Best area to stay in Florence?

For short stay pick anywhere in historic center
Between/near Duomo-Ponte Vecchio- train station

Florence is very compact and walkable

Booking.com is a good place to start your search
Use the filters and see what grabs you
Can’t offer much more not knowing your budget or specific needs

Thank you! Booked a place near the train station and the Uffizi Gallery. We're staying one night in Venice then heading to Cinque Terre for a few days at an Airbnb. Any recommendations on the best area to stay in Venice? Really appreciate your help!

I hope the order of these stays is something like
Venice-CT-Florence
Or Venice-Florence-CT

1 night in Venice is rather short
Could you share your full itinerary?

Milan (2 nights) - Florence (2 nights) - Venice (1 night) - Cinque Terre (3 nights) - Milan (1 night)
We had to shorten our trip from over two weeks to our current a little over one week. It is what it is and we're meeting our kids in Venice then going to Cinque Terre together. Have places to stay except for Venice.

I guess I’d suggest somewhere near train station so you can make best use of your short stay.

Unless Milan is a big priority for you I’d take a night or 2 from there and add to Florence and Venice.
I realize you fly in and out of Milan but depending on what time you arrive you could head right to Florence and just do that 1 night Milan at end of trip.
It’s a bit over 1 hour to Milano Centrale from MXP then a 2 hour fast train to Florence.

1 night stays give you barely a half day in location, once you check out/ travel to/ check in/ get oriented.
A 2 night stay gives you a day and a half.

Arrive Milan
Train to Florence 3 nights
Train to Venice 2 nights
Train to CT 3 nights
Train to Milan 1 night
Depart

We are curious about why you are spending 3 nights in CT, and where you are staying. We are planning our first trip to Florence, and thought to see CT in one day--maybe you can persuade us to add more time in CT?

You say you booked a place that is near both the SM train station and the Uffizi? There is almost a mile between those two locations.

We found that near the train station was also near the bus street platforms, so it was very convenient for transportation. Because we asked for a back room, there turned out to be no street noise at our windows. We did not find that the train station was sort of seedy, as it can be in many large cities. And the Duomo is very close.

We found Florence to be very walkable, if not for every single attraction. You may find that many charming tourist-class hotels of the past have been renovated into something less distinctive. But how charming was it to have the entire bathroom be the shower stall? I do find air conditioning to be more important than when I was young.

Hello djvrdell ! Thirty years go I stayed in Cinque Terre for a week and it is one of my most favorite memories of Italy. It is Beautiful and each town is very distinct and has it's own flavor of culture to offer. I'm a hiker so hiking between towns was memorable it was so convenient to catch a train each day back to where I was staying at the time (Monterosso). It would be difficult to visit each town and enjoy it's ambience in a short amount of time.

Thank you all for your input! This is the first time that I've used Rick Steve's travel forum even though I've been using his books for decades. Very informative and creates a sense of global community which is important especially now.

We prefer staying in the Santa Croce area, away from the crowds.

With such a short trip and so many cities, you will spend a lot of your time in transit. Can you look at your priorities for this trip and choose perhaps 2 or 3 locations?

I would not bother with any 1-night stays. Assume you will return. Also, check for the high tide charts for Venice, if you decide to go there. It may be unpleasant for a short trip if you have to borrow boots to walk through water while you are there.