We will be visiting Venice, Florence, and Rome in June and July 2025.
Could someone please advise about how far in advance we should be making reservations (for three people) at the restaurants we have chosen? Same day? Weeks in advance? We are choosing restaurants from the Rick Steves guidebook.
Thanks!
Posted by
142 posts
It depends on the restaurant and what time you're trying to eat there. You might have more luck reserving at 7:30 PM than 8:30 PM. But, it really depends how popular it is, right?
Posted by
Eastern Iowa, USA
8563 posts
Michelin 3 star place, probably last year sometime, a casual trattoria, maybe none required. Very dependent on the restaurant, how bad crowds are, and night of the week.
We often just make a reservation the day before or day of, by stopping at the restaurant. If a well known place, look on their website, they may have a booking system or use a third party.
Posted by
Idaho, USA
8406 posts
If you already know where you want to eat, I would contact a few through WhatsApp to see if they will accept your reservation already. I see you’re staying in the Big 3, so I don’t know if this applies. But, I stay in the smaller hotels or B&B’s in Italy, and they have kindly made dinner reservations for me ahead of time.
May I add, always ask them what are the local dishes. : ). You don’t want the frozen food ingredients stocked for tourists expecting the dishes we see on American menus.
Posted by
Chicago
2182 posts
I think it would behoove you to make reservations on any restaurant that you want to dine at--otherwise you may be out of luck. We visited Florence & Rome last month, busier than I'd ever seen it in April, and made reservations for the first 3 of 4 nights in each place, leaving the last night open to improvise. Both cities will be insanely busy, and it costs nothing to get online and do it.