Fiesole instead of Florence?

Stay in Florence, check out the Hotel Balesteri.

If staying in an apartment is OK, there are lots of uncrowded areas of Florence that are still inside the historic center and easy to walk or take the little electric buses from. Venice is the same, except using vaporetti instead of buses. The last time we stayed in Florence, we stayed inside the old walls very near Piazza Beccaria where all the electric buses stop and still a 15 minutes walk to the Duomo. I can only find old bus maps for you, but I don't think the routes shown are badly out of date: http://www.travelingintuscany.com/images/city/firenze/florencebusmap900.jpg

This is the strategy we use in every town or city in Italy. So far, it has worked perfectly every time.

Some streets are crowded with foot traffic, some are busy with buses, many aren’t busy at all.
Post here a few hotels or apartments you’d like and I’ll tell you how busy they are.
If you want to stay in Fiesole it’s your choice but you’ll have to commute daily. It’s up to you but I prefer to stay near everything I want to see.

Hello Jane,

My generic advice is "If you're going to see and experience the place stay in the place".

The alternative is this becomes a series of day trips into Florence with the hassle of getting to the train/bus, taking it, always arriving at Florence train station and then getting to whatever you're interested in. I know it's not a lot and the bus/train options to the places you mentioned run pretty late so you could dinner in the city before returning "home" but it just adds hassle at either end of your day versus walking back to your place through Florence at night.

We did this in Madrid (when a holiday made all the hotels x3 more expensive) so we stayed in Toledo which we wanted to see anyway. It was only 35 minutes on the train but it really seems a world away.

My $.02, have a great trip,
=Tod

Thanks, everyone. We haven't committed to staying outside of Florence, just something we're kicking around. I do agree that staying in the city itself would enhance the experience, but the thought of retreating to a quiet place for the night and breakfast is also appealing.

I will look more seriously at Florence hotels. I know that last year we were able to find islands of calm in Venice and Naples, so I'm sure we can do the same in Florence.

Thanks again, and I'm sure I'll be back when I've done more research.

Thirty or more years ago, we stayed at the Villa Aurora hotel in Fiesole. It’s still there - a kinda funky little place right in the main piazza. We had Room 11 which has its own terrace with an absolutely fantastic view of the city of Florence below. The terrace was bigger than the room itself. We took the #7 bus down to the city every day. The bus stop is right outside the hotel’s front door. It dropped us off a block from the Duomo twenty minutes later. Three years ago we stayed at the five star Villa San Michele which is just down the hill from the Aurora. While it cost four or five times more than the Aurora, I think the view from Room 11 had them beat.

Thanks, rickrack. I took a quick glance; the location is great, the reviews of the restaurant are good, but the reviews of the hotel - not so much. I will look into it more deeply, however.

And I have another recommendation for a Florence hotel from a Forum member, for the Renaissance. I'll keep looking; we have time yet.

We last stayed in an apartment in the Oltrarno and were pleased. Another spot to possibly check is the San Niccolo neighborhood.

Maybe consider staying in the Oltrarno area of Florence. It's much less touristy and crowded (perhaps with the exception of where the Ponte Vecchio crowds who cross the river filter out). It's very quite and local. I stayed in Soggiorno Alessandra (recommended in RS guidebook) last fall and it was lovely.

Janet and Annasand913, that's not a bad idea. I'll check into it. We've walked around in Oltrarno, but have never stayed there. Thanks!