Hotel Reservations or Not

What month(s)? You can make reservations or just see what's available even on the day you arrive by checking booking.com or some other booking site. Your choices may be limited the longer you wait, depending on when you travel.

The time of your travel is critical to this decision. Summer in Italy, winging it is stressful.

If you are going in peak season then I would definitely book in advance. Otherwise you may spend a lot of time in each destination trying to find accommodation that is both suitable and in your price bracket. I could think of nothing worse than wandering around in Venice or on the Amalfi Coast in June or July trying to find accommodation. A second reason to book in advance is that you can do a bit of research, check reviews and then lock in a place that meets your needs, including being in a good location. Booking.com allows you to cancel for no cost so it is my preferred way to book (depending on the accommodation this can be between 2 weeks and 3 days in advance of your stay). It also has reviews left by people so you can get a good feel for places. Finally, it seems your itinerary is pretty well defined so there is nothing to gain by not booking in advance. I have played it by ear in the off season in Europe when travelling by car through rural areas because we weren't sure where we would get to at different stages of the trip.

I usually travel by the seat of my pants, but it's risky. I may take a lodging as a last resort. But that's how I travel. I make reservations as I go a few days ahead of my arrival. But I'm Not as bad as my Cousin.

In September I was meeting a first cousin from Indiana in Firenze. He and his wife arrived in Firenze with No reservation. From SMN they walked to eight different hotels that all turned them away. The ninth hotel gave them a room.

Only he could do that. I could never.

Brenda,

Mph gives you sound advise.

I've traveled to Italy in late September-early October without reservations in past trips. However I won't do that again!

We were in Italy this past Sept/ Oct. and had advance reservations & it was so nice knowing that we would have a place to stay.

I found out that we would have been in trouble in Verona (if we had not made reservations) because
there was a 'Marble convention' during the time we were there & most of the hotels & B&B's were all booked!

Happy Planning!

brenda,

I agree with the others in that if you're travelling in any of the "high" seasons, pre-booking hotel reservations would be a good idea. While a "spontaneous" approach may work, you may find that in some places you're spending a lot of time searching for a room when you arrive in a new city. You may have to settle for something that's above what you wanted to pay, is in a "less-than-desirable" location or doesn't fit your "comfort level" criteria (ie: a flea-bag hotel).

Happy travels!

We've traveled both ways, including visits to Venice and the Amalfi coast in Sept/Oct. It can be fun to travel with the freedom to pick up and move on if you're not thrilled with some place, or stay longer if you are. Frankly I find that approach attractive; if you're going to places you've never been before its hard to figure out how many days to stay, or maybe you run into a festival that's happening the day you are scheduled to leave and you'll have to miss it. The flip side, though, is that in popular places you may spend time searching for a place to stay. When we showed up in Sorrento we spent 2 hours walking around with all our luggage looking for a hotel. Was not fun.

In the end you have to know yourself. Do you value spontaneity more than avoiding uncertainty?

I would also strongly suggest having a hotel reservation at the start and end of your stay.

If your dates for each location are set in stone, I see no reason why you shouldn't make reservations ahead of time from the comfort of your home.
If you plan to improvise your trip along the way, then you can make reservations along the trip, maybe the day before. However in that case I recommend you take an Ipad or smart phone with you (but a local SIM card for cheaper data plans) and do searches online there. Knocking in person at each hotel would be too time consuming. And as others as said, certain times of the year, can be challenging at some locations.
Of all the places you intend to stay, Venice is by far the one it is most likely to be booked solid. Florence and Rome have more accommodation options, but there are periods where they get booked solid too (the worst time is Easter week, especially if in April, and the last week of April, as there are two national holidays on Apr 25 and May 1). Any other time you should be able to find accommodations even on the same day (with some patience and a wifi connection).
The Amalfi Coast gets booked solid in July and especially August.

Thank you guys for all the great advice. I will be making all my hotel reservations today.