We have made several trips to Ireland self-guided. They have pretty complete books there containing B & B's. We like seeing the sights when we travel but we also like doing it on our own vs. a tour bus.

We are planning a trip to Rome/Capri/Taormina/Syracuse/Agrigento and Palermo in May 07. 10 days total. Due to the language barrier…arranging for accommodations, tours, transferring between cities, etc, was somewhat intimidating, so I’ve looked into independent tour operators. After giving them my itinerary, they returned itemized tour packages.

Now I have sticker shock!

I have had some people suggest that B & B's are not the way to go in Italy, but we are not the type to need 5 star accommodations. Just need a clean place to stay w/private bath, a/c, and helpful hosts.

Has anyone used B & B's in Italy extensively? What was your experience?

Thank!

There are many beautiful hotels in Italy that are in every price range. I'm not sure what you are trying to do, but you don't really need tour operators to get you between cities. The train system is efficient and pretty easy to use. We, here at Fodors, can help you with what ever info you might need. Not sure what you expect from a B&B that you can't get out of a small, resonably priced and centrally located hotel.

Let us know your itinerary, take a deep breath and start asking your questions. We don't cost nearly as much.

Ok Sandi,

Here goes:

Day 0 Flight from US to Rome
Day 1 Arrive in am to Rome, transfer to Accomodations. Rest of day on own.
Day 2 City Tour (Do you suggest Doubledecker tour, limo guided tour? Cost?)
Day 3 Vatican Tour. Scavi Tour if we can get tickets in time?
Day 4 Transfer to Pompeii to tour ruins. On to Capri for the afternoon/night.
Day 5 Transfer to from Capri to Naples to board flight to Catania. Pick up rental car in Catania and drive to Taormina for the night.
Day 6 Explore Taormina. Possible Mt. Etna excursion. Stay in Taormina.
Day 7 Drive to Syracuse to tour ruins and stay their that night
Day 8 Drive to Agrigento and tour the Valley of the Temple and stay in Agrigento that night.
Day 9 Drive to Palermo stopping in Casteltermini to visit with relatives. Stay in Palermo.
Day 10 Tour Palermo. Possibly visit with more relatives.
Day 11 Return home. Maybe from Palermo, Maybe from Rome. To be determined.

Our overall goals are threefold! This is a present to my niece for graduation from college, and also a chance to reconnect with relatives we have never met on the last two days. The third goal is to see and enjoy as much of Rome, Pompeii, Capri, and Sicily as we can in the time we have without dropping to the ground with exhaustion.

So what do you think?

So, you don't have your return flight set yet?

Regarding the "city tour", is this soemthing that everyone has their heart set on..this TYPE of tour? What about looking at guidebooks and everyone making a list of the top 305 things they'd love to see, map it out and go on your own. To me, it's a lot more meaningful than scraping the surface on a whole lot of things that you only see at a distance.

How do you and your family really feel about packaged tours?

not the top 305 things, the top 3-5 things.

We don't have the airfare secured at all yet. It has been floating around $950-$1200 and I know I need to do it soon.

We are more the type to have flexibility, so a packaged tour would be pretty restrictive, right?

We'd love to pick the things we want to see and just find our way to them. I don't understand yet how one goes about arranging for the various tours such as the Vatican, forum, coliseum. Do I need to get tickets to all these things ahead of time?

Start doing some searching and reading on this website and come back and post your questions. If you are wanting tours you would need to arrange that ahead of time and there are lots of tour companies. I just returned from Rome and had a fabulous tour of the Forum and Paletine Hill with a woman who is a licensed guide. She has very reasonable rates and will cover any area of Rome you're interested in. Once you have a better idea of what you want to see and do, I'll post her email address and she can give you a quote. IMO, that's the best way to do a tour, one on one and not in a crowd of 50 people trying to hear and see one tour guide.

Thanks for your advice so far. I'll do some more work on it and respond soon.

When in Italy we ALWAYS stay at B&B's or agriturismos (as we do in every country we visit). In fact, we avoid hotels. But that is just our preference.

We have found some mighty charming places loaded with character off the beaten path. There are some gorgeous 3, 4 and 5 star B&B's. This may not suit some, of course. We never stay in places over 5 rooms total. There is just something so personal about these places. The odd time in desperation we have stayed in hotels (only when we could not find a B&B) and did not have the same experience. We just returned from Croatia where we stayed in an agriturismo and had the entire house to ourselves - the owners lived half an hour away. Just personal preferences, though!!

Traditionally a B&B is a private house where the owner rents a room or two. The bathroom is probably shared. There's not much of this in the touristed areas of Italy, except maybe in Cinque Terre. One reply mentioned agriturismos. These are rooms on working farms, probably with a private bathroom, but most, of course, are in rural areas and require a car. This doesn't sound like what you want to do.

There used to be pensiones, which would translate to guesthouse in English English. Now just look for small hotels. Or, if you want very inexpensive lodgings, check out convents.

If you look for hotels at www.tripadvisor.com, there's a tab for B&B/Inns. Also www.via-michelin.com has small hotels and guesthouses.

Take a look at the Karen Brown Guide Books. They have books dedicated to B and B's in Italy.

B&Bs are called Pensiones in Italy. They are usually little family-run places where they rent a couple of rooms. It's been a while since I've stayed in a pensione in Italy, but as I remember they were all very basic. Some were clean, pleasant and attractive and some had bath towels the size of hand towels with light bulbs dangling from from the ceiling (as fixtures). I guess it's hit or miss, and of course, there have probably been improvements in standards since then.

Rick Steves' guidebooks are an excellent source for moderately priced lodging suggestions. Karen Brown's B&B book on Italy is also excellent. She has two, one for more upscale (and thus more expensive) places and one for B&Bs. Make sure you have the right one. I think if you pick up a Rick Steves and Karen Brown you will be off to a good start. I like Rick Steves' books for his itinerary information.

italyin07,
My trip report may help you http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34811101

Henry

We were in Italy in late October. For the two weeks we were there we stayed in small hotels and two B&B's. The Matisse in Rome, a great value and convenient to everything. In Agrigento we stayed at the Terrazze di Montelusa B&B and that was the find of the trip. We were only there one night and I now wish we had rearranged our schedule, it was wonderful. Check out their web site.

Hi, Italy - i just goggled B&B in rome, and came up with several sites. I think there is also one for Tuscany, and for all I know, others for the rest of Italy.

I like these little places - they have more character and you get to meet the owners. You should have no problems making reservations over the net. Only problem might be that some may not have a/c. Not sure you'll need it in May, anyway.

Good luck!

Hi! I was in Rome in October and stayed in a wonderful bed & breakfast not too far from the Vatican. The chain is Best Bed & Breakfast -www.bestbb.it

They have three B&Bs but I stayed at the Sistina one. (I've heard the Vatican one is popular and well-known.) The room was newly renovated and the private bathroom VERY clean and nice. The three of us slept in a triple room but there was a bed with a pull out chair type of thing so we all three slept on the one (queen sized, I think) bed. We were comfortable. The breakfast was great by the way.

If you stay somewhere like the Sistina B&B you have to be comfortable being on your own. I found it quite charming. And quite an experience. It's in a building in which they have a floor in the building. So there's some residential people. You get a key to the building and your room. There's no front desk and no phone (we had a cell phone). But you can reach someone 24/7 at their main b&b. Although I had read up on B&B's, as a US tourist it took a bit of getting used to. But I'd stay there again. We paid 150 Euros per night, which I thought was very well priced. It met all my requirements: I was on a budget, nice room, yummy breakfast and since the goal of the trip was the Vatican, it met that too. It's not close to the Spanish Steps or train station, etc. But if you like to walk, are comfortable with taking the metro, read maps well, and don't mind talking to strangers when you get lost, then you'll be fine. =)
I keep meaning to do a trip report (Rome/Florence/Lucca/Pisa/Orvieto)since we had such a lovely stay but I have so much to say I think I'd bore everyone! =) Have a fantastic trip and let me know if you need any other details.

I disagree with the poster who said that B&Bs aren't found much in touristy areas. We've traveled all over Italy and almost always stay at B&Bs. For Agrigento for instance there are 9 listed on tripadvisor. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g1...ly-Hotels.html.
and here for Syracuse http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g1...ly-Hotels.html
Also check out this site.
http://www.bed-and-breakfast-in-italy.com/ .
I usually do my research and then book directly with the owners.

I meant to add that we do not speak Italian but sometimes use online translators such as Babelfish. More often than not I receive answers in English. Never had a problem communicating.

The phrase B&B seems ot be springing up in Southern Italy normally around refurbished houses and the last 2 I stayed in in 2005 were great.

Remember the whole Irish B&B upgrade came about because the government raised the standards about 10 years ago by education and new levels. In Italy it is not a govenrment driven thing so you get what the supplier wants to give you. I normally just ask to see the room

We stayed at the Nicolas Inn in Rome last year for 3 nights after a cruise and can't say enough good things about it. The owners, Melissa and Francois are extremely helpful and friendly. They gave us wonderful restaurant recommendations as well as many helpful suggestions for sightseeing. They also arranged for our transportation from the ship to the inn and then to the airport for our return home. Our room was large and spotlessly clean. The inn is literally a 5 minute walk from the Colosseum. Actually we walked everywhere from there, including to the Vatican which was about a 30-45 minute walk.
Many people on this forum as well as on trip advisor speak highly of the Nicolas Inn. If they have rooms available, you might want to give them a try.