Timing of the breakfast at a bed and breakfast

8:30 is a bit late, but 8 AM is fairly standard. And it's very common to have later hours on the weekends. There are some places that that have earlier breakfasts. These tend to be B&B's that have business travelers as well as tourists staying at them. Some B&B's will put a cold breakfast for you to pick up in the AM if you have a very early departure. I've used this when I've had an early plane or train to catch. It's usually, some yogurt and fruit and a roll or bread. And you're right, it's hard for B&B's to do breakfast over longer periods of time. They often don't have full time help and are juggling it all with family and a part-time person who helps with breakfast and getting the rooms ready.

BTW there's a book called Heads on Pillows which just came out in Scotland this past year that talks about what it's like to run a B&B. The author had one of the top B&B's in Scotland for many years. The book has all sorts of stories about the ins and outs and ups and downs of running a B&B. Look for it on www.amazon.co.uk

Pam

Thanks for the info Pam! I'll check out that book.

I've had that problem, too.

You have to understand that with this kind of accommodation, which I infinitely prefer, you are staying, not in a hotel, with a staff that arrives at dark:30, but in someones home. A lot of people just don't want to get up early to fix you breakfast.

While I'm not normally a morning person, somehow, while adapting to the new time zone, I tend to be. I'm normally in bed soon after 10, rarely after 11, and up at six. They ask me when I want breakfast. When I say seven, they kind of roll their eyes and say, "how about 7:30.

I like to be on the train to wherever I'm going by just after 9 AM, and I like a leisurely breakfast, so 8 AM is a little pushed for me.

One thing that helps, plan to get everything done (shower, dressing, packing) before breakfast.

Before you go back to hotels, why not ask what time breakfast is served before you make your reservation. Not all B&Bs have the same breakfast time.

I have stayed in B&Bs a lot, and only once have I encountered a late breakfast like that. Normally, they say breakfast is served beginning at 7:00 or 7:30 (even 8:00) but they try to find out when YOU would like to eat. In one B&B on our last trip to Ireland, they didn't serve breakfast until 9:00, which was later than we had wanted. Still, it was either sleep in a bit ourselves, or get breakfast somewhere else.

I have never stayed at a B&B that served breakfast before 8am. I am an early European traveling riser, too, mainly because I travel in winter and want to maximize my daylight as much as I can. I figure most places serve breakfast this late because most sights do not open til 10am (in my most recent experience, anyways). We just got back from Budapest and breakfast was from 8:30 to 9:30. It gave us an excuse to "sleep in" but if it were up to me, I would be out and about town by 8:30am.