Just started reading through the posts and decided there is too much of a wealth of knowledge on this sight to pass up!

We are planning a trip to Italy for our honeymoon. We are going in August or September. All of the guide books say to stay away from August because of the heat and the crowds. If that is the case why are the hotels that we are checking on switch to high season on August 27th?

Because it is not so hot, and the unbearable crowds of summer are shrinking... savvy travelers who are willing to pay more, know that September deserves to be a high season month.

Best wishes,

Rex

Because Sept is more high hotel season than August. I don't know Italian hotel customs as much as Parisian, but I imagine it could be for similar reasons as Paris and even where I live, Wash DC. Peak hotel rates are not mainly based on tourism, but business. Business travelers and booking are down in the summer and very low in August, but Sept-Oct usually brings a lot of business booking to hotels as that is prime season for many business conventions, trade conferences, etc., in major European cities.

Rex,

Thanks for the help. Do all prices go up(tours, museums, rail) or is it just the hotels?

I'd say just hotels. Well, airfares will be somewhere in between the same as summer and a hodgepodge spectrum of higher t hrough lower fares.

I don't know much/anything about the price of ("package&quot tours, but if you mean the price of guided walks or bus rides around a city like Rome, I don't think they would be all that seasonal.

They might even have some "low season" special promo prices, perhaps, but I don't think there will be any differences between Aug and September.

By the way, do not feel "in the dark" for not understanding this about September. It wasn't all that long ago, that September was indeed, part of a "shoulder season". But for so many, too many folks, September has been FULLY discovered. Not so much as to create unbearable srowds - - but enough increase in demand to drive prices back to essentially summer (or higher) rates.

And last of all, I was remiss not to have given my usual greeting to all honeymooners visiting "our" forum here...

Congratulations on your new life in marriage....

(my wife and I are in our 28th year ourselves)...

Patrick, good, quality response as usual. By the way, my wife and I have you beat by 4 years. Mike

To the both of you congratulations! I think it is much easier to get married than to stay married for 28+ years. Well done you.

I have traveled overseas quite a bit but my fiancee has never. We would like to take the back road version as much as possible concerning the hotels and such but thought it might be a good idea to sign up for guided tours i.e. Roman Odyssey.

One last question if you don't mind, does this seem like a good itnierary for our trip? Feel free to make any suggestions! Thanks again.

Milan
Cinque Terre
Pisa
Florence
Florence
Siena
Rome
Rome
Rome
Naples
Venice
Venice
Dolomites
Lake Como
Milan

Gerald, That would be an ambitious itinerary for a 30 day trip--how long do you have? Since you are new here let me suggest you search above for a thread entitled " Helpful information: Italy". That will answer many of your current and future questions. And, for details of such topics as Venice hotels, just enter that title and search to find hundreds of good posts.
Your trip sounds exciting most of the destinations you suggest demand 3 days to enjoy them. It takes 6 weeks to see Italy--many people do it in 2 week increments. You too will return. We have 12 times now.
Oh yes, Sep is a great time to go, but I prefer after mid-sep.

Gerald -- The resort area hpotels will be high in August, because all the citybpeople will be there too. In september their prices tend to go down, along with their occupancy levels.

I guess none of you have kids in school that start late August. You'd have no choice but go whenever camps and friends and other obligations permit.

That being said, going to Europe, heck, travelling... is better late sept. to mid october. except the US northeast that closes everything after columbus day. but that's another topic...

Looks like a lot of one-night stays. I'd get rid of some--especially going all the way down to Naples for just one night. Make southern Italy your next trip. Add that day to Venice.

I would skip the single night in Naples this trip as it simply is too far in the "wrong" direction. You don't want to waste a lot of time simply in transit. And, I'd make Pisa a day trip.

You might consider adding a day to Florence and making Siena a day trip. Or, base yourself in Siena and make Florence a day trip. Depending upon your interests, of course.

Can you fly open jaw and avoid return travel to Milan? Might open up some different possibilities. In any case, looks like a nice trip. Enjoy!

August is the very high season in areas like the beaches of Europe. All of Europe takes their vacation for either a week, two weeks or a month and go to the beaches. If you tried to get a hotel there, forget it. BUT if you go to Florence, Paris, Rome, etc, you will get good prices and it's considered low season. If you try to drive from Sorrento to Rome on the last day of August, you'll be in a huge traffic jam. September is when many people from the US, who don't have children in school, travel.