OK, I am slowly getting there, have booked hotels/apartments in Sorrento, Rome and near Siena but now Florence.

In which area of Florence should we stay so that we can walk to most of the sights?

Stay near the Duomo.

The ufizzi area is lovely. Easy walk to the ufizzi (obviously), piti palace, bobli gradens, palazzo vecchio, piazza signoria, the bargello, the duomo, medici palace (assuming its open again), mercato nuovo. A slightly longer walk to the Accademia, Santa Croce, Piazzale Michaelangelo, the medici chapels, etc).

Check out Olga's House B&B - I'm not recommending the B&B without knowing what you are looking for, but its in the perfect location.

We just recently stayed at Hotel David and loved it. Check it out at http://www.hoteldavid.com, then look for better rates for it on venere.com. Beautiful neighborhood below Piazza Michaelangelo...a bit longer walk to major sites, but very peaceful & easy buses to catch if you like.

Ozchick,
Doesn't it feel good to have all those bookings done?!! I'm at about the same stage you are. I just made our last reservation last night. Amazing how unburdened I feel now!

Anyway, after much research we decided on this place in Florence:
Residenza Il Villino
http://www.florenceby.com/villino/pages/profile.htm
2 or 3 blocks from the Duomo area. Rooms are lovely, air cond, some with views. It even has an "apartment" room for 4, though some Trip Advisor reviewers say it gets noise from the room above. Others said it was fine.

Lot of reviews at trip advisor.
http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserR...187895-d276942
-r3339884-Residenza_Il_Villino-Florence_Tuscany.html

Just returned from 12 days all over Italy. In Florence, we stayed at Residenza dei Pucci. It was 130,50 euro per night with requested Rick Steve's discount.

We were very close to the Duomo and could walk to all the sights. The street was busy during the day but very quiet at night.

Our room was the largest we had during entire stay. Private bath and light breakfast. Furnished nicely. The only problem was the desk is only staffed from 9AM - 8PM. However, they will make arrangements for early/late arrivals/check-outs.

Florence is a very easy walking city so you can really cover most of the major sites no matter where you are staying. I would recommend staying near the Duomo or Uffizzi. In Sept, we stayed at a great hotel recommended in the guide books called Hotel Torre Guelfa. I hesitate to recommend it on here in case it gets way too popular and we can't book it the next time we return ...The rooms were ok at this hotel, but the BEST part about it was the rooftop tower - it has phenomenal views of Florence & the country side. One day, my fiance and I picked up some wine, cheese, prosciutto, figs, etc. and had lunch up there. It was a million dollar view of Florence with a lunch that cost about 10E. It is also convenient to get to all of the major attractions in Florence. Have fun...