Hello! I am in the midst of planning a trip to Rome in September. There will be 4 of us: 2 in their mid-twenties and 2 in their early thirties. I am wondering which neighborhood to stay in? We are planning to rent an apartment via AirBnB and are currently looking in the Trastavere neighborhood, but would love additional input.

We would like an area with many restaurants to choose from and a laid-back vibe, though busy at night would be fine. We aren't club-goers, but we enjoy lingering over drinks and food. We would like to have easy access (whether that be walking or public transit) to some of the major sites (Ancient Rome in particular) as this will be our first time in Rome, but also would like to stay somewhere that can give us a taste of the locals' lives. We will be staying 4 or 5 nights (still to be determined).

I hope this is enough info about our group; let me know if there is anything else that would be helpful.

Thank you!

My husband found what you described in the Monti neighborhood. That area will also put you in close proximity to the Colosseum and Forum. Just be mindful that a lot of apartment listing will describe themselves as being in a particular neighborhood when in fact they're not or are right on the border. If you identify an apartment that seems to fit the bill, it couldn't hurt to get feedback here before booking. Even in a given neighborhood there are better and worse streets (in terms of ambience, noise, etc.).

We stayed in the Campo de Fiori neighborhood and I think it would have a lot of what you are looking for. Close to all of the major sights (and if you don't feel like walking there are tons of buses going by on Corso Vittorio Emanuele) but still felt like a neighborhood occupied more by locals than tourists. Not 100% locals of course, this is Rome after all. Monti would be a good choice as well, in Trastavere you're not particularly close to anything and I was able to find more restaurants that were highly thought of on Chowhound/Fodors/TA in the Campo de Fiori/Piazza Navona area than in Trastavere.

funny you should mention Monti, indyhiker, because we stayed there for a week the first time we went to Rome, and liked it a lot. My only quibble would be that once you've seen the Colosseum and the forum, you are likely to be using public transport a lot to get to other parts of Rome to see the major sights [like St Peters and the Piazza Navona area] whereas if you are staying near the Piazza Navona [say round the Via dei Coronari which is where we stayed the second time] you can walk almost everywhere except the Colosseum and the Forum which you will most probably only want to visit once.

There are of course a lot of other places to see in and near the Monti area but they are sights that first timers are likely to be less interested in.

We really didn't struggle to get anywhere we wanted to go while staying in Monti but I'll admit that we focused largely on things that were slightly off the beaten path. Rome is so crowded with tourists; staying slightly outside tourist central was a plus for us.

When we were last in Rome we chose Trastevere as an area that would be new to us and were happy that we did. It is laid back, fairly residential with lots of local restaurants most of which seem to cater more to locals than to tourists. Although it is a good hike to the more central tourist sites, it is well connected by public transportation, so for us, no problem. We liked being out of the tourist crush (and prices).

Trastevere is where I stayed. It is somewhat out of the tourist crush, and I liked that. It's still touristy, but you can get away from that staying anywhere in Rome. But I'd stay near piazza Navona. Most of the restaurants I found were near there, it's more convenient for walking. (I never did figure out where to buy bus tickets, though, so if you figure out transit, Trastevere probably becomes much more convenient).

Consider the Prati neighborhood, a residential district filled with apartment buildings, shops, restaurants, and a world class gelateria! If you google apartments Rome Prati you can find lots of agencies that deal with rental units.

As to distance from sites in ancient Rome, it is probably a 15-20 minute easy walk. There are buses running along the main streets but we find the walk a delight.

Carol

You can buy bus tickets at any Tabacchi shop (newsstand/tobacco). Look for a "T" above the door. Tickets are good on the bus, tram and Metro. Be sure to validate the ticket on the bus and tram.