We have pretty much chosen our living quarters for our January trip, but I wondered if anyone has any recommendations/ suggestions before we solidify our plans. I've been trying to do my research so we end up in nice, easily accessible areas, but it's always nice to here from those who spend a lot of time there.

In Milan, our hotel is adjacent the Loreto metro stop, which is at a point the red and green lines meet. In Venice, our apartment is just off Vaporetto line 1, S Angelo stop. In Florence, our apartment is on Via Santa Maria near the Piazza Santo Spirito. In Rome, our apartment is on Via Flavia, near Via Veneto.

Thanks!

I'm really not a fan of the Via Veneto area of Rome and I'd personally never stay there, but I know a lot of people love it.
Your others sound good to me.

What about it don't you like? Is it busy? Noisy? Touristy?

The Via Veneto isn't as tourist-clogged as the Spanish Steps, etc., and the shopping is somewhat high end (depending on your definition of that term). Some people here have commented that it doesn't seem like "the real Rome" whatever THAT means.

If you like it you like it..if you don;t you don't. Everybody has different tastes and they are ALL valid IMO.

When you ask for comments such as your you'll get answers but only you can decide if what we think really applies to you.

Forgive me for not being more specific. I think of Via Veneto as the "modern" Rome. It is filled with some high end shops (meaning nothing to me because I don't shop) and some deluxe hotels. It frankly reminds me of most any big city anywhere. What I love about Rome is the "historic center", where there are narrow little streets with inexpensive restuarants spilling out onto them, the Pantheon and its Piazza around one corner, the spectacular Piazza Navona around another, the bustling Piazza Fiori for morning coffee while the market is going on. I can't find those things in many other cities, so I love to be in the midst of them while in Rome. And they are quite a hike from Via Veneto!

But as TopMan says, "Everybody has different tastes and they are ALL valid IMO". In my humble opinion also!

Hi d,

You are about 3 blks SW of the Pitti Palace in the Oltrarno area of Florence.

You can see a very good map at
http://www.ataf.net/Default_EN.asp

I'm just glad to know we're not going to find ourselves in any sketchy or otherwise undesirable areas. Rome was the hardest place to find an apartment that suited our needs. We really didn't want to go without internet connectivity (despite internet cafes being easy to find) and all the comforts of home, so it was a challenge to find places not too expensive but with all we "need". Thanks for your replies.

I don't like to rain on your parade, but to say that Via Flavia is "in the Via Veneto area" is a bit of an exaggeration.

If one imagines Piazza Barberini as the third point of a triangle whose other two points are the historic center (Piazza Navona, Pantheon, Campo de' Fiori, etc.) and the Forum/Colosseum area, Via Flavia is on the far side of Piazza Barberini, AWAY from both the Colosseum and the historic center.

It's not a very central location.

Oh, my, I see what you mean Eloise. I just looked at the map for Via Flavia -- even more off my list than Via Veneto.

dmadore, I suppose you've done a lot of research, but have you looked at Palazzo Olivia for apartments?

www.palazzo-olivia.it

Palazzo Olivia quotes 950-1000 Euros a week, which is way more than I'm willing to spend. Really nice apartments in Venice and Florence with all the amenities run 615-640 Euros a week during low season. Comparable apartments in Rome have been really hard to come by. Seems like Via Flavia is a pretty easy walk to metro (line 1)-- would it be easy for us to get anywhere from there?

dmadore, I don't have any input into your question, amd I wish you a fabulous trip. BUT, curiosity has got the better of me and I must ask...why aren't the regular suspects jumping up and down objecting to the title of this post? Just curious...

Not sure, what rules did I unknowingly break?

The Rome location is kind of dead, so I guess you'd say quiet. I heard the street has a decent restaurant, and we tried walking to it, but never actually found it. I think I know what Patrick means. I actually found the Via Veneto boring. I guess it's a great area for well healed elderly tourists, which we're not, so the different strokes discussion here is probably right on. Oh, yeah, and they have the local Hardrock Cafe (or is it Planet Hollywood? -- I get those mixed up). And I always wonder, why do people go to Rome . . . to get a hamburger?!? When I think Rome, I think lively, animated, noisy, so it might be a welcome relief to you.

On the positive side, it's in a good area. And you can walk down big avenues to get to where the action is.

We stayed at a hotel (Hotel Brasile) located on Via Palestro. Even further out than dmadore's choice. (Descriptions of Brasile give the euphemistic phrase "near Via Veneto".)We would walk through/close to the Via Flavia area (we usually took via Settembre on the walk home). The area pretty much dies at night. They are some decent(and reasonably priced) restaurants, but it certainly doesn't bustle with night life, if that's what you are looking for. There is a metro stop very close by and handy. We felt perfectly safe walking back to the hotel along via Settembre, but it does get quite deserted in that area at night in the winter.

If you feel more comfortable in a busier area, I don't think this would be for you. But we found it to be quiet at night, and again you have a metro stop at the Piazza della Repubblica. There is also a main bus line on Settembre, and thus very accessible to where you might want to go.

I would say definitely quiet, definitely not "touristy", and definitely away from the center. But accessible, which is one of your specifications.

Hope this helps.