You could be right, but have you received actual confirmation from the hotels themselves that they are not available? I plan ahead too and got a little worried at this time last year when everything seemed to be "no availability" for the summer. What I found was that most hotels hadn't even loaded in their summer availability yet. It is even worse with most of the consolidators -- they often spit back "no availability" just because they aren't booking those dates yet.

But on the chance that you are correct, what about the Cinque Terre with the kids? Or head a little further south and stay at Taormina, or better yet, Lipari -- you could get a hydrofoil there from Naples and you wouldn't even need a car once you got to Lipari.

I think Patrick is correct. I was trying recently to book 7 nights hotel for the last week in March, 2003 for Rome. I thought I would have no problem in March and especially booking 5 months in advance. Venere website kept coming back with no availability. After countless rejections and finally contacting hotels directly, I realized they just didn't have the prices for 2003 yet.

Dori is probably right. You need to wait until after the first of the year to book many places.

Wendy:

I'll bet Patrick is right. The same thing has happened to me with hotels in France. Have you just been checking on the web? If so, call the hotels directly, or wait until after January 1.

A recommended site to windowshop for hotels and also book them if you want is
www.venere.it
You can also get the info, and book directly with the hotels

I always look at venere to find hotel names and then search for the hotels own website. I always contact the hotel directly. This way if I need reservations or information before I arrive, I contact them for help. They always help with museum reservations and information.

Thank you everyone for the great advice! Unfortunately, I went the old fashioned route- through a travel agent and learned of the no availability problem through her. Maybe I'll go back to the websites themselves and see what's happening, or as you suggest, wait until after the 1st of Jan. Patrick, if you have time and are reading this, I'd love an estimate on driving distance between Naples and Cinque Terre, then again driving distance from Cinque Terre to Rome. Many thanks again, for all the wonderful suggestions.

I suspect that your travel agent is just checking out the web, too! Many hotels don't have their prices till the end of the year or beginning of the next. Large city hotels that are popular may book a year in advance, but I've found that most places outside of the city don't book until after the first of the year (or later), particularly for the summer. So don't give up yet; and the recommendations to contact the hotels is a good one, at least you should find out if they are booked or not.

I don't think some of the reservation programs have been set up for 2003 yet. Some like Best Western are valid 350 days in advance.

I think that answers that, Wendy. I'm sure most of the places you are talking about aren't fully booked for next summer -- just a matter of timing.

I'd estimate 6 to 7, possibly 8 hours from Naples to Cinque Terre, depending on your final destination. I'd say it is about 4, maybe 5 hours back to
Rome from Cinque Terre. It is about 2 hours, maybe a little more to drive from Naples to Rome.

There are some wonderful islands off the coast of Italy. Try Ponza or Ischia are two that would be interesting. Ischia might be better with teenageers. You can hike up the volcano etc. This island is not far from Sorrento or Naples and you can get a ferry from these ports, I assume. Have fun.