Amy_Mich

Viajero2 - where did you stay? I am looking for an apartment near Vatican. Thank you

Viajero2

Amy-- check http://www.vrbo.com/175368#features

poeandsullivan

What a fun thread! We go to Rome every year around our anniversary and are always looking for new experiences to add to our old memories. Just had a GREAT experience with Rental in Rome (thank you Isaac)--I messed up our booking dates and only found out about it today (2 weeks prior to our trip)--thank goodness Isaac patiently helped us find another suitable apartment ASAP. We usually rent the Tor di Nona apartment from RiR. Love tht place--on a very quiet street, beautiful architecture, simple but elegant decor, and best of all, upstairs from the divine TRATTORIA LILLI, a real Roman neighborhood joint, family owned since the 60s.
On shorter trips we stay at the Hotel Raphael just off Piazza Navona. A little expensive, but worth it. At least stop and have a drink on the rooftop deck if you don't stay there--you can see every church steeple and dome from the Piazza Navona to St peter's. Gorgeous
Another good neighborhood joint: Abruzzo in the area of Gregorian University (and if you get lucky there will be a little concert going on in one of the University salons on the street--last time we went there we happened by a Bach/Telemann concert on period instruments. 1 hour, 10 euros. Completely worth pushing our dinner reservation back, which the owner of Abruzzo graciously did!)

dutyfree

How about starting a new thread or a continuation thread as this is way too long?

annhig

poeand sullivan - that all sounds very interesting. i am green with envy that you go to Rome every year.

any chance of you posting links to the places you mention?

thanks.

franco

dutyfree, I don't know whether you're old enough to remember the age when many people used to read books; probably not. The book was a strange thing. It was way longer than even this way too long thread; imagine not just one, but many threads as long as this, all printed, resulting in many, many pages obviously - and then imagine those many, many pages glued together along one edge... well, more or less. Phew, pretty heavy bundles, but people in that remote age even used to carry those books around, in particular when on a holiday.

Seriously... I understand, of course, that it's not fun to scroll down such a long thread; on the other hand, the information given here doesn't change much over just very few years. So do you say we (or I?) should write kind of an abstract of this thread and create a new one with what would have to become a Reader's Digest version of this thread? Alternatively, if we start an entirely new thread "let's talk Roman districts", much of the information already available here would have to be repeated, or would get lost. Not sure about either solution...

dutyfree

Franco-I am probably quite older than you my friend and I find your statement quite rude when one was just asking a question.
The only reason I suggested going to another thread was that the thread bounces up all of the time to threads from 2008 if you don't hold the button down. I know that you are thrilled that you have so many responses on this thread but trust me we will be just as happy to put your name on the new thread.We seem to do that on other threads that have gone on for many years and have hundreds of responses.
Sorry to have ruffled your feathers on such an innocent question.

franco

dutyfree, I think my joke was pretty innocent, too - it's just funny how our reading habits have changed, and continue to change, with the internet. Mine, too, so no harm meant. Just an observation. And yes, I'm taking your suggestion seriously. But I'm really unsure whether either the Reader's Digest version or letting much of the information collected here slip into oblivion is a good solution. I know that has been done with many other long threads. I've read several of them myself. And I'm still not sure about it.

dutyfree

You don't need a Readers Digest edition-just a PART 2 of your thread which other Fodorites have done with no problem.Work calls so I will give Roma your best tomorrow when I get there.

franco

dutyfree, I envy you... enjoy Rome! But actually, I'm thinking of going myself this spring - the Caravaggio exhibition on Quirinale is uniting many works that I don't know yet of this favourite of mine... so time permitting, I hope to be back soon.
Anybody else wanting to split this thread?

annhig

hi franco - i have no problem with it.

it comes up on my "current" list, I click on "jump to last reply" and bob's my uncle.

ciao.

smetz

franco, I have come across an apartment listing (my wife, my son and I are going in October) indicating that it is in Trastevere. However, it is far south of what seems to be the main part of the neighborhood, just a couple of blocks north of the Trastevere train station, maybe 1/2 block off of Viale di Trastevere. Is that actually considered to be part of the neighborhood of Trastevere, and could you comment on the location?

Thanks in advance.

franco

smetz, yes it is part of Trastevere, but I wouldn't wholeheartedly recommend it. Fuori le mura (outside of the walls), i.e. anywhere south of Via delle Mura Portuensi, Trastevere is not what I'd call pretty. The famous tram connection is available there as well, though, so you'd still be in the historic center in almost no time.

smetz

Thanks franco, I really appreciate it. I hope you don't mind if I ask a few more questions as we continue our search. My wife and I have been to Rome before (stayed in the Jewish Ghetto partially on your suggestion and loved it), but this will be my son's first time there. I'm always interested in economizing, but on the other hand we want to maximize the pleasure we get out of our six days in Rome.

franco

Always feel free to ask, please, you and anybody else.

smetz

franco, I wonder if I could trouble you for a comparison between two locations. I'm having a bit of a hard time deciding between the two apartments. I believe I know what your response will be, but you never know!

One is located on Largo dei Librari, a tiny street off of Via dei Giubonnari a block or two south of Campo dei Fiori.

The other is located in Prati, on Piazza dell' Unita. While this one is outside of the historic district, it appears to be a fairly short walk past Castello Sant'Angelo into the historic area, and is probably not much farther from, say, the Pantheon when compared to the first.

Both are very nice apartments though I like the one in Prati better - more windows, a nice view of the Vatican, and more space with more privacy in the bedrooms, plus an extra bath. This one is also less expensive, but only marginally so. It is also booked through an agency in Rome, whereas the other is with an individual.

Thanks again for your help.

franco

smetz, so sorry to disappoint you, but I wouldn't choose either of them. If you read through this thread (I know it's long), you'll find that Zerlina, one of the best experts on Italy here, advised against staying around Campo dei Fiori because it became a late evening gathering point for rowdy, drunken youngsters, and Via dei Giubbonari is their obvious route to and from the bus/tram, so they would be passing almost beneath your windows. So unless Zerlina comes up with more recent information outdating the older one (personally, I cannot help since I haven't been in Rome recently, plus I've almost never been around Campo dei Fiori at night since there are no restaurants there that attract me for dinner), I wouldn't choose this one. (Though I always prefer renting from the owner rather than through an agency - you're talking to the person that is really responsible, and it's simply more personal.)
On the other hand, I don't absolutely like Prati. I think that's central Rome's most boring neighbourhood, and doesn't feel very Roman at all (could as well be in Brussels or in Paris or in Vienna). Remember, that's just me (but then, you asked for my opinion, and that's all I have to offer).

smetz

Thanks franco, I appreciate you opinion, even if it makes me work a little harder. There's another called Apartment Trastevere Ripa, which appears to be on Via di San Francesco a Ripa, just about a block north of Viale di Trastevere.

franco

Well, if you like that apartment and the price, then that would be a no-brainer for me. That's my favourite part of Trastevere. The Trastevere market with its gorgeous cheese shop (not the most famous, but IMHO the best of Rome) is just around the corner.

MoonGirl

Franco, no question from me, just wanted to say thank you for the wealth of information in this thread, which is coming in very handy as I begin my search for a Rome apartment. Grazie mille!