I'm heading to Italy on October 4th for just under two weeks. Yay! Cinque Terre, Florence, and Tuscany are on the must see list--and flying into and out of Rome, so might as well see a few sights there, as well. This is my first trip, and I'm not sure just how much have need to have set in stone for travel plans. I would love to have some flexibility (e.g. wow, I really love it here, so I'm going to stay for an extra day...) but realize that October is still a busy-ish time in Italy. Can I get away with flying by the seat of my pants? Would appreciate any insights.

Thanks!
Heather

Yes as long as where you are staying has space for you to stay longer and you are comfortable looking for rooms in cities you aren't familiar with. There are reservation services in the train stations or there are often people hanging out outside with rooms they would like to rent. You can go with them to check out the room as most are nearby the train station. You could also just take a list of places you might like to stay and call then when you arrive to see if they have space. Rome has hundreds of convents so you can always find a room somewhere, but it might not be what you expect in a room.

Early October is a great time to visit Italy. Weather is great ... (maybe a bit of rain), but perfect temps for running around being a tourist. Still busy in places you've earmarked, yet not as crazy-busy as it is during other parts of the year.

I'm a planner, so the idea of flying by seat of pants makes me soooo nervous .... just not my style. Yet others do ..... if haven't looked on Lonely Planet site, do check out their travel forum as may find more travellers that embrace 'loose itinerary' mode.

I join JBX as a planner, but would think you'll be fine at time of the year. kybourbon makes a good point-do ask the hotel if they can accommodate your flex time.

Hub and I were in Aix (I know, it's in France) in late September and some of the van tours were winding down and saying the tour would be cancelled if they couldn't fill the van.

Please write about your trip and have a great one!

I'm also a planner, so I wouldn't arrive anywhere without a reservation for at least the first night. The last thing I want to do is spend my limited time tracking down lodging in my budget range.

FWIW, the hotel in Rome where we have stayed multiple times in 10+ years told us a couple of years ago that October is now their most requested month.

We traveled in Tuscany and Umbria in October 1994. At that time, we had anxious moments in finding a room in Siena. It may be best to have reservations for well-known tourist destinations.

Something that we did which worked out well was to research each area and plan our days there loosely, then I added on another day just in case we didn't get to see everything we wanted to see or we just loved it so much that we didn't want to leave quite yet.

You don't have a lot of play in your schedule if you want to see all the places you listed. I am also in the camp of not wanting to spend precious time (and quite possibly extra money) to find accommodations during my trip.

I know others who thrive on traveling with no reservations, but it just makes me nervous. From the time I awoke each day I would wonder if we would find a decent place in our budget (big consideration in my mind). I personally would be preoccupied all day.