Expedia, Hotels.Com, Orbitz, etc.

Those three are the some the most popular/successful on-line travel sites in the world, so they must be doing something right:) But, be aware that most hotel bookings with these sites require you to pay upfront the cost of the entire reservation in advance. You can usually cancel with a $20 penalty. I prefer to use www.booking.com If you're planning on staying at chain type hotels you can often get better deals buy going directly to the company's website.

Thanks Michael. It looks as though I could save about $500.00 using one of these on-line services instead of going through a travel agent.

Check out venere.com for booking rooms. I booked hotels in Venice and Rome through them last year without any problem. Plus, they don't charge you when you book - your credit card just holds the room and you pay when you check out. Like TripAdvisor, the site also has photos and reviews from travelers.

I agree that Venere.com would be a better option. Venere deals with the small hotels & b&bs that Expedia, Hotels.com and Orbitz tend to ignore. It's the small places that will allow your dollar to go further.

Thanks! I have started checking out venere.com. I will figure out how to get the best rates booking airfare and hotel separately. I am hoping to traveliing first week in November. = )

An option for airfares is kayak.com, which scans all of the sites you mention, plus the airlines, plus many more, for the lowest airfares possible.

another place to check if freereservations.com we found a little apartment for 321E for 4 nites in late october and its in the center of town in piazza navona

U used Expedia for 9 days in Paris, and it was fine. I just research choice of hotels on tripadvisor.com ALWAYS before committing to any. I find I could get better airfare deal with them at the time. This year using Europeandestinations.com and so far happy with price and choices of hotels. Won't know for sure until I go in July.

I like www.venere.com to book hotels.

We have used both Expedia and Travelocity for hotel bookings and have not had a problem. What I like about using those type of sites is the user reviews. They can be an extraordinary source of information. Trip Advisor is another great source of information. If you do use one of the booking sites. I would advise you to bring a copy of your booking confirmation to the hotel with you. We were always asked by the hotel for a copy even though I had our reservation comfirmation number listed on our itinerary.

There is one I've been using for a while: http://www.horse21.net/ I've booked rather cheap hotels for Paris, Vienna and Venice.

Before I left for Italy, I looked up hotels on hotels.com and then contacted the hotels directly for reservations--no paying in advance and sometimes actually paid a little less than the quote on hotels.com. When our plans started going haywire toward the end of our trip (a couple of folks unwilling to drive 8 hours in a day so we took 3 days to go that 8 hours), I booked our hotels on a day-by-day basis on hotels.com and paid in advance. In that case, I needed to get bookings in a hurry and didn't have time to search for the hotels direct websites or worry about communicating (badly) in the local language. Both ways worked wonderfully for us. As for airline tickets, I didn't like any of the routings I was being given on either Expedia or Orbitz so I booked directly with the airline and ended up paying less. My suggestion is the try ALL avenues to put together the best deal. Doing this with our group made it possible to determine a reasonable budget ahead of time.

I like http://www.lodging.it/ and its companion http://www.agriturismo.net/ because they put you in contact with the actual owners or managers. I found the prices much cheaper than hotels.com and the places are considerably more earthy and real than the big hotels that they contract with.

Going November 3-11. Anyone know the average weather?

Hi Katherine--I have been in Rome on those same dates, and I would suggest you plan to dress in layers. The weather can be unpredictable at that time of year--you may get beautiful, sunny days or you might get chilly rain, or you might have both during the time you are there, even within the same day. We had lovely days, sometimes with a strong, cool breeze, and we had several evenings of light rain. I like a plain white T with a light sweater over it and a wrap or shawl I can throw on for another layer if needed. Bring a travel umbrella. I also brought a London Fog-type mid-length raincoat (but without the lining--the kind you can roll up small in your suicase) that I wore nearly every day.

As for travel services, we have also used venere with good results. We got a fantastic deal on a four star hotel in Rome through Orbitz. Shop around and read reviews.

Well, I booked my flight through my travel agent who was able to get a better price for the same flight I was interested in that I had seen on orbitz and other on-line sites. I did book the Hotel Italia using venere.com myself which is located in a great location and got great reviews by most people (and a very decent price). Thanks for the venere.com advice. Thanks everyone for all of your suggestions. This graffiti wall is fantastic! The Last time I was in Italy was late September to mid October, so the info on the weather and what clothing to pack was really helpful! This has been great.

Hi Katherine...I just booked a trip to Italy and the best rates I found was through Gate 1 Travel go to their site gate1travel.com. I found them in Budget Travel Magazine. You have to book a minimum of 3 nights but they do not have to be at the same place -as long as you book 3 nights total with them. Alsos, when gate 1 gives you names of hotels based on your budget check them out on tripadvisor.com. Also google the name of the hotel and go directly to the hotel website sometimes they will match any web price and you do not have to pay for the stay up front just give a credit card for confirmation. If you don't show they bill you one nights stay. Gate 1 you have to pay up front in full