Hello:

My husband and I are planning a trip to Italy this summer with our 2 sons--ages 6 and 11. We will be going to Rome first, then Florence (we are exchanging homes with another family there) and then Venice. We are looking for suggestions about places to stay in Rome and Venice. We are leaning toward renting an apartment (we found some that you can rent for 3 days) rather than staying at a hotel. That way, we would have more room without an astronomical price. We are open to suggestions on that as well.

My question is: What NEIGHBORHOOD of Rome and Venice would you most recommend? We like to eat and shop and will obviously see the sights as well. With the kids, though, we realize that we will have to do the sights at a much slower pace. We love to shop. Someone suggested staying near the Spanish Steps in Rome. It is important to understand, though, that the shopping we typically do would be more home decor and more unique items. We are looking for things that would be unique and that would be things that would be special from Italy. For example, we got a beautiful leather jacket in Florence previously, as well as a beautiful Murano glass vase in Venice. We are also not into brand name places that we can go in the U.S. such as Gap, Old Navy, etc. We also tend to shop for things other than clothes, and we definitely are not into needing to have the latest designer things.

Last year, when we went to London, the kids loved going to Covent Garden and seeing all of the street performers.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Venice is small. Almost any neighborhood as long as it's on Venice proper, is good.

As far as Rome, areas near Piazza Navona, the Pantheon and campo dei fiori are very central. The SPanish steps is ok too, and not far from the others, but the shopping in that area is mostly the high end designers (like Gucci, etc).

We particularly like Santa Croce or San Polo. Santa Croce is convenient to train and bus stations and vaporetto which is why we like it. But Venice isn't all that big so you can't really go wrong. I don't care for staying in the San Marco area, it is too crowded for me, I like to be in more of a residential neighborhood.

Make sure you find a place that offers individual room air-conditioning controls. Have fun.

This thread is a good one for discussing pros and cons of different neighborhoods in Rome
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34792021

The Spanish Steps is close to the high end designer stores but probably would not have as much to interest your kids as the Piazza Navona/Piazza della Rotunda (near Pantheon) area.

We stayed for a week at an apartment in the old Jewish ghetto neighborhood and found the location ideal--but we wanted to be closer to the Forum and to Trastevere than to the Spanish Steps shopping area.

We rented from Tim Pearson at realrome.com and have only good things to say about the agency. I agree an apartment makes much more sense than a hotel if you can find one you like.

I personally like staying on Lido di Venezia, which is an island off of Venice proper. It's beautifully green and lush and the true beach is there, where you can rent an umbrella and a chair and enjoy the water. It's a 10 minute boat ride to St. Mark's from the Island and that's one of the charms of staying on Lido. We really enjoyed that after sightseeing in the incredibly crowded conditions of summertime in Venice that we got to enjoy this gorgeous, scenic boatride back to our little paradise. It's like a respite from all the craziness. There is a lot more to do with young kids on Lido, they have the beach, playgrounds, arcades, etc. Although the shear stimulus of Venice proper would also entertain children of any age. We just rented this apartment on Lido for 640 euros. It has 2 double rooms and one twin room with one bathroom. http://www.oasis.ve.it/whitegarden_en.htm
They also allow you to rent for less than a week, as it was 640 euros for 4 nights for us. For our family it was totally worth it for the space alone being 2 teens and 2 adults. There is a Co-op supermarket 2 blocks away which is very convenient when you have an apartment. For the most part, venice hotels are teeny tiny and not cheap and if they are cheap it's because chances are high that they are pretty icky.

Enjoy your trip!

In 2006, we rented an apartment in Trastevere. Very accessible to everything via bus or tram and in more of a residential neighborhood than other places near the center. It served us well and we really liked the area.

I also love Trastevere - great restaurants and shopping and great location. My other favorite neighborhood mentioned her is the Ghetto and Campo Fiori. Bring a soccer ball and let your boys play in Piazza S. Maria in Trastervere in the morning or the Campo Fiori - they will be truly Italian. Also, take them to the Borghese Gardens to play and explore. Both areas are close to the Pantheon area where there are great stores and Piazza Navonna - the streets between Piazza Navonna and the River offer some wonderful boutiques and antique stores. My favorite street for shopping in the bigger name stores is Via Cola Di Rienzo not far from the Vatican.

See this thread for neighbourhoods and accomodations (primarily apartments) in Venice: http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=34791672