My husband and I have a week in Sicly on a walking trip and then have a week to travel around. Our walking trip will end in Cefalu. We would like to rent a car there and then travel around the island without a set itinerary. This will be the first week in October. Do we need hotel reservations in advance at this time of the year? Any advice will be appreciated.

was there a few years back in Oct and found absolutely no problem finding htels as i went along. A slow season here it seems but a nice one as well weatherwise, at least for my trip it was

I think it depends on how fussy you are ab out accommodations and how much time you are willing to devote to looking around. I was helping a friend plan a last-minute trip for next week and discovered that many Sicilian hotels count July as low season and October as high season! (It is so hot in summer..)

That said, I think you will be fine....but then I have only visited the island twice...

Taormina was certainly packed to the gills when i was there in late october

I would definitely book in advance for any resort community like Taormina in October-less problem in the non-resort areas of the coast, Don't miss Noto or Syracusa (Ortigia) where it won't be so busy.There are lots of places on offer on-line especially if you can navigate some of the Italian language web offerings.

Are you positive that you can rent a car in Cefalu? It's rather a small town. I wiuld think you'd have to pick up a car in Palermo.

Just a thought...