cinque terre next week without reservations???

Im in the CT this weekend and it was horrible finding rooms. I really thought the last week of september would be easier than this. I have been here 4 times before and always went to vernazza or manarola and had someone give us a room very easily. This time we got in on a friday afternoon around 5pm....manarola, vernazza and monterossa del mare all were completely booked. There were about 10 other tourists stranded as well. about 10pm, a lady noticed my pregnant wife crying and let us stay in her sons house....it ended up fine and we found a room this am at a hotel. But its really unbelievable how it just didn't work out this time. So I guess I would say get here early or try to find a room online. Or try Corniglia...

Mark, thanks for your honest reporting of what happened to you on a weekend at CT without a reservation. Mark's story, the wife crying, etc should be a wakeup call for some here whose standard advice is: Oh just show up at the CT, after Labor Day, you'll get a room, no problema. You don't want to be giving advice that ends up with people crying and not having a place to sleep. If you know where you're going to be on a given night, take the 15 minutes to reserve ahead and save some money, get the kind of place you want, and avoid the stress of not knowing if you have a place to sleep. Your wife, or husband, will be impressed.