Hi All, I cannot decide whether I should book all my hotel rooms in advance for mid to late October travel. My fiance and I will be on our honeymoon and we would like the flexibility to slow down or speed up as we go along. I have read that September can be a very busy month in Italy, and that November is considered off season in some places (ie Cinque Terra), but I have not seen much about mid to late October. We will be in Northern Italy for the entire trip (Venice, Florence, Siena, and Cinque Terra). Which also brings up another question, has anyone been to Cinque Terra at the end of October? Is this a bad time to go? Thank you for the help! Tracy
Posted by
Carbondale, IL, USA
1201 posts
I'd have at least Venice nailed down. Venice is always fairly busy. My suggestion would be to fly into Venice Marco Polo, have your Venice accomodations reserved. After that I think you could wing it successfully without too many problems. I'd probably skip the CT at that time of the year, but that's just me. The trade off for not having reservations is the time you'll need to devote to getting a room on arrival.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
Late October will not show off the CT at their best. In fact, October is the rainiest month of the year there. And there's not a lot to do if the weather is bad. Depending on how heavy the rains are, they could even close the trails. Consider Lake Como (Varenna) as a good alternative to the CT that month. Happy travels.
Posted by
Toledo, Ohio, US
11613 posts
Tracy, I agree, start with a reservation in Venice and wing it - more or less - from there. I've used booking.com to find hotels the day before I arrive in a city, since I no longer find the hotel hunt by foot as appealing as it used to be.
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
8206 posts
A good option would be to book key areas, leaving unbooked days in between. I agree, book Venice, if you decide to stay longer, you can likely add days at the hotel you pick. Maybe book your last couple nights as well, then research and have a list of good candidates for rooms in each locale. A call, email, or use of an online site can firm up a room in no time.