Hello! My husband and I are starting to plan our trip to the Emilia Romagna region in September. We will be doing Oktoberfest with friends in Munich 09/21-09/24 and then heading to Italy 09/24-09/29. Obviously, hotels in Munich are already booking so our friends booked our room (yay for Starwood points!) but what about for this region in Italy? Do you need to book early? Are there deals close to the date of departure? We are hoping for something in the countryside like a B&B/farmhouse/villa so I would assume book early and often but I always feel like I'll miss a deal if I do that. Thoughts?
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8371 posts
Accommodations are very easy to find in Italy, as there are many hotels. Virtually every farm in the area also has agritursimos and apartments for rent. You can find them on Hotels.com, Booking.com, Venere.com and AirBnB.com. I've also found accommodations on Craigslist.com for Italy. Rick's heroic B&B section also has names that pop up time and time again as special places to stay. I don't know that there will be any deals close to your departure date. The best deals are if you can find a hotel/b&b and make a reservation directly with the owner who's willing to cut you a deal. They have to pay upwards to 30% to the booking agency when a reservation goes thru the internet. We were paying E70 this past Easter week for rooms and apartments in Tuscany and outside Rome. I'm jealous that you're getting to do Oktoberfest in Munich. Just take plenty of money, as I heard beer was E11 this past Fall. Might be one of the greatest life experiences, however.
Posted by
OP
Long Beach, CA, USA
118 posts
Thanks, David! This will be our third Oktoberfest (2008 and 2010). We meet up with friends and then extend through the week to a European vacation. This time we were thinking Italy. Maybe if I contact someone directly I can work a good deal if I avoid having to go through a reservation system. Thanks again!