Lindaec

My husband and I are traveling to Italy in September (5-20)for two weeks. We arrive in Venice and have room reservations for three nights. Then we will rent a car, go north to Cortina, drive Dolomite Rd. to Bolzano and make our way south to Lucca or Bologna before heading back to Venice to catch our flight home. We would prefer to not book rooms and go at our own pace. Does anyone think it would be a bad idea not to reserve rooms before we leave?

nessundorma

If you wish to stay in Bologna proper, you absolutely will have to have a reservation, and you may even need one if you pick the suburbs of Bologna. The city hosts many, many trade fairs every year, and hotel rooms are always scarce.

That said, if you are willing to stay outside the "centro storico" of Lucc and any destination towns -- which is advisable anyway because of parking -- you shouldn't have a problem. You will find agriturismos and albergo ristorantes where you can stay.

A year or so ago I picked up a book in Barnes & Noble that was a directory of agriturismos in every region of Italy. I'm sure such things are available on Amazon. You can also do Google searches for B&B Italian and come up with lists of places you can print out.

I don't know if you have toured Italy be car previously, but most hotels and local accommodations are signposted at the entry way into town, with directional arrows telling you how to find them (and often showing how many "stars" the hotel has). If you can't find room at the first one you try, the proprietor of that hotel will usually be able to recommend where to try next.

My last bit of advice is make sure you have begun looking well before the sun goes down, since looking for addresses and specific roads in rural Italy after dark can be immensely frustrating, especially if your Italian is not good enough to ask for help.

buon viaggio

Lindaec

Thank you very much. We have never rented a car in Europe, this will be a first for us as we usually go rail. The information you provided is very helpful. Good idea to printout a list of B&B's too. Thanks again Nessundorma

kawh

we have gone to italy both ways... with and without reservations. you just won't know that you're going to get that incredible place with the perfect view for a bargain price if you do it on the fly... but then again, stopping on a whim is part of the adventure.

if you are going to the lucca area, we loved a trip to motecatini (30 miles w.) it is a spa town... medical, not beauty. lots of older italians stay there and get treatments and sit on the sidewalks or play cards in the lobby in the evenings. it is also about 40 minutes from florence... so it's a great location. we are thermal water junkies.
we went there mostly to go to grotto giusti... which is an underground thermal cave (at a fancy hotel.) great fun to walk down, down into the cave with wool and cotton hooded robes and sit quietly in chairs as it dripped... resting our feet on stagmites. also a fantastic thermal pool you can use.

we have also stayed in many agriturismos and love the experiences. as the years go by, however, we find that they are more and more booked up with each trip.

i agree with everything the previous author said.

have a great trip!

we go to bologna this summer and will post anything new we find.
-kawh sebastopol, ca

Tulips

September is a very popular time to visit Italy, and there are trade fairs etc as mentioned. We always book hotels, and it is quite common for hotels to be fully booked for that time, even when trying months in advance. You risk having to spend part of your day finding a place to sleep.
I understand wanting to be flexible, but be prepared to settle for less than perfect accommodation.

Lindaec

Thanks to all for responding. I think we'll go with reservations, I do enjoy a nice room with view and atmosphere, and we don't want to waste time looking for a place. Thanks again!