Trip to Italy in 2006, how early should we book rooms?
 

We're going to Italy for 10 days in September of 2006. We'll be spending time in the Lakes Region, in Piemonte and in the CT. How far ahead of time should we try to book rooms at the places we want to stay?

97 days (tongue reasonably firmly planted in cheek)... unless you mean to be around Lake Como at Monza Grand Prix time - - then add 60 or so.

Best wishes,

Rex

We are working on a trip in February.
Have been having great look for the Piedmonte region at this web site.
http://www.langheroero.it
I have also had a lot of great responses from Bed and Breakfast in the region between Turin and Milan. If you would like some of those sites let me know. Also check out this place http://www.castellodinovello.com/ - it's a castle. My sister and her family loved staying at this place!

If you can nail down your dates, asap.

2002 we planned 6 mos out - got everything we wanted (5 cities). This fall, planned 2 mos out, top two choices in one city booked, and top choice in another city booked (6 cities total).

Put your hotel list in order for each location, and try to book as early as the hotels) will allow you to.

I have just finished booking hotels in Italy for our 6/24/06 - 7/8/06 trip. We are a family of 10, so our options were (somewhat) limited. There were a few hotels that were already booked for certain dates I requested.

I agree if you can nail down your dates, and have done the research on where you want to stay, don't hesitate to start booking ASAP. The more popular places get filled up quickly, and I always find it comforting to have our hotel/apt. confirmed.

The more flexible you are, the later you can wait. Many apts are already booked for high season in 2006. If you need hotels with "reasonable" rates and they are popular and small (say 30 rooms or less) you might need more lead time. 9 -11 months is not too early, but you may have to pay a deposit and/or CC guarantee, so do your homework first!

thank you everyone, we've set the dates but can't really confirm them with our jobs until January, unless we can talk them into making exceptions. We know where we want to stay in piemonte, stll researching the lakes region and are having a really difficult time trying to decide on where to stay in CT...too many choices!!!!