Hi sacc, what agency are you renting from or are you using vrbo.com? Now that I've got my heart set on Monti, I am having a hard time finding something suitable for us. Of course, I'm not planning terribly far in advance.

I remember walking in Monti with my sister in 2005. We both remarked, not knowing it was even a neighborhood, "Wow, this is a fun area. We'd like to spend more time here."

sacc - if you walk up to the via nazionale, you can catch either the no 40 [express] or the no 64 bus which both go round the wedding cake and down the corso vittoro emanuale.

Leely - an alternative might be the area at the castel san angelo end of the via coronari. we stayed there last time and although it might be described as being in the piazza navona area, it's a hundred miles away from the tourist triangle of piazza navona, spanish steps, and campo dei fiori.

good luck!

Hi Leely

Re the vrbo apartment. I note it doesn't have airconditioning, only fans. If you're visiting in summer it may be an issue for you. I like the fact it has a balcony. And 120 euro a night split 3 ways is a pretty cheap stay.

Just to continue in case anyone has experience with Monti apartments or is also searching for one, we are also considering this:

http://www.vrbo.com/221943

I will certainly post back after our trip with details. Thanks very much for everyone's feedback, advice and opinions. I really appreciate all of it.

worldinabag, good point about no a/c. Fortunately we will be visiting early April.

And annhig, I LOVE the via Giulia and quieter parts of Banchi Vecchi and Monserrato. I just feel I haven't explored much of Monti. I've never even managed to see Santa Maria Maggiore! And the last time I was in Rome I tended to taxi to restaurants for dinner anyway (being a bit of a fancy-food seeker), so I'm not worried about being in restaurant-heavy area. Although it seems Monti would certainly deliver in that respect.

I am also thinking about parts of Trastevere--not near the Ponte Sisto.

That apartment appears to be on Via Urbana which doesn't have much traffic as it's narrow with cobblestones and I believe it's one way from Serpenti up Leonina to Urbana. There are some restaurants with outside tables on both Leonina and Urbana. The Cavour metro entrance is on that lower street level(down a couple of flights of outside stairs from Cavour) at the intersection of Urbana and Leonina. The metro exit is across the busy Cavour (there is a crosswalk though) and requires climbing a flight of stairs to exit. Via Urbana and via Leonina are down a level from Cavour so some of the areas may not get as much light as others.

For buses close to the apartment, via Cavour also has lots of choices. There are many bus stops on Cavour and you aren't far from the very busy Piazza Venezia bus area (downhill using via Cavour or uphill using via Serpenti).

I usually get the 3 day Roma Pass as I'm always planning on using public transport and visiting a few sites. If you use it for the Colosseum/Forum/Palantine, you can reenter during the 3 days. I use public transport a lot more when I have a pass. The 117 bus connects to the other electric buses. 116 goes to Borghese up via Veneto or to St. Peter's area.
http://www.atac.roma.it/files/doc.asp?r=9

There's a small grocery on via Boschetto (Conad). You can search groceries by areas using the Rome Tourist Board website. It doesn't work well for apartment search though as they don't post contact info although they do for B&B's, apartment hotels, convents, etc. Use the advanced tab on the right and select zone - center of Rome and then district - Rione Monti.

http://www.060608.it/en

http://www.060608.it/en/cultura-e-sv...centro-di-roma

Leely,

My daughter and I stayed in this apartment in Trastevere in May of 2007. It is a lovely apartment and the area is quiet.

www.jeweloftrastevere.com

hi Leely,

looks ok, though the website says it's in Trastevere!

as for shops, if you go to google maps and enter the address, you can then put in "supermercati", alimentari, etc. there is [or was!] a supermarket up on via nazionale, and one in the street that runs parallel to serpenti, as well as plenty of delis and bakeries in the area.

you won't starve!

There is a map of grocery stores in Rome here:
http://tinyurl.com/rome-grocery

And a list of markets here:
http://www.aglioolioepeperoncino.com...e-markets.html

Hi Leely,
I always rent from Natalia at Dolce Roma -- she and her husband do a fantastic job! But I don't think her Monti apartment would work for you; it's a studio.

She may know of other apartments in the area, if you drop her an email and ask. However, the luxury penthouse condo apartment on Via Urbana looks very nice.

Unfortunately the apartment on via Urbana is booked. They have a great looking apartment they recommended that's available--but it is right off Campo dei Fiori on the via Giubbonari side. Too hectic for us this time.

susiedq, I've emailed about the pretty little Trastevere apartment too. I'm going to have to broaden my horizons a bit.

Zerlina, those are excellent resources, thanks very much!