Go beyond Chianti hotels to castle hotels, rental villas, agriturismi (farm stays), and B&Bs
★★★
Stay on a working farm agriturismo in the Chianti and experience the best of Italian hospitality and Tuscan countryside tradition
★★☆
Be king and/or queen of the castle with a room, suite, or apartments in a bona-fide Tuscan castle
Far from an indulgence, villa rentals in the Chianti can actually offer substantial savings, especially for four or more
Apartments (rental flats and short-term tourist lets of apartments) in the Chianti can offer substantial savings, especially for four or more
Hotels links
- Booking.com - We have done extensive testing, and Booking.com is hands-down the single best booking engine, with by far the largest number of hotels (and other lodging options) in all price ranges.Partner
- Agoda.com - This booking engine, once just an Asia specialist, has recently rocketed to second-best all around the world.Partner
- HotelsCombined.com - An aggregator looks at the results of all the booking engines and presents the prices it finds at each side-by-side. It's a great concept (and works well for airfares), however in our tests the actual booking engines themselves often offered better deals on more properties.Partner
- Hostelz.com - A booking engine that specailizes in hostels and cheap hotels.Partner
- Hotels.com - Since Hotels.com absorbed its Venere.com sibling, it has been performing much better in Europe than it once did.Partner
- Priceline.com - Priceline not only offers decent deals on standard hotel bookings, but also "Express Deals" in which you only get to know the hotel's star rating and neighborhood before you pay for it—but the savings can be substantial (usually 18%–20%, though occasionally much higher).Partner
- Hotwire.com - Like its competition Priceline, Hotwire offers both straightforward hotel bookings as well as "Hot Rate" deals that save you 25%–65% on hotels that you book blindly, knowing only the neighborhood and star rating before booking (and paying) for it.Partner
- Residenzedepoca.it - An association devoted not only to highlighting accommodations of particular historical interest, but also banding together to preserve and promote Italy's artistic and historic patrimony (when you book at any member hotel, 10% of the proceeds to go promoting historical tourism).
- Localistorici.it - A constorium of historic hotels, restaurants, and caffès.
B&Bs links
- Booking.com - One of the best general booking sites out there, and one of the few that includes B&Bs (filed variously under the categories of "Bed and Breakfasts," "Guesthouses," and "Inns"). By the numbers: 25,350+ B&Bs in in Italy, including 3,377 B&Bs in Rome, 600+ in Florence, 250 in Venice.Partner
- Agoda.com - This booking engine, once just an Asia specialist, has recently rocketed to second-best all around the world, with some 1,700 B&Bs in Rome alone.Partner
- Hotels.com - Another generalist lodging booking site with a decent representation of B&Bs: 922 in Rome.Partner
- Airbnb.com - Famous network of both official and unofficial B&Bs, homestays, room rentals, and apartment and house rentals. So many I can't even post total numbers here. Of course, Airbnb is less regulated than most official or online resources, and many of the places to stay are not registered with the local authorities—which helps make them cheaper, but they are not inspected, or subject to official compaints, and certainly do not pay taxes. Buyer beware.
- Hostelz.com - Aggregator bringing together from many hostel and cheap hotel booking engines. If you select "Guesthouses" as the Accommodation Type you will find plenty of B&Bs in there.Partner
- Bedandbreakfast.com - B&B specialist listing more than 4,400 bed and breakfasts across Italy. User reviews help you make informed decisions.Partner
- Bedandbreakfast.eu - Massive database of 153,000 places to stay around Italy (around 9.600 in Rome alone), but it is more of a classifieds site, with each property submitting and writing its own listing, and many are not, actually, B&Bs in the traditional sense. Still, a good resource for the room hunt.
Apartments links
- Homeaway.com - So many places it doesn't even bother listing rentals past the first 5,000—and that's just in Rome or Tuscany.Partner
- Vrbo.com - VRBO stands for "Vacation Rentals By Owner," a worldwide virtual classifieds section devoted to villas, apartments, cottages, houses, and other places to lay your head. Though designed to allow villa and vacation home owners to rent to the public directly—ostensibly cutting out the extra costs involved in working through a middle-man rental agency—in my experience plenty of small-fry local rental agencies use it as well (not that there's anything wrong with renting through those folks; just wanted to let you know that not every property listed is truly direct from the owner).Partner
- Booking.com - Listing nearly 66,000 apartments across Italy, including more than 5,300 in Rome, more than 2,700 in Florence, and more than 1,800 in Venice or Milan. Wow.Partner
- Hotels.com - Good generalist booking engine with plenty of "Apartments" options in the filter screens for each destination.Partner
- Interhomeusa.com - Some 3,530 rentals in France, of which about a hundred in Rome. Partner
- Airbnb.com - Tens of thousands of listings—but caveat emptor. Anyone can post a listing, so trust only the ones with lots of reviews.
- Agoda.com - Good generalist booking agency with a resepctable 238 apartments available in Rome, 130 in Florence.Partner
Farm stays links
- Organicholidays.com - B&Bs, rental cottages, camping slites, or homestays all on working organic farms—90 across Italy.
- Booking.com - The general booking site lists around 6,150 farm stays across Italy, including some 1,695 in Tuscany.Partner
- Wwoof.net - If you really want to get your hands dirty, sign up to become a temporary farmhand through this volunteer organization. Gigs last from a few weeks to a few months, and while you pay (a mdoest sum) to join, room and board is free in exchange for your work.
- Helpx.net - Similar to Wwoof, but with more varied opportuniites, Helpx is another place where you can volunteer your services—as a farmhand, handyman, or other skill—in exchange for room and (sometimes) board on farms, B&Bs, hostels, and boats. Gigs can last from a few weeks to a few months.
- Terranostra.it - One of three official Italian agriturism sites.
- Turismoverde.it - One of three official Italian agriturism sites.
- Agriturist.it - One of three official Italian agriturism sites.
Villas links
- Booking.com - Thousands of cottages, villas, and rental homes across Italy, including 5,753 in Tuscany and 762 in Piemonte, all on a site with verified user reiviews.Partner
- Vrbo.com - VRBO stands for "Vacation Rentals By Owner," a worldwide virtual classifieds section devoted to villas, apartments, cottages, houses, and other places to lay your head. Probably the biggest (at least when it comes to Italy), with thousands upon thousands of rentals—from apartments to estates—in Italy alone, of which more than 5,000+ are in Tuscany, another 5,000+ in Rome and Lazio. Though designed to allow villa and vacation home owners to rent to the public directly—ostensibly cutting out the extra costs involved in working through a middle-man rental agency—in my experience plenty of small-fry local rental agencies use it as well (not that there's anything wrong with renting through those folks; just wanted to let you know that not every property listed is truly direct from the owner).Partner
- Belvilla.com - Thousands holiday cottages across Italy, the vast majority villas or houses (1,194 in Tuscany, 473 on the Italian Lakes, 263 in the Veneto, 116 in Piemonte), with just a handful of apartments in cities.Partner
- Interhome - This is one of the biggest and best-established in the business (est. in 1965 as "Swiss Chalet" in Zurich), with more than 30,000 holiday homes in Europe (plus Florida), with around 3,530 in Italy. They book 95% of their villas directly from the owners, and have 60 local service offices scattered around Europe (plus, like I said, Florida).Partner
- Rentalo.com - Another sizeable database for one-stop shopping. They also handle everything from standard hotels to B&Bs, agriturism, and even castles.Partner
- Airbnb.com - Familiar to most as a way to find a cheap room, the AirBnB network also lists thousands of villas, houses, and apartments in Italy (just specify "Entire home" under "Room type"). It is less regulated than most online resources, so it is definitely a "buyer-beware" environment, but the deals can be astounding. I recently searched for one with very specific parameters (for eight people, with a pool and A/C, in Tuscany, on odd dates) and airbnb.com came up with two-dozen tantalizing results, all of which still were available for the required high season dates—including a gorgeous farmhouse in the Chianti just eight miles from Siena... for $283 a night.
- The Parker Company - The top Italy rental specialist, a family-run outfit with just around 75 properties, but immaculately chosen ones with loads of info on each property on the site. They prefer, however, to conduct business over the phone because their goal is to get to know you and then match you with the perfect villa. The goal is quality over quantity, and they have eminently respectable rates of satisfied customers and repeat business. As a bonus, the company is set up to help you plan and book things to do during your stay (cooking classes, bike rides and such) through its Actividayz branch.
- Marjorie Shaw’s Insider’s Italy - Another boutique agency with intimate knowledge of each property, but you do pay extra for this breed of service. Not so much a villa rental agent as an Italy trip-planning service that can hook you up with a villa or apartment as part of your vacation. Their web site merely tells you how great they are, sort of an online brochure—no nitty gritty details on the properties they represent or on their other services. However, I've only ever heard raves from people who have traveled with Marjorie Shaw's service.
- Cottages.com - Premier organization (part of the Wyndham family) with more than 940 temporary homes on tap in Italy.
- Special Places to Stay - Alastair Sawday’s series of accommodations guidebooks is now available on-line, covering the Britain, France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, and Spain (plus India and Morocco). Many are run more as proper hotels—though in the countryside—though some are self-catering. Only 221 self-catering villas in Italy (our of 540 properties total), but wow, what a selection
- Home Base Abroad - Super-select (and super-expensive) collection of private villas in Tuscany, Umbria, the Amalfi Coast, Lake Como, the Dolomites, and a handful in the cities. The pictures alone will make your jaw drop.
- Home in Italy - More than 240 upscale villas in Tuscany, Umbria, Sicily, Apulia, Lazio, teh Amalfi Coast, Le Marche, Campania, and Sardegna.
- Villas & Apartments Abroad - Primo places—palaces castles, and the like—in Italy, France, and a bit in Ireland, Scotland, Greece, and Austria, but the listings are quite coy (rarely tell you precisely where they are, nor in most cases the prices, which is a Cardinal Sin in my book). Plus, only a handful (127) in Italy. If the properties weren’t so spectacular, I wouldn’t even bother listing the site.
- RentaVilla - Many agencies focus on the priciest properties (earns them bigger commissions, I guess), but not RentaVilla. It features a refreshing range of villas in all price categories, in the Amalfi coast, Apulia, Emilia Romagna, Florence, the Italian Lakes, Piemonte, Liguria, the Cinque Terre, Le Marche, Rome, Sicily, Tuscany, Umbria, and Venice and the Veneto.
- Rent Villas - Good track record for Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, the UK, Greece, and Turkey. The number of villas in Italy just tips the scales over 830 (with a real focus on Tuscany, where there are 493 villas to rent), but it is an excellent selection.
- Villas International - Long-established agency, with 25,000 properties in perhaps more countries around the world than any other. Plenty of good Italy villas and apartments among the 2,200+ listings in Italy.
Camping links
- Booking.com - More than 460 campgrounds and "Resort village" holiday parks in Italy—though on this site you can book only cabins and other fixed rentals available in the campgrounds, not empty tent or RV sites.Partner
- Camperonline.it - In Italian (though you can get an English version of the menu—though not the content), but choc-a-block with info on camping and RVing all across Europe, including hundreds of country-specific links to tons of other useful Internet resources, free sites to park your RV, and on-line camping catalogues.
- Campeggievillaggi.it - A privately-run database of Italian campgrounds.
- Campeggio.com - Pretty complete database, in Italian, but click on a region, then a province (major city/town) for a list of local campgrounds in no particular order. They offer on-line booking ("Richiedi un preventivo") but do not provide direct links to individual campground websites. Highly annoying
- Ciaocampeggio.it - Decent online databse of campeggi (proper campgrounds) and Aree da sosta (places you can park an RV overnight—no hookups or dumping!).
- Camping.it - Italian campgrounds. Big benefit: it's available in in English.
- Campeggio.it - Another online booking engine for Italian campgrounds.
- Caravanclub.co.uk - A British RV club with loads of intel on campgrounds across Europe as well.
- Campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk - A British motorhome club with links to information on camping sites across Europe
- Eurocamp.co.uk - Lists details on around three dozen lovely camping parks in Italy.
- Federcampeggio.it - The Federazione Italiana del Campeggio e del Caravanning is a camping and RVing club with discounts for members. It's in Italian—and, unfortunately, they prefer to sell you a book of campgrounds rather than provide an online database—but there is some good intel in there for nudists and RVers.
- Hostelworld.com - Yes, it has "hostels" in the name, but this site also lists campgrounds—as well as loads of cheap hotels, apartments, and B&Bs.Partner
- Hostelz.com - An aggregator shows you the rates its can find at multiple booking engines at once, so you can find the lowest price out there on campgrounds, hostels, and other cheap accommodations.Partner
Castle hotels links
- Castleandpalacehotels.com - Not the most complete, but by far the most user-friendly site, maintained by professional travel writer and guidebook author Pamela Barrus (always gotta give props to my colleagues). All castles—about three dozen in Italy—are hand-selected. The interface is quick and intuitive: Click on a country, click on a region, then click on a castle (or palatial hotel) to get a concise but info-packed single page on the property, complete with photographs, prices, direct contact info, brochure-like descriptions of the castle and its history, and a few choice words and tips on the hotel from Pamela herself. Other nice touches: basic intel on how castle hotels work in each country, useful phrases in each language for booking a room, information on holding weddings, etc. She also just has a good eye for castles. I've written about them myself—for guidebooks and magazine articles—so I know what's out there and can tell you that Pamela tends to pick some of the best.
- Castlesontheweb.com - Bukoos links on the "Accommodations" page. Could do with some organization though: some are booking engines, some direct links, some hotel reservations services... still, most seem to at least hook you up with bona fide fortresses. Happy hunting.
- Relaischateaux.com - One of the granddaddies of refined luxury, an association with extremely high standards (and price tags) with around 45 properties in Italy. Not all are castles, despite the name, but even the manor houses, palaces, mansions, historic villas, and regular hotels are of the utmost in comfort, quality, charm, history, and are usually really, really expensive.
- icastelli.net - Nice, slick site from an Italy-based agency with more than 930 castles, manor houses, and other primo upscale hotels across Italy.
Tips
About the lodging star ratings (☆☆☆ to ★★★)
You will notice that all hotels, B&Bs, and other lodgingds (as well as sights and restaurants) on this site have a ReidsItaly.com star designation from ☆☆☆ to ★★★.
This merely indicates that I feel these accommodations offer a little something that makes them special (or extra-special, or extra-extra special, etc.).
These star ratings are entirely based on personal opinion, and have nothing to do with the official Italian hotel ratings—which have more to do with quantifiable amenities such as minibars, and not the intangibles that make a hotel truly stand out, like a combination of great location, friendly owners, nice style, and low prices.
In general, a pricier place to stay has to impress me that it is worth the added expense.
This is why I give ★★★ to some (official) "two-star" hotels or B&Bs that happen to provide amazing value for the money—and similarly have ranked a few (official) "four-star" properties just (★★☆).
About the lodging price brackets (€–€€€)
Accommodations rates vary wildly—even at the same hotel or B&B—depending on type of room, number of people in it, and the season.
That's why here at ReidsItaly.com we simply provde a general price range indicating the rough rate you should expect to pay for a standard double room in mid-season.
There are three price ranges, giving you a sense of which lodgings are budget, which are moderate, and which are splurges:
| € | under €100 |
| €€ | €100–€200 |
| €€€ | over €200 |
Useful Italian phrases
Useful Italian for lodging
| English (inglese) | Italian (italiano) | Pro-nun-cee-YAY-shun |
| Where is? | Dov'é | doh-VAY |
| ...a hotel | un albergo | oon al-BEAR-go |
| ...a B&B | un bed-and-breakfast | oon bet hand BREK-fust |
| ...a rental room | un'affittacamera | oon ah-feet-ah-CAH-mair-ra |
| ...an apartment for rent | un appartamento | oon ah-part-tah-MENT-toh |
| ...a farm stay | un agriturismo | oon ah-gree-tour-EES-moh |
| ...a hostel | un ostello | oon oh-STEHL-loh |
| How much is...? | Quanto costa? | KWAN-toh COST-ah |
| a single room | una singola | OO-nah SEEN-go-la |
| double room for single use [will often be offered if singles are unavailable] | doppia uso singola | DOPE-pee-ya OO-so SEEN-go-la |
| a double room with two beds | una doppia con due letti | OO-nah DOPE-pee-ya cone DOO-way LET-tee |
| a double room with one big bed | una matrimoniale | OO-nah mat-tree-moan-nee-YAAL-lay |
| triple room | una tripla | OO-nah TREE-plah |
| with private bathroom | con bagno | cone BAHN-yoh |
| without private bathroom | senza bagno [they might say con bagno in comune—"with a communal bath"] | SEN-zah BAHN-yoh |
| for one night | per una notte | pair OO-nah NOH-tay |
| for two nights | per due notti | pair DOO-way NOH-tee |
| for three nights | per tre notti | pair tray NOH-tee |
| Is breakfast included? | É incluso la prima colazione? | ay in-CLOO-soh lah PREE-mah coal-laht-zee-YOAN-nay |
| Is there WiFi? | C'é WiFi? | chay WHY-fy? |
| May I see the room? | Posso vedere la camera? | POH-soh veh-DAIR-eh lah CAH-mair-rah |
| That's too much | É troppo | ay TROH-po |
| Is there a cheaper one? | C'é una più economica? | chay OO-nah pew eh-ko-NO-mee-kah |
Basic phrases in Italian
| English (inglese) | Italian (italiano) | pro-nun-see-YAY-shun |
| thank you | grazie | GRAT-tzee-yay |
| please | per favore | pair fa-VOHR-ray |
| yes | si | see |
| no | no | no |
| Do you speak English? | Parla Inglese? | PAR-la een-GLAY-zay |
| I don't understand | Non capisco | non ka-PEESK-koh |
| I'm sorry | Mi dispiace | mee dees-pee-YAT-chay |
| How much is it? | Quanto costa? | KWAN-toh COST-ah |
| That's too much | É troppo | ay TROH-po |
| Good day | Buon giorno | bwohn JOUR-noh |
| Good evening | Buona sera | BWOH-nah SAIR-rah |
| Good night | Buona notte | BWOH-nah NOTE-tay |
| Goodbye | Arrivederci | ah-ree-vah-DAIR-chee |
| Excuse me (to get attention) | Scusi | SKOO-zee |
| Excuse me (to get past someone) | Permesso | pair-MEH-so |
| Where is? | Dov'é | doh-VAY |
| ...the bathroom | il bagno | eel BHAN-yoh |
| ...train station | la ferroviaria | lah fair-o-vee-YAR-ree-yah |
| to the right | à destra | ah DEH-strah |
| to the left | à sinistra | ah see-NEEST-trah |
| straight ahead | avanti [or] diritto | ah-VAHN-tee [or] dee-REE-toh |
| information | informazione | in-for-ma-tzee-OH-nay |
Days, months, and other calendar items in Italian
| English (inglese) | Italian (italiano) | Pro-nun-cee-YAY-shun |
| When is it open? | Quando é aperto? | KWAN-doh ay ah-PAIR-toh |
| When does it close? | Quando si chiude? | KWAN-doh see key-YOU-day |
| At what time... | a che ora | a kay O-rah |
| Yesterday | ieri | ee-YAIR-ee |
| Today | oggi | OH-jee |
| Tomorrow | domani | doh-MAHN-nee |
| Day after tomorrow | dopo domani | DOH-poh doh-MAHN-nee |
| a day | un giorno | oon je-YOR-no |
| Monday | Lunedí | loo-nay-DEE |
| Tuesday | Martedí | mar-tay-DEE |
| Wednesday | Mercoledí | mair-coh-lay-DEE |
| Thursday | Giovedí | jo-vay-DEE |
| Friday | Venerdí | ven-nair-DEE |
| Saturday | Sabato | SAH-baa-toh |
| Sunday | Domenica | doh-MEN-nee-ka |
| Mon-Sat | Feriali | fair-ee-YAHL-ee |
| Sun & holidays | Festivi | feh-STEE-vee |
| Daily | Giornaliere | joor-nahl-ee-YAIR-eh |
| a month | una mese | oon-ah MAY-zay |
| January | gennaio | jen-NAI-yo |
| February | febbraio | feh-BRI-yo |
| March | marzo | MAR-tzoh |
| April | aprile | ah-PREEL-ay |
| May | maggio | MAH-jee-oh |
| June | giugno | JEW-nyoh |
| July | luglio | LOO-lyoh |
| August | agosto | ah-GO-sto |
| September | settembre | set-TEM-bray |
| October | ottobre | oh-TOE-bray |
| November | novembre | no-VEM-bray |
| December | dicembre | de-CHEM-bray |
Numbers in Italian
| English (inglese) | Italian (italiano) | Pro-nun-cee-YAY-shun |
| 1 | uno | OO-no |
| 2 | due | DOO-way |
| 3 | tre | tray |
| 4 | quattro | KWAH-troh |
| 5 | cinque | CHEEN-kway |
| 6 | sei | say |
| 7 | sette | SET-tay |
| 8 | otto | OH-toh |
| 9 | nove | NO-vay |
| 10 | dieci | dee-YAY-chee |
| 11 | undici | OON-dee-chee |
| 12 | dodici | DOH-dee-chee |
| 13 | tredici | TRAY-dee-chee |
| 14 | quattordici | kwa-TOR-dee-chee |
| 15 | quindici | KWEEN-dee-chee |
| 16 | sedici | SAY-dee-chee |
| 17 | diciasette | dee-chee-ya-SET-tay |
| 18 | diciotto | dee-CHO-toh |
| 19 | diciannove | dee-chee-ya-NO-vay |
| 20 | venti | VENT-tee |
| 21* | vent'uno* | vent-OO-no |
| 22* | venti due* | VENT-tee DOO-way |
| 23* | venti tre* | VENT-tee TRAY |
| 30 | trenta | TRAYN-tah |
| 40 | quaranta | kwa-RAHN-tah |
| 50 | cinquanta | cheen-KWAN-tah |
| 60 | sessanta | say-SAHN-tah |
| 70 | settanta | seh-TAHN-tah |
| 80 | ottanta | oh-TAHN-tah |
| 90 | novanta | no-VAHN-tah |
| 100 | cento | CHEN-toh |
| 1,000 | mille | MEEL-lay |
| 5,000 | cinque milla | CHEEN-kway MEEL-lah |
| 10,000 | dieci milla | dee-YAY-chee MEEL-lah |
* You can use this formula for all Italian ten-place numbers—so 31 is trent'uno, 32 is trenta due, 33 is trenta tre, etc. Note that—like uno (one), otto (eight) also starts with a vowel—all "-8" numbers are also abbreviated (vent'otto, trent'otto, etc.).
» More about Lodging options in Italy
General info about Lodging options in Italy
★★★
Bed and breakfasts aren't just great big Victorian cottages run by kindly but nosy little old widows anymore
There are dozens of hotel alternatives, from Roman apartments to country villas, farmhouse B&Bs to residences, and campgrounds to castles. Here's how to find the lot of them.
★★★
★★★
Stay on a working farm agritourismo and experience the best of Italian hospitality and countryside tradition
From B&Bs and farm stays to cottages, castles, and campgrounds, here are Italian lodging alternatives to the traditional hotel
★★☆
Serviced flats, residence hotels, Aparthotels, and other townhouse suite lodging in Italy
★★☆
An Italian villa to call your own for the night or the week—renting a villa, house, or cottage in Italy
★★☆
Stay in a real castello and live happily ever after (temporarily) as King and Queen of the castle
★☆☆
Rental rooms in Italy are called affittacamere (singular: affittacamera), and they can be had for as little as $30 a night
★★☆
Free lodgings in Italy: Hospitality networks (couchsurfing), home swaps, and house sitting services
Couchsurfing and other hospitality networks allow you to sleep for free in other member's homes
Hospitality networks gather folks who are willing to put up fellow members in their homes for free or for a small fee
Trading spaces isn't just a show on basic cable anymore. It's a way to live life like a local on your travels absolutely for free—so long as you let the local borrow your life (and home) in return.
Sleep for free on vacation in Italy by watching someone's house (and, often, watering their plants and feeding their cat)
Sleep in a religious guesthouse or retreat at monasteries abbeys across Italy from just €17
If you love sailing, or just have an unquenchable taste for adventure and new experiences, you can sign on to help crew a boat just about anywhere in the world, including Italy
