Florence Airb&b

We had an apartment through VRBO just blocks from the Duomo. Walking distance to everything, even train station.

We're going in May, and found an AirBNB right across the street from the Mercato Centrale. The host has been very responsive so far and has received great reviews from previous guests. I guess we'll find out just how good the decision was in a couple of months.

We loved this apartment and its location on the eastern end of Borgo la Croce near Piazza Beccaria:
https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/10826925?guests=1&adults=1

Yes, it is about as far from the train station as you can get in Florence and still be within the old city walls. However, it is a few steps (2 minutes) from where the electric buses begin and end their circuit of the historic district and you can easily take one to the train station. These buses go all over, including across the river, and are very welcome when you've been walking all day.

Borgo la Croce is a wide, pedestrian-only street that is part of a un-touristy neighborhood with a market and with lots of places to eat and shop. It is a 15 minute walk to the Duomo. A 2 minute walk to what we thought was the best gelato place in town. We stayed in this apartment for 5 weeks and would stay there again. The wonderfully helpful and English-speaking host has another apartment in the same building and lives in yet a third apartment.

We rented an apartment for 3 nights in Florence from VRBO. I'm not sure the apartment we rented is still available, I think her daughter is living in it. But there were plenty of options on VRBO. It was hard deciding on just one!

Try not to book an apartment really close to the Duomo.
It can get quite noisy late into the night, if you are a light sleeper.
I prefer the Oltrarno side.
If you can look at the streets with Street View before booking, you can rule out apartments right above a bar.....might be noisy.
How many people do you need an apartment for?

hey grateful
don't know your dates and your budget in euros. check out casa rabatti or cross-pollinate.com which has guest houses, B&B's and apartments. do you mobility issues to see what floor it's on, elevator/lift, stairs/steps to climb up with luggage, early checkin or luggage storage so as not to be pushing/pulling luggage, waiting, read fine print.
also you asked about cooking class, no i did not do the class in lucca. also there is toscanamia.net that does classes. during my research 2 years ago these were the classes that came up and i saved them for a later trip. you can also ask your host/hostess if some are available. good luck and enjoy
aloha