My husband and I, along with our 14 & 11 year old, are planning to visit Italy July 2007. We've decided to do this on our own instead of a tour. Any suggestions for accommodations for family for Venice, Rome, Florence and Sorrento?

Good choice; you and your family will have a wonderful time in Italy. I see you are new here. You can learn a lot just by using the "search" function; there has been much discussion of accomodations for families in Venice and Rome in particular. Try putting "Venice apartments" and "Rome apartments" in the search box. Or if you would rather stay in hotels, search under that (however, most people find apartments less expensive and a good choice for families, even for a 3- or 4-night stay).

If your gong to Florence I recommend the Hotel Casci they have a web site. We stayed there and found it to be quite quaint and friendly. They serve a very nice continental breakfast which is included in the room rate. You can find reviews for it on Venere.com Look up Florence 2 star hotels. Even though it is two stars it is very clean and close to all attractions. I will definetly stay there again. Also, if you are interested in doinfg any tours I recommend Walking Tours of Florece www.artiva.com Excellent tours and all of the museum tickets are included in the tour prices. The only thing about going to Florence in the summer is that Tuscany is very hot and humid so be aware of this.

WHat is your hotel budget?

We stayed in these quads back in March '01
Venice - Hotel FLora 3* (1 large rooms with queen and 2 twins, 1 2/3 bathrooms)
FLorence - Hotel Casci 2* (1 large room with queen and 2 twins)
Rome - Santa CHiara 3* (a 2 room suite)

All included a nice breakfast, were well located and clean. For July, you need to confirm that any hotl you stay in has a/c. I think these 3 do.

that should be 1/2 bathrooms, not 2/3...

Have you thought of renting an apartment? That might afford you not only more space, but also save you money in the long run and allow you to "live like a local."

Our family stayed at:

Rome: VRBO 21717 on the via dei cappellari

Florence: the Florence Ciompi apartments (initaly.com)

Venice: Residence Corte Grimani

I would recommend them all.

These are the places we stayed with our kids of similar age.
Rome: Hotel Cesari (www.www.albergocesari.it)
Florence: Tourist House Ghiberti(www.touristhouseghiberti.com)
Venice: Locanda Orseolo (www.www.touristhouseghiberti.com)

We can recommend them all, particularly Locanda Orseolo in Venice - a must!

We also loved Locanda Orseolo in Venice with our 12 and 15 year olds this past summer. It books very early so if you are interested, book now - it may already be full.

Also, jgg has two very good trip reports of their family trips to Italy. missypie and I also have fairly recent reports. I will try to come back later with more time to post the links for you. In the mean time, you can click on our "blue name links" and search under our posts if you would like to find those reports. There are a number of other family reports for Italy and you may find reports one useful tool for getting a feel of what you may want to see and do and ideas for restaurants, etc...

Good luck and have fun!

Hi C,

How many days do you have in Italy?

Why Sorrento and not Positano?

You might find this useful:
Helpful Information: Italy 2
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34568596