Hotels in popular visitor places in Italy - whether the Cinque Terre or Florence or Rome - do book up well in advance. September is a very popular month to visit as the summer heat has begun to die down so quite possibly the popular hotels are alreayd booked up.

I normally book my hotels in Italy 6 months in advance in order to be certain of the room I want

I booked my hotels in January for my upcoming October trip. I was quite surprise and a little leary of doing it so early but I noticed they are all booked now for the time I am coming.

i just booked my room in vernazza for the end of july. yes less than 2 weeks away during the busiest time of year! you will have luck eventually.

i dont know cinque terre ( yet) but i am having this impression that you go there for the experience not the elegance of the room. i plan to be out seeing as much as i can in my 2 short days there. so i am thinking the room is no big deal. for me at least!

Yes, we don't normally leave things this late, tend to be aboutu 9 months ahead, but work commitments and other reasons meant we had to hold off and only really knew a couple of weeks ago that it was definitely on.

Oh well, will keep trying....

I have to tell you, I have the opposite experience. We have been very undecided this year about our trip to Italy and I have made reservations all over! I was able to book rooms on the Amalfi Coast,Capri, Como and our final spot, Rapallo with one month's notice. I think the high exchange rates (for me, an American), has limited the number of visitors especially at the most expensive hotels. I suggest you see if you can get a good rate at an hotel that you would normally consider out of your price range and see if a "good deal" is available.

Thanks Trombino, we have managed to find a little place in Manarola that has a balcony and a sea view, all for 70 euros, which will help save our pennies for dinner. Really looking forward to our trip now!

Hi artemis,

I am in a similar situation - my husband and I have just finalised on our trip to Italy next month. Finding it difficult to get good places to stay. Please can you let me know which is the place that you found for 70 so that I can check it for availability.

thanks.

Hi, We stumbled on the website www.arbaspaa.com and I think after filling in some details, they emailed back with some options. They certainly had 5 places free for our dates, although one of them was 180 euros a night! We're staying in Locanad Guiliano, only 2 and a bit weeks to go!

Thanks a ton :-)!!

Enjoy your holiday..I am counting days too!!