A bed and breakfast is an overnight accommodation that is suitable for anyone who travels for business or for pleasure. There are numerous bed and breakfast locations that you can choose from all over the world. Bed and breakfasts are also known as a B&B.

A bed and breakfast can be located in any type of dwelling. In the United States, the majority of bed and breakfasts are in home-like environments where the owners have renovated the home into a B&B. As well as the home environments, bed and breakfasts can be found in historical buildings, mansions, apartments and cabins. If you search carefully, you may even be able to find one that is in a lighthouse, on a boat or some other very unique type of building.

They usually offer a private bathroom with the rental of a room but there are a few that only offer a public bathroom. A homemade breakfast is included in the price of the room and is served either in the bedroom or in the main dining area.

Missouri has more than 130 bed and breakfast locations to choose from. If the B&B belongs to one of the professional associations, you can be assured that it conforms to the association rules and regulations including health and safety, and cleanliness.

In Missouri, some of the more unique bed and breakfast locations are found in elegant urban mansions, Victorian splendor, country getaways and hidden gems. Using the Bed and Breakfast Inns of Missouri website, you have the ability to research B&B’s by map, route, city, name, amenities, specials, attractions, events and specialties.http://www.bbim.org/

First thing you need to do is to determine what you will be doing while visiting Missouri. Are you interested in activities, recreation, sightseeing or a combination of these things to do?

Missouri has a good variety of things to do that include state parks, historic sites, family fun, wineries, shopping, events, fairs, festivals, tournaments, fishing, exhibitions, pet events, art, markets, dances, gardens, concerts, food, civil war events, outdoor adventure, parades, biking, tours, theater, airshows, and races. You will be able to find out all about the happenings in Missouri if you visit the Missouri Tourism website. As of 2010 there are 81 Festivals, 3 Performing Arts Events, 24 Concerts, 229 Exhibits and Shows, 5 Food events, 3 Shopping areas, 3 Civil War events, 6 Outdoor Adventures, 2 Commemoration Events, 17 Wine or Beer events, 4 Golf Tournaments, 18 Holiday events, 4 Historic Re-enactments, 2 Parades, 2 Dances, 3 Cycling events, 5 Nature events, 4 Organized tours, 3 Children’s events, 2 Home tours, 4 Fairs, 6 Sporting events, 1 Dinner Theater show, 2 Airshow events, 2 Fishing tournaments, 4 Storytelling events, 2 Live Theater shows and 1 Fun Run/Race activities and events listed on the Missouri tourism website.http://www.visitmo.com/see-all-events.aspx?StartDate=01/01/2010&EndDate=12/31/2010

Once you have your activities, recreation and/or sightseeing planned out, you will need to select a location or region to stay in. Missouri is split into ten regions for you to choose from, they include Northwest Missouri, Northeast Missouri, Greater Kansas City, Central Missouri, Greater St. Louis, Lake of The Ozarks, Southwest Missouri, Greater Springfield, Branson and Southeast Missouri.

Northwest Missouri includes Jameson and Jamesport.

Northeast Missouri includes Clarksville, Ethel, Hannibal, Kirksville and Macon.

Greater Kansas City includes Bates City, Centerview, Excelsior Springs, Harrisonville, Kansas City, Kearney, Lawson, Lexington, Liberty, Odessa, Parkville, Platte City, Pleasant Hill, Smithville, Warrensburg and Weston.

Central Missouri includes Blackwater, Bonnots Mill, Chamois, Dixon, Fulton, Hermann, Huntsville, Jefferson City, Mexico, Moberly, Morrison, New Franklin, Rocheport, Rolla, Saint James, St. James and Washington.

Greater St. Louis includes Augusta, Dutzow, Imperial, [[]]Marthasville]], Saint Louis, St. Charles, Sullivan, Troy and Washington.

Lake of The Ozarks includes Camdenton, Gravois Mills, Lake Ozark, Lesterville, Osage Beach, Piedmont, Rocky Mount, Stover and Versailles.

Southwest Missouri includes Ava, Carthage, Houston and Joplin.

Greater Springfield includes Fair Grove, Marshfield, Ozark, Rogersville and Springfield.

Branson includes Blue Eve, Branson, Branson West, Eagle Rock, Lampe, Reed’s Spring and Walnut Shade.

Southeast Missouri includes Annapolis, Arcadia, Cape Girardeau, Farmington, Ironton, Jackson, Saint Mary, Ste. Genevieve and Steelville.http://www.bbonline.com/mo/

Now that you have your things to do and your location all planned out, you will need to start doing your research for a bed and breakfast that is suitable for your needs. There are many websites that can give you most of the information for bed and breakfasts. Most of them have search options so that you easily narrow down your search results.

Once you have a list of bed and breakfasts that are of interest and within your criteria, you should list these in the order of ones with the most potential to those with the least potential. Make a list of questions that you need to ask for each.

Starting at the top of your list (most potential), call the owner or the caretaker and ask him/her all your questions. Work your way down the list until you find the one that suits your needs the best then make your reservation. Bed and breakfasts are becoming a very popular way of traveling. For that reason, they tend to book up fast, especially in tourist areas. Making a reservation assures that you will have a place to stay when you take your trip.

You may plan your trip around more than one activity and location. When you do this, you will need to make reservations at as many bed and breakfast locations as you need according to the regions and locations that you will be going to visit. Your stay at a bed and breakfast can be as short or as long as you wish, from one night to a few weeks.