My husband and I will be travelling to Italy mid May 2006. We'll be staying three weeks and planning on Rome, Tuscany, Cinque Terre and possibly Venice. I'll book several nights in Rome to start, but after that we'd like to travel without a set schedule. Would the experienced travellers out there please comment if this is a reasonable plan? Will it be difficult to find rooms without pre-booking at that time of year? We can afford about 100-125 Euros per night for a room. We'll be travelling very lightly with backpacks. (No we're not college grads--this trip is for our 20th anniversary--we just like to travel light.)

I know there are others who would disagree with me, but I have better things to do when I travel than search for where I'm going to spend the night. I much prefer doing that ahead of time, as where I stay is really very important to me.

If you aren't picky, but willing to stay "near" where you plan to stay that night, and don't really care much about the hotel except the price, I think you will have no trouble finding somewhere, and probably not have to lose too much travel time searching it out.

Incidentally although I plan ahead, I can only count twice in all my travels when I really wanted to leave a town earlier than booked, and move on to another place. In both cases I did just that. Planning and reading about places you'd like to visit can lead to a more rewarding trip than just going and seeing what inspires you at the time. There's something to be said for that too, but I rarely misjudge the towns I'll end up wanting to spend the most time in. Although many people say they'd just like to wander, I find that most of them do have a pretty definite list (at least in their head) of where they are going. And if there is plenty to do there, it just makes sense to go ahead and book a place to stay. If it can be cancelled, all the better.

I agree with everything Patrick said, as usual. Even more so with strict price parameters, in May.

You should do OK although if you plan to stay in Florence, you might want to book a place there ahead. Will you be driving once you leave Rome? That is the easiest way to get the most out of Tuscany. We saw people at the Tourist Offices in most towns, arranging for rooms. We did that for Orvieto and it worked out great, although I was booked ahead everywhere else (except for Frascati, which was another night on a whim). We were there in May 2001, so it's been a while.

Decent accomodations in the CT aren't that easy to find, I think. We once decided not to go there because every hotel we wanted was booked. I'm not sure this would be the case in mid May, but it is something to think about.

Someone recently posted here about several choices in Monterosso al Mare being booked. So...

Also, you don't say where you are going in Tuscany. I guess that could have some influence on your decision not to pre-book. If it is Florence, you can probably get a room but I am not sure you could get the most for your money without doing some research.

I too agree with Patrick.

One more thought: at your price, the best accomodations aren't easy to find. You may not be as picky about comfort and pleasant surroundings as I am, but it sure takes me a good long time to find nice places in Italy in that price range.

So, if you are sure that you don't mind taking what is available in your price range in each town, and if you trust booking offices, go for it. It wouldn't do for me.

I guess I would call myself a seasoned traveler, and your plan doesn't appeal to me, but I don't think you will find yourselves without a roof. You can always get a room, but the quality of the room, and the time spent finding it, make it seem like an iffy proposition to me.

Hi dana,

Those of us who book ahead appreciate you folks who prefer to "wing it".

It makes it much easier for us to get the accomodations we want at reasonable prices.

May I suggest that you fly into Venice, drive through Tuscany and the CT, drop the car in Rome and fly home from there?

Actually, I'm usually a 'plan ahead' person...in fact I've been accused of overplanning in the past so I was really wondering if I should lighten up and be more spontaneous. I really appreciate your advice and I think I will come up with an itinerary and pre-book some key spots and leave some days open in between though I would love to hear from someone would took the unplanned approach and how it went. Your comments seem to imply that 125 euros is very low for Tuscany in May. What would be a reasonable budget for a two or three star hotel?

You want spontaneity? Why not rent an apartment in Tuscany for a week -- you can get a great one for that price -- and each morning decide where you want to drive that day? You can cover a lot of ground in a week (but still barely touch Tuscany) and still come home every night without worrying about where you're going to stay.

Here's my suggestion in Montepulciano, which I found via other recommendations here -- simply wonderful:

http://web.tiscali.it/poggiolo/poggiolo_home.htm

We had apartment number 3 with our own little terrace overlooking the countryside. Yet right outside the door (well, up or down one of the hills) were a wonderful assortment of restaurants. Easy parking in their garden.

Patrick,
I absolutely love that idea and that place looks like a gem! Thank you! It really does seem. a good solution. (Now I'll have to check all those threads about car rentals.)