Apartments in Florence

Suzanne We had five nights in a two-bedroom apartment in the Oltrano section of Florence and walked everywhere. Because of the number of nights there we had the opportunity for a couple of day trips to the countryside. The first was a bus tour to San Gimignano and Siena that departs the train station every morning, and the other was by ourselves on a train to the Cinque Terre, where we later returned for another two days. I found this real estate company two years ago through someone on this site and dealt with Lori Hetherington, a transplanted American who works there. She was wonderful to deal with and everything went exactly as promised. Please click on the link below to get to their very informative web site. http://www.pitcherflaccomio.com/new/index.php?lang=en&gclid=CMbive7tmZoCFQOcFQodCwXd8gl If you have any questions please let me know. Jim

Check out Affite Camere Freda - Lucia at 76 Via Zenobi
We loved it and highly recommend

There are hundreds of apartments to choose from in Florence. I've rented 5 of them over the last few years. The prices vary considerably depending on the amenities. Be warned that many of them involve stair climbing as many of the old buildings in Florence do not have elevators. I've used the following websites for searching and renting. www.windowsonitaly.com www.halldis.com www.rentvillas.com www.florenceandtuscany.com www.homeaway.com www.vrbo.com
www.homeholidays.co.uk If you google "vacation rentals in Florence Italy" you will find many sites. Try to check out specific apartments using Tripadvisor or www.Slowtrav.com reviews. Slowtrav will also offer you advice on how to rent a vacation apartment. The first four are agencies which can help you find the right apartment and make suggestions. You will pay some kind of agency fee - it may be included in the quoted price. The last three are all related but have different listings. You are generally contacting the owner of the apartment directly - I suggest you check references in advance by asking for email addresses of previous renters. It's helpful to try to look at a map to see what landmarks you might want to be close to - although in my experience anything in the historical centre (traffic free zone) means that you will be able to walk to pretty much anything. Also consider carefully what your must haves are in an apartment and how long you will rent for. (air conditioning?, number of beds, fully equipped kitchen?) This will help narrow down the choices. Also the longer you stay, the less each night should cost. A month is often not much more than two weeks!

Suzanne, we have used VROB.com . I will have to report how our stay coming up in early April goes for Florence. Very good experience in our 2 week stay in Rome. The advantage to using sites like VRBO is that you are dealing directly with the owners. There may be more flexibility with pricing and availability, types of apartments, etc. Also all price ranges and apartment sizes are available. You can also get to know the owners pretty well if you make the effort. Some people may feel more secure dealing with an agency type of rental.... My suggestion is to research, research, research. You will soon see the difference. I would say that there are a huge number to choose from. I always do try to book pretty early so that I can get what I want though.