caze17

My husband and I have started up our Italy trip discussions once again with plans for going in April 2013. We are thinking of going for 2 weeks, something along the lines of 3 nights in Venice, 2 nights in Florence, 4 nights in Tuscany/Umbria, 4-5 nights in Rome (maybe adding a day trip to Parma after Venice, which would probably mean an extra night in Florence since we wouldn't arrive until late in the day).

My question: how soon should we begin booking, both flights and accommodations?

In the cities, we will be looking for budget accommodations in good locations (hopefully, $120/night or less). In the countryside, I will be willing to spend more because we will probably spend more time there, but still budget compared to some of the options available.

Any idea on trends for when to book for best airfares from the US? We would hope to fly open jaw into Venice and out of Rome, but I live in a small town in the Rockies, so I could actually see doing a roundtrip out of Rome providing much better connections and therefore even with the train to Venice, making the overall trip shorter.

And is there a tough restaurant reservation where it makes sense to book 6 months out?

Thanks for your help!

annhig

can't help with the flights, though what you say about round trip v open-jaw makes sense. I would definitely look to book flights before you book anything else.

after that, I have found that looking about 6 months in advance is about right - September 2012 should be early enough to get the good prices, but not so early that they haven't started to book for that period. if there's anywhere that's a "must" you might enquire earlier of course, but be prepared for them to ask you to come back later.

jamierin

Hello caze,

I can't advise on flights but you have come to the right forum. Some posters will be able to help you for sure.

I would first do all of your research regarding accomodation. Once you determine which hotels/b+bs in which you would like to stay, I would book them by September. Just make sure that the bookings are fully flexible (ie, you may cancel with no penalty - some have this within 3 days, some a week, etc.).

I think that it may be easier to find less expensive places in the country so even if you have to spend a little more in, say, Rome, for a good location it will even out.

First determine which areas you want to stay and then post back asking for specific recommendations. You will find a lot of recs for Rome and Venice by doing some searches on the Italy board.

greg

Even if you don't book flights until later, start fare alert right now and get daily or at least weekly updates from sites like kayak.com to all potential airports and for different time period. It gives you charts of the actual price trend (not just guesses based on some mathematical models.) This way, when it come time to buy tickets, you have some empirical data to compare where in price swing cycle you are trying to buy tickets.

carolsc

We too are going next April/May. I am going to get airline tix as soon as the April dates show up on the airline's web site. Then I will book rooms/apartments. We are flying open jaw as well but into Rome and out of Venice (US Air doesn't fly direct from Venice to Phil until May thus we are leaving from Venice at the end of the trip). With respect to booking, there may be better fares later on but I say 'a bird in the hand...'

carolsc

benitakaren

We are going to France next year and have already booked an apartment in Paris for the beginning and end of the trip and a house rental for a montb in Provence. We booked early because we knew where we wanted to stay and still couldn't even get the exact apartments we wanted. Maybe renting apartments is different than renting a hotel. Will start looking for flights in a couple of months. I like the Kayak idea- will do that immediately.

bobthenavigator

I would book in Jan.

dutyfree

There are several US airlines that fly nonstop from the US into Venice,Milan and Rome so would check on those for an easier trip over and back.Are you close to Denver,Salt Lake City or another major hub?
When is Easter next year? Always good to know for when the crowds are abundant in Rome.April is definitely high season over there for Rome(alot of spring breakers) so would start thinking about what you want to see and do and start making reservations.

davidgreen

Book the flights first, they are sure to get on the expensive side the more you delay. Here are some Tuscany rental sites I know
http://www.tuscanyfinerentals.com/
http://www.cottagestocastles.com/vil...any-italy.aspx
http://www.tuscanynow.com/
http://www.ciaoitalyvillas.com/
http://www.florencevillas.com/

Accommodation can be booked at any time as you will have a lot of choices but if you are focused on picking a Italy rental with modern facilities the sooner the better. At the most late it should be 3 months or at least 2 months in advance. Preferably try to book 6-8 months in advance as you seem to keep traveling a lot and need to book the right villa at the right place

leslieq

If you are trying to use airline miles, I would book or at least investigate the flights first. I have United Mileage Plus and really had to work their system (with help from this forum) to figure out how to use the miles I had earned. A very frustrating experience, but ultimately successful!

crckwc1

We usually book flights about six months out. Look on individual airline websites, the kayak site, and also on discounters' sites. We have used www.vayama.com, www.cheapoair.com, and www.ebookers.com with success in finding incredibly low rates. Never -- yet -- had any problems with these discounters. We book hotels after we have our flight booked and use www.booking.com for most of our bookings. Of course, if you need to book a popular accommodation, you might need to reserve earlier; but be sure you understand cancellation rules.

caze17

Thanks for all of your advice! I might investigate using miles for flights, so I would need to do that ASAP. I'm glad to know that I have a little bit of time before the panic needs to set in as far as booking accommodations...especially if I'm not that picky. It's funny - I'd easily drop $200 on special dinner but spending that much on a room to sleep in makes me cringe!!

I'm sure I'll be posting more questions as we get further in the planning. Thanks again to everyone for being so generous with their knowledge and time!