Rome Apartment - where to stay away from the center?
 

My husband will have his sabbatical this fall and we'll be spending four weeks in Rome with our 15 month old daughter. We're trying to find an apartment in a location that would provide for the following:

- nice walks & parks
- good restaurants/trattoria
- good coffee
- happy hours outdoors
- people watching
- markets & shops
- good grocery store
- good vibe

We have both been to Rome previously, so don't need to be right in the center, but our parents will be coming over for a few days and would like something with easy access to the center either via bus, tram or metro.

I've looked in many places and it seems like Prati, Flaminio or Monti would be good options, but hard to get a feel for an area on the web. We live in Chicago and enjoy walking through the neighborhoods and shopping locally. Hoping for a similar experience in Rome. Enjoy the sites, but want to stay away from souvenir shops and restaurants with menu pictures, if you get my drift.

Can anyone offer their opinion on any of these locations or perhaps some others we may have overlooked?

With a 15-mo. old I would go for Prati. Lots of great flat sidewalks there -- real sidewalks, which means you don't share them with motor traffic. You have the excellent Trionfale market, plus great takeawa shops like Franchi & Castroni, and the trendier new shops for pizza, bread, fresh pasta and gelato. If you want a happy hour passeggiata, cross the river and you've got no end of pedestrianized options. If nothing else, you can set a 15 mo old loose in piazza San Pietro and not worry about traffic, period. Give him or her a ball to chase.

If possible, look for an apartment close to the Levanto metro station, which will give you added transport options. I like to use the agend Rome Loft for rentals.

It's true that in that neighborhood that you are so close to the Vatican that you will find plenty of "menus with pictures". But you'll have the same experience in Monti, but with much more difficult terrain. (Don't know Flaminio).

I don't have a great feel for the city, even after many trips there, but an area that I thought I could live in, with easy access by trams, was the part near the Quartiere Coppede. Lots of shops and restaurants, lots of public transportation. The area had an upscale feel and it was pretty too.

Someone, I hope, can give a name to this part of town.

Thank you for your help. I appreciate it!!

I would think the Coppedé were in the Salario quartiere, or maybe the Nomentana. I also like that general area, a little to the north of the leafy Viale Regina Margherita, and between the Via Salaria and the Via Nomentana. It's near the northern end of the Villa Borghese park, and the zoo (or Bioparco as it's now called).

Two tram lines run along Viale Regina Margherita. The number 3 begins its run from the Villa Giulia (where one of the world's foremost museums of the Etruscan civilization is housed, right on the northern border of the Villa Borghese park). It takes a long loop around central Rome, passing the though the San Lorenzo (Sapienza university neighborhood), then passing by Porta San Giovanni, the Colosseum, the Circus Maximus, the Porta Portese (where the famous Sunday flea market is held, and ending at Trastevere station.

The San Lorenzo neighborhood is very lively, with lots of bars and restaurants. There are also lots of restaurants in Trastevere, but the number 3 tram is probably not the quickest way to get there.

The Villa Torlonia park is to the east of this area, along the Via Nomentana, easy to get to on the tram.

The neighborhood we're talking about is a residential neighborhood, so there are surely plenty of groceries and supermarkets. I've stayed near that area several times, but wasn't looking for shops. I've stayed to the east of the Coppedé area, so I can't tell you much about the restaurant situation right in that neighborhood, but you're never far from a good restaurant in Rome.

In addition to the Villa Borghese park, we saw several little playgrounds in the area, along the Via Nomentana. There are several large private schools in the area.