grizz55

girls trip to italy. 4 of us. 7day 6 night cruise to start. landing in rome. never been to italy and we are thinking of renting an apartment or villa for 7 or 8 days after the cruise. since we finish up in rome we are thinking of renting in rome. but tuscany sounds cool also. seeking advice on how to find an apartment. hoping to keep the budget around 1500 us dollars, to share between us, for the 8 days. we are also thinking of hiring a tour guide for these days. any suggestions? thanks grizz

bobthenavigator

You need to move beyond the dream phase and decide which it is, Rome or Tuscany. If Tuscany, you will likley need a car to enjoy it. Also, what time of year?

daveesl

If Rome, I recommend Sleep in Italy, I've used them for years.

www.sleepinitaly.com

dave

lovelyhello

If Tuscany, I recommend to stay were I spent lovely days last year: "Casina al Monte" in Vecchiano, web http://casavacanzatoscana.piczo.com , a cozy holiday home 10 km far from Pisa, Lucca and the natural beach Marina di Vecchiano.

Flame123

If this is your first time to Italy, you might want to think about renting in a place like Sant' Antonio which is just outside of Montepulciano and has a very very helpful, accomodating, friendly and full-of-knowledge proprietor named Nico. He rents several different types and sizes of apartments/villas in his agriturismo and we stayed there last year and highly enjoyed it.

As for tour guides, I can highly recommend Luca Garrapa of www.hillsandroads.com. He is a born and bred Tuscan, originally from Siena and very knowledgeable. He speaks several languages besides Italian and English. He is a very intelligent and lovely young man (about 40) and a safe driver. He has all different sorts of tours, some completely private and others semi-private. He will tailor the tour to suit your needs, desires and time allotment. His prices are quite fair and I have known him now for many years. I highly recommend him (as do many others on this board).

Have a wonderful trip !!

grizz55

Is it unrealistic to think we could rent a few days in Rome and then go on to tuscany for the rest of the week?

grizz55

The bigger question for us amatures is HOW do you rent in another country? I went on line to try and checked out a couple places. Didn't get far because there months don't match, and I always got a response that said nothing was available during the time we will be there. I guess the first step is to figure out their months.

MoonGirl

The Slow Travel website has a number of articles with practical information about vacation rentals in Italy, as well as many reviews of specific rental properties.

http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/vr/index.htm

bobthenavigator

You are confused---the calender is the same.
Your problem is you may be too far out--what dates?

Of course you can see both Rome and Tuscany---4 days each would be great. Here are some options for Tuscany. In Rome I would look at Palazzo Olivia for a 4 day rental in a good location. Stay cool---this is not that tough.



BOB’S FAVORITE DIGS IN TUSCANY
A. RURAL LOCATIONS: All have parking and good food options nearby

1. Relais La Saracina www.lasaracina.it 230 to 300E
Fabulous country home near Montepulciano—helpful owners

2. Cretaiole Agriturismo http://www.cretaiole.it/ Good value for families
Isabella also has 2 apartments in Castelmuzio for rent—a good option.

3. Terre di Nano www.terredinano.com 100 to 155
Both rooms and apartments at rural Agriturismo near Monticchiello

4. Casanova di Pescille http://www.casanovadipescille.com/ 100E
Rural B&B 3 KM from famed San Gimignano—we loved the views of San Gim.

5. Fattoria Tregole www.fattoria-tregole.com 110E to 180E
Has both B&B and apartment accommodations. Near Castellina in Chianti

6. Agriturismo apts. near San Quirico— www.poggiolo.info/ About 110E

7. New historic B&B north of Pienza. http://www.camprena.it/index.htm
Site of filming for THE ENGLISH PATIENT About 90E for double

8. http://www.borgoargenina.it/index.html A special rural B&B in Chianti.
The lovely owner, Elena, will make you feel like family. 170E for double

B. IN-TOWN LOCATIONS: For walking convenience to shops & ristorantes.

1. Palazzo del Capitano www.palazzodelcapitano.com 170 to 210E
Very nice small hotel in center of San Quirico—perfect location to explore.

2. Vecchia Oliviera www.tuscany.net/oliviera/ 150 to 200E
Nice 4 star hotel at the gate into lovely Montalcino---has pool.

3. Palazzina Cesari www.montalcinoitaly.com 80 to 110E
Lovely small B&B in heart of Montalcino—great value—2 night stay minimum.

4. Locanda di San Francesco www.locandasanfrancesco.it 180 to 200E
New boutique B&B in a lovely location in Montepulciano—great reviews !

5. Politian apartments http://www.politian.com/ Good value apts. with
minimum stay of 3 nights in Montepulciano---helpful host---85E

6. Palazzo Ravizza www.palazzoravizza.it 130 to 180E
Very nice & popular hotel in Siena with parking.

7. Fattoria Vignale http://www.vignale.it/eng/ Four star hotel in Radda in the heart of Chianti. About 230E for double

adrienne

I'm not sure what you mean by the months not matching.

The first step is to figure out where you want to stay. Then look at a bunch of web sites that rent apartments and see if you can find a place in the area you want for the price you want. It will take lots more time than a few minutes.

In addition to the site Dave gave you, you can look at
vrbo.com
http://intuscany.net/

ginevra

ROME
I have recommended http://www.city-apartments-rome.com to all of my friends.
Price is very low, because we asked some hotels in the area and a double room was around 200 euros per night, therefore we were very satisfied with our deal.
TUSCANY
http://www.cheap-tuscany.com/ Absolutely great. Charming apartment, great position (near Lucca and Montecatini Terme, 30 minuts from Florence and Pisa) , great restaurant!!

Vttraveler

realrome.com has good affordable apartments in Rome.
I think you will find $1500 for 8 nights for 4 people hard to do. You will get a better rate per night in Rome at least if you stay for a longer time there.

jamikins

For dates Europe uses DD/MM/YY so maybe you are entering the month where the day should be?

Joy_A

I would say the following:
1. decide the days you want to spend in each place so that you can look for apartments with clear dates in mind
2. I can't give you more exhaustive info than bobthenavigator already did, but I suggest you check out slowtravel for advice on accommodation. We found the last apartment we rented in Rome, from domusintl.com, reviewed on slowtrav.com. What I can say is that I am sure you can find places for your budget, no worries.
3. once you have booked your place to stay, ask the people (the agency or owner you are renting from) for tours / tour guides, etc.

bobthenavigator

What happended to the OP???

Mimar

For the OP if she ever returns, I just want to point out that while you can find apartment rentals in Rome for less than a week, rentals in the countryside are usually for a week, from Saturday to Saturday.

grizz55

Sorry! I have been away from my computer for a while! Thank you all for the great suggestions. I will be checking out the suggestions you have given! thanks again! grizz

heartofthesouth

I suggest Rome Capital Apartments if you decide on Rome. I stayed in this apartment
http://www.romecapitalapartments.com...gli/Miguel-157

and absolutely loved it. A few others here on this board have also stayed there and loved it too.