distance from oltrarno to old city (duomo) in florence
 

i know most people want to be smack dab in city centre...but how far really is the duomo by bus or walking to consider this. (in hopes of saving some money on hotels and I assume it would be quiter).
looking at let go map I don't know what area is the oltrarno. I was looking at a hostel there called oltrarno gould. Comments if anyone has been???

Hi renata

If you go to multimap.com and enter the address of the Gould (Via dei Serragli 49) you will see that it is about 1.5 km from the Duomo and close to the Piti Palace.

Renata: Oltrarno refers to the area across the Arno River from the center of Florence.

Renta,the Oltrarno is a lovely quite area on the other side of the Arno,there are lots of great restaurants and artisan workshops.The Plazzo Pitti, Boboli Gardens, and the churchs of Santo Spirito & San Felicia.
Just on the other side of the Oltarno is the Ponte Vecchio Bridge and the Uffizi Gallery.
There will be plenty for you to see and do in that area, and you will get a good nights sleep, the area near the Dumo can get very loud at night.
I'm not sure about the time it takes to walk because I usully stop in many of the littel shops, but I would say 30-45 min at the most.
I remember reading a previous post about a women who stayed at a very nice inexpensive convent in that area, but I can't remember the name.Try doing a search under convents in Florence or Convents in Italy, it sounded great.
Good luck
Fluffy
ttt for Renata

We stayed at an apartment at #6 via De Seragli (just down the street) and it was very nicley located. You will be about 2 block from the Piti Palace and a short 5 minute walk to Ponte Vechio. Do explore the neighborhood as there are some very nice stores, restaurants and wine-bars in the area.

thank you all for your help. I will consider this the quite aspect is important. HAs anyone stayed at instituo gould hostel?
how about the following pensions near the duomo:
hotel dali
tourist house liberty
pensione maria luisa de medici
so far the best prices. I'm looking for something for about 55to 60 euros per night for a double.
any comments would be greatly appreciated!