Florence, Italy
 

I am planning to spend a month in Florence and as a single older woman traveling alone, I need advice on areas of the city that would be safest as I am renting an apt/flat as this looks much cheaper than a hotel. Please help! Thank you so much for your advice...."lo sono americana" :-)

Kathleen, as far as I know, there are no dangerous areas. There may be areas that are more scruffy than others, including the area very close to the SMN train station on all sides, but I would not call that at all dangerous as long as you take basic precautions. (There are quite a few hotels in that area; most, but not all, of these are in the budget or moderate price range..)


I am sure others will chime in with more opinions, but I think your biggest concern, outside price, will be the proximity to the areas that you want to visit..

I am imagining that you have been there before, right?

I should have mentioned that I have stayed for periods of as long as one week, by myself and I am a single female. I walked everywhere, including to restaurants in far-flung areas of the city, alone. While I did get some comments (there seem to be young men with not much to do hanging out on the bridges at night..) in no way at all did I ever feel the slightest bit threatened. I did not, however, visit the train station area at night but even there, I think you will be just fine, although I would not choose to rent a place in that neighborhood...

I agree with eks.

With SMN as a central point, I would want to be to the east and south. Extremely general, I know.

I wouldn't want to stay alone in the Oltrarno. It's the only area in Firenze where I've been hassled.

Our daughter stayed in a pensione in the Oltrarno years ago and found it OK. But I gather there is some problem with drug traffic around the church there (senior moment, can't remember the name).

However, Italian cities are by and large very safe. Pickpockets are there, of course, but they are everywhere the tourists are.

Ditto eks.

You may have already made your trip, so this would be a moot point, but I am a senior female who usually stays alone in Florence and always in the Oltrano. Santo Spirito is the church that I think is referred to by charnees. At night the square in front of it is a hangout for boisterous young people, so that's the time I avoid it. I'm sorry you've had a bad experience in the area, but on the whole I have found it more peaceful than the center of the city.

I will say that the older apartment buildings have locks on the front door and to one's apartment that can be challenging and if you are on your own with no concierge, it could be very daunting, especially since you have to pay for the whole stay on arrival and can't just check out if you are not happy with the place.

For that reason, I stay at a hotel with someone at the front desk 24/7.