Budget hotels for a trip to Italy in May

In Siena, we have stayed here... http://www.hotelalmadomus.it/index.html ... It is a simple place run by nuns and we think it is quite charming! Make reservations as soon as you know your dates though because they fill up. Stunning views over the city!! It's right in town and easy to get to everything.

The Hotel Doni in Venice is a few hundred yards from San Marco, on a quiet side canal, and within your price range. I stayed there twice and been very happy with it. But please be aware it's very simple. And be sure to request an en suite room. Some rooms share bathrooms.

I second the above recommendation for Siena.

And convents and religious guesthouse are generally a good option for budget lodging, if you don't mind curfew. They are my preferred lodging, and I rarely pay more than €50 for a room and breakfast.

Bob:

Many travelers will say you've scheduled simply too many stops in too many places. Cities are often somewhat like cathedrals and churches--they all get to looking alike. I'd like to see some of your cities, but there are just too many great hill towns and popular places you've left out.

Like many travelers, $9.50 per gallon gasoline has slowed us down greatly, and we really like staying 4-5 nights in one area--doing day trips to surrounding towns. We get to know the area better. We'll then move on down the road to another area/region of interest.

When we were in Tuscany and Rome Easter before last, we had no problems finding accommodations @ 70 Euros per night. Virtually every farm in Tuscany has apartments and rooms for secondary income, and there are hundreds and hundreds of agriturismos available. We spent a long weekend in Florence, moved out to Chianti to an agriturismo, did a day trip to Venice and spent the balance of our trip in a B&B outside Rome.

We now research rooms carefully online, even going as far as looking at TripAdvisor.com and RickSteves.com for customer recommendations. I've also used Booking.com filtering by the cheapest price and then looking down the list for those places with extremely high customer recommendations. I've never been dissatisfied with any accommodations thru them.

AirBnB.com is another upwardly moving website for budget accommodations.

Remember that there's no way you can see everything on one trip. Why don't you pick 3-4 cities you really want to see, and limit your stays to close by those cities?

I will have a car from Sorrento to Venice. What you do not see is that for many of the trips between cities it is a day trip but I just do not go back to where I started. To me that would be lost time returning to the start when I could still be doing something. As an example on the way from Oriveto to Assisi we will be stopping at Abbazia di Sant'Antimo, Montalcino and the Perugia Chocolate Museum. Yes, I could stay in Sorrento 3 nights and return there after going to Paestum via the Amalfi Coast but that would be a killer of a day and I would miss the temples at Paestum being lit at night.

Bob,
We travel like you do!!! We hate backtracking, & alot of folks think we are crazy for hopping around so much.If you have huge suitcases it prob. is a little crazy. But if you travel light it's not that big of a deal. Esp. if you have your hotels booked or at least have researched ahead of time so you can be spontaneous. And we too don't like to spend the majority of our cash on our lodging, we prefer to spend it on DOING. Go for it!!!

A few years ago, we stayed at B&B Galla Placidia in Ravenna. I'm sure the price was less than 100 euros for a nice-sized room with modern bath and a good breakfast. It's located very close to the church of San Vitale, and the owner is welcoming and helpful. Check out the website, www.gallaplacidia.it. One unsolicited piece of advice: I'm not as staunch an opponent of 1 night stays as some on this site, particularly when they are intermediate stops along your route. However, I don't think Tivoli warrants an overnight. It's only an hour from Rome. You could stop there for however long you want and continue on to Orvieto, for example, saving yourself one check-in/check-out hassle.

Bob, in May 2012 my wife and I stayed at B&B La Casa di Tufo in Orvieto for 60 euros per night. It was very nice. See lacasaditufo.it, and you can also see reviews on TripAdvisor.

In general, you can save costs on accommodations by staying at B&B's, and the bonus is that you will often get more friendly and attentive service, and breakfast is included.

I was there in September. I stayed at Albergo Bernini in Siena and loved it. 65 euro for shared bathroom in the hall or 85 euro for room with private bath. In Orvieto I stayed at Valentina's rooms and paid 65 euro. She was a great host. Both are in Rick's book.

In Varenna I stayed at Albergo Milano which was more expensive but well worth it.

I did a trip like you where i was changing cities every 2 days and didn't mind it at all. I wanted to see as many cities as I could.

jbyers,

We will be traveling light. I spent a good part of my working life on the road. It takes me just 15 minutes to either move into or move out of a hotel room. Now my wife takes a bit longer.

Rosalyn, roger and Robert,

I will check out your recommendations.

Rosalyn,

With the drive up from Paestum, not knowing if we will see the ruins the previous afternoon or that morning (depends on how long we spend on the Amalfi Coast), our plans are to see Hadrian's Villa that afternoon and then spend the next morning at Villa deEste. If we have time, we want to stop at the Montecassino Abby on the way to Tivoli. That is why we intend to spend the night in Tivoli.

Roger,

B&Bs are high on my list. We have stayed at many B&Bs in our previous trips to Europe. In fact, the Rome "hotel" I said in my post that we had already booked is a B&B. Today I just booked a B&B in Florence and have an e-mail out to a B&B in Venice.

Robert,

I was already looking at the Albergo Milano in Varenna as a splurge. Glad to here someone else thinks it is worth the extra cost.

Hi Bob,

Have you tried looking at hostels? Many hostels have private room/en suite options. And I have generally found them to be clean and safe. I can vouch for the Freedom Traveller in Rome which I think also exist in other cities. I know you have already booked Rome. There are hostel websites that also let you look through bed and breakfasts which also tend to be cheaper.

Also, I would be shocked if someone found a hotel in the city center in Venice for 70 Euro. They are much cheaper outside of the city center and many of those hotels offer shuttles/free transportation to the city center. I recommend utilizing that or just accepting you will have to pay more there. Or spend one less night there.

Good luck!

I have used a site called airbnb for 3 different destinations where I couldn't find hotels with good reviews for a reasonable price. We were extremely happy in each case. You are renting private homes - either a full house, or just a bedroom, or even renting a sofa for the night - whatever you want. The site provides reviews from previous renters. We rented in Venice, Trieste and in Zagreb, Croatia.

First of all some of the locations in your trip can be easily visited as a day trip from some of your major cities. Orvieto and Tivoli are easy day trips from Rome. Siena is an easy day trip from Florence. That would help you minimize hotel changes.
70 euro a night in the city center of Rome, Florence or Venice is a little optimistic, however if you stick to 2 star hotels, which I find very adequate, you will definitely be able to stay under 100 euro a night. There aren't many hotels left without a bathroom in the room. A two star hotel automatically guarantees an in-room bathroom. A hotel with shared bathrooms down the hall gets no more than a star.

But you can not spend early mornings and late evenings in these places if you do day trips. Tivoli is an over night stop in a long drive from Paestum to Orvieto.

Bob,

We were in Italy from mid-September to mid-October last year. Here are the rates we paid in three of the cities you name. In all cases breakfast was included, but the quantity and quality varied. Rates don't include the per person tax Italy hotels are now assessing. All of these hotels/b and bs are in the RS Italy guidebook.

In Florence we stayed in Soggiorno Alessandra for 65 euro per night (bathroom was immediately across the hall, but private). Its located south of the Arno River but still near the train station and the center.

In Varenna we stayed at Albergo Beretta for 75 euro per night.

And in Milan we stayed at Hotel Florida for 100 euro per night. Its close to the main train station.

Have a great trip.

HI Bob,
Here are a few more reasonable places to stay Sorrento-Adriana 65euro per nt
Siena - Casacenti 75euro Ravenna - M Club Duxe 82euro Venice Studio Venice 100euro.
Enjoy you trip!!

Bob, for some of your cities:

Milan: Hotel Garda near the train station (breakfast extra)

Ravenna: Hotel Centrale Byron (very good breakast included)

Assisi: Hotel Ristorante La Pilotta (very centrally located)

Orvieto: Hotel Duomo (around the corner from the cathedral)

Paestum: Hotel Poseidonia Mare (my favorite hotel. best breakfast, very reasonable dinner available if you let them know you want it, beach is nearby, they will pick you up at the train station and drop you off, and loan you bikes).

All are listed on booking.com if you want to check out reviews and photos.

This is an old post from January (I know, not as old as some) and I now have all my reservations. I did get just under my target of 100 euro per night. If you are interested I have listed them on my post in "Italy Reviews".

We are going to Italy in May and have booked very reasonable accommodations through the airbnb web site. Fabulous, low cost accommodations all over the world.