Accomodation in Italy and Spain

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lmpsoares

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Nov 15, 2006
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We are planning to travel through Italy and Spain.
In Italy we are travelling to;
1. Venice
2. Florence
3. Rome
4. Cinque Terra
and in Spain to;
1. Barcelona
2. Madrid.

I am attempting to book accomodation online (mainly through hostelworld.com) however, am having difficulty knowing the suburbs of these major cities and how safe they are compared to their price.

Any advice?
 
AFFers are a well travelled bunch - perhaps you could post more details?

Alternatively google
 
I guess my conundrum is that though we know what cities we would like to visit when I type in hotels/hostels in that area it is hard to decifer where they actually are. I am worried that we will book what appears to be a safe and affordable accomodation but is actually in a rough end of town and extremely far from the sights.

In Venice I have heard that it is much cheaper in La Specia (not sure how it is spelt) however, in Rome, Florence and especially the area of Cinque Terra which I know can be expensive in parts I have no idea where I can get a good double room (preferably with ensuite) for about 50 euro per night????

Hopefully that is more specific!
 
The only advice I would give you is to look at Sitges when you plan to stay near BCN.

Done it many times. Otherwise, stay in Barcelona at your peril.

:)
 
Lonely Planet guidebooks have excellent guides to budget accommodation and maps showing where they are located. I am one of the rare budget travellers on AFF! ;)
 
We used this hotel in Venice. It was a very short walk from the train station, and very comfortable and affordable as far as Venice is concerned. From there we could walk to anywhere around Venice.

In Rome we stayed at the Best Western Spring House near The Vatican. It was a few minutes walk from the public transport (the subway). But it was a taxi ride to/from the main Rome train station.

You can learn quite a lot about a city from Google and the web sites of the major hotel chains.
 
We enjoyed an excellent time in Cinque Terre earlier this year. All towns a little noisy with the trains passing through. Excellent stay at Riomaggiore at Monolcale Con Vijte Riomaggiore with contact Ivana Bonanni Via Signorini 322. Absolutely amazing spot & dirt cheap by Aussie standards. Get fit & ready to walk. Let me know if you want more details.

Cheers
RB
 
In Venice we stayed about an hour out of the city. Even with transport to and from still cheaper than staying on the lagoon.

Florence we stayed budget place somewhere central.

Rome was award stay at Hilton Cavalieri - not exactly budget!!

Barcelona - plenty of nice places Diagonal or, if can get a cheap rate by the forum area. Otherwise as clifford says Sitges is nice beach town a cheap 30 minute train ride away.

Madrid we stayed budget place out towards the airport direction from central.

I'd have to hunt around to find specific names of places we stayed.
 
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lmpsoares said:
Any advice?

Yeah, give Madrid a wide berth.
(Spent a week there a few weeks ago. By far the worst city I've ever been to. Hope you don't like good food, because you won't find it in Madrid, no matter how upmarket the restaurant is).

Heh, anyway, we stayed at the "Melia Galgos" which was about 25min from the airport, and about a 5min cab ride from what looked like the centre of town. The rooms were nice, big, had a safe, decent bathroom etc. Staff weren't always the best (hardly anyone in Madrid speaks English), but apart from that - not bad. Great bed too!

Cheers,
- Febs.
 
I stayed in Mestre, aprox. 3 klms from Venice in Oct. Accom. may be cheaper than Venice. I stayed in Capitol Palace, 80euros and includes breaky, not fantastic, but will start the day. Bus stop just outside hotel to Venice, ticket has to be purchased prior to getting on bus at restraunt just up from hotel. You can catch eurostar at local r.r. stn., cost abt. 13 euro to stn. city area abt. 3-4 klms. from hotel, easy to walk once you get off the small part of major rd. I wasn't excited abt. the hotel itself and wouldn't go back but not the worse place to stay.
It is well worth treating yourself to the experience of the Hilton Cavalieri, especially if you have access to the Ex. club, you could eat all your meals there for the day. Courtesy bus to city. A beautiful hotel.
trish
 
I'd strongly disagree with Febs regarding Madrid -- there's good food to be had, great sights (grand boulevards, architecture, museums), daytrips. Cheapish accom around Plaza Santa Barbara and in Chueca (a vibrant but less savoury area between the Gran Via and Santa Barbara areas, if I remember rightly). Madrid is, however, scorching in summer.

Barcelona is mostly pretty safe -- the Diagonal area mentioned by KiwiFlyer is very convenient and unproblematic, as are a number of other areas. Sitges is lovely, but how convenient depends on what you like to do when holidaying.

Get yourself Lonely Planet and Rough Guide for usually realistic descriptions of areas and fairly useful accom recommendations.
 
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