How an iCal feed shows your availability
Almost every booking channel and property management system can export your calendar as an iCal feed: a link that ends in .ics and lists the dates that are blocked or booked. Anything that can read that link, including this widget, can show the same dates on another page. The feed is one-way. It tells the reader which nights are taken, nothing more.
Where to find your iCal link
Look for an Export calendar or iCal option in the calendar or availability settings of each channel:
- Airbnb: in your listing's calendar settings, under the options for connecting or syncing calendars.
- Booking.com: in the extranet's calendar or availability section, where calendar sync is offered.
- Vrbo: in the calendar settings of your listing, in the import and export options.
- Google Calendar: the secret iCal address in the calendar's settings. Our Google Calendar link converter can turn a normal share link into a usable one.
- PMS or channel manager: most have an iCal export per property or room.
Menus move around from time to time, so search the help centre of the channel if you cannot find it. Treat the link like a password: anyone who has it can read your booked dates.
What the widget shows
The calendar marks nights as booked or free and nothing else. Guest names, notes and any other details in the feed are ignored, and only the dates are displayed. You can show one to three months, start the week on Monday or Sunday, pick a language and match the accent colour to your site.
How to add it to your website
Copy the code from the box above and paste it into an HTML, embed or custom-code block:
- WordPress: use a Custom HTML block.
- Wix: add an Embed code element and choose HTML.
- Squarespace: use a Code block, with HTML selected.
- Webflow: drop in an Embed element.
- Plain HTML: paste it where the calendar should appear.
Some site builders and plans strip script tags. If the calendar does not show up after publishing, check that your block allows scripts.
Limits you should know about
- Feeds lag. Channels refresh their iCal exports on their own schedule, so a new booking can take a few hours to appear. Do not rely on this calendar to prevent a double booking.
- It is a display, not a booking engine. Guests can see which dates are free but cannot reserve or pay here.
- One feed per calendar. To show a property that is listed on several channels, use the feed that already combines them, usually from your PMS or channel manager.
The next step: direct bookings
When you want guests to book and pay on your own website, you need live availability and a checkout instead of a read-only calendar. That is what the Bookinghook booking widget does: it keeps availability in sync with your channels and lets guests reserve directly. If a plain availability calendar is enough for now, this free widget does the job.
