Wisconsin Department of Tourism at 800-432-8747.

For Iowa, call 800-345-4692. For Michigan, call 800-543-2937. For Illinois, call 800-226-6632.

Last updated on January 8, 2012