NO reservations, I am nuts?

What time of year?

You're not nuts - your priorities are just different from most people's. It's a trade-off, isn't it? You'll be in Italy at a very popular time and have chosen very popular locations, making lodging options more difficult. But it's really the only way to maintain the flexibility you say you want. If you're ready to put up with the fact that it might take a couple/three hours on arrival to find lodging, go for it.

you should have no problem with rooms in ireland and britain, just check to see if there are any special events going on in the area you are staying such as matchmaking festival near doolin other than that you should be fine. We have never made reservations except for first night and were fine.

Aubrey, As you'll be travelling in the busy fall shoulder season, it could take you some time to find lodgings in each location. You should be prepared to: > Pay more than you budgeted > Stay in a part of town that is perhaps not "ideal" (ie: dodgy) > Stay in a room that is perhaps a bit "shabby" > Move on to another nearby town if you can't find anything > Spend valuable vacation time wandering about an unfamiliar city (with luggage) trying to find a place to sleep You could be fortunate, and easily find lodgings in each place. As someone else mentioned, your approach is a bit of a "trade-off" between spontaneity and certainty. Good luck!

There aren't many places to stay right in Avebury (within walking distance of the cross-roads). Venice can also be iffy any time of year. I wouldn't even start to worry about the rest of the places. Comment reserved on the Cotswolds, never spent the night since I don't care for it that much.

Even in Sept. some reservations would be advisible. London, Cotswolds (B&B), Venice, CT. Nothing worse than looking for decent lodging at a fair price at the last minute while it is raining. hopefully you see what I mean.

If you want to maintain your flexibility, make a list of acceptable places in each location and simply call ahead by a day or two when you have a better feel for your schedule. Arriving before noon and check with the local TI can be helpful. Most TI run a hotel location service and they may be a fee.

I think we are going with the call a day or two ahead of time from a prepared list approach. Sure some or all may be sold out, making us pay more but I would rather pay a bit more and get the most out of my time. I will make reservations for first night in each country and perhaps a b&b near the coldswolds. Thanks everyone.

You'll need B&B reservations in the Cotswolds in September. Not too much inventory. Easier to book hotels in bigger towns, but nowhere near as charming. London will be fine, but the key thing to remember is that the fewer options you have at the moment of booking, the more you will pay. E.g. sitting at a cafe outside a hotel at noon on WiFi and booking for the night online will be cheaper than walking in at 5pm and asking at the front desk for a room. I'd recommend a car for Avebury. That'll give you lots of choices on where to stay (Salisbury is a very pretty old town, for example). You can stumble around the stone ring there and also spend time at Stonehenge, Woodhenge, Salisbury cathedral in a single day. Also, if you call English Heritage in advance, you can book to go right into the middle of Stonehenge first thing in the morning (think 7.30am) or at the end of the day. Otherwise you won't get anywhere near the stones themselves. Photos to give you some ideas: http://www.lodgephoto.com/galleries/uk-england-aveburystonecircle/ http://www.lodgephoto.com/galleries/uk-england-salisbury/ http://www.lodgephoto.com/galleries/uk-england-stonehenge/

A lot depends on how picky you are. We are happy sleeping anyplace clean and quiet and have no problem with a bathroom down the hall. Traveling in September isn't impossible without reservations. The biggest thing to watch for is festivals. It's harvest season and you may find a town all booked up because of a local wine-related festival. In this case you often have two options, travel another 15 miles to the next town and stay there or reserve well ahead of time. I like to book rooms by phone in the morning on the way to a particular town. I prepare a list of potential places and call until I find one that can accomodate us. It's not unusual to call two or three places. If I can't find anything, my backup is the TI in town. I haven't been homeless yet (but I was worried once at Octoberfest).

If you're traveling with a netbook, bookmark a couple of major hotel & B&B booking sites to make your day-by-day search more fruitful, like www.venere.com, www.italyby.com, and www.booking.com.

When I first started to travel, I would book my room 2 days prior to arrival. then again, I was booking hostels, not cute B&Bs and budget hotels. Now that I have 6 trips under my belt in 6 consecutive years, I would NEVER take a trip where I did not have a complete itinerary down to the very last minute and it must include my hotels that I booked 6 months in advanced. That doesn't mean I do everything that I listed but what it does mean is that I know for a fact I have a place to call home, no matter what. IN Italy, during XMAS, we witnessed in our Rome and Venice hotel, people being turned away for room availability.........And this was in December. I am not telling you to not do this but I know that I could not travel by the seat of my pants anymore due to the thought of wasting precious time looking for a place to stay when most everything is not vacant.