Florence & Rome

We stayed in Trastavere in this apartment before. There were 4 adults and the location was great! Easy walk into the Centro Storico and close to the tram line.
http://www.casacristina.it/p/gallery.html

We love the Hotel Balestri in Florence. It is located on the Arno River close to the city center. The breakfast is great. It will cost you more than 2000 pounds for a month.

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-s1-g187895-d203902-Reviews-Hotel_Balestri-Florence_Tuscany.html

Dear geovagriffith thank you so much for your reply. We were really looking for an apartment with 2 bedrooms and we will have friends/family visit for the odd weekend whilst we are there. Thank you very much for the recommendation, it might come in handy for shorter visits to Florence.

We've rented a 1 BR apartment in Florence at Santa Maria Novella, and a studio-like apartment at Rome's Campo de' Fiori, on separate trips for just about a week each time. Both times in March, both 2nd floor, both overlooking piazzas so we could open up the windows and see what was going on, feeling that made a small apartment feel larger.

In Florence we were a 5 minute walk from the SMN train station, a 10 minute walk from anything else on the north side of the Arno River. The Oltrarno on the other side is a 20-minute walk.

In Rome we had the actual Campo market itself, were 2 blocks from the bus, Piazza Navona, the Tiber River, near almost everything or transportation to everything.

I'd stay in the same areas again. Florence cost us $105/night, Rome $85/night. For a 2-bedroom, in a nice area (you don't want a craphole for a month!), $2000/month might be a tall order, especially in high season--may have to raise your limits. But if you're looking with early retirement at traveling in 2019 instead of this year, you've got a fighting chance. I've got my fingers crossed for you. Please keep us posted as I'd love to do the exact same thing!

Enjoy your planning!

Thank you so much Jay. Interesting advice on the prices and we may have to look at increasing our budget. I am talking in pounds sterling and also booking for next year so I may have a fighting chance of negotiating something if I get my skates on and do my research!

In Florence and Rome we like to stay in quiet, interesting, walkable neighborhoods with excellent small restaurants and that are that are just slightly outside of the main tourist area but close to public transportation and to a big farmers' market. The apartment décor matters to me, too --- I dislike both luxury and shabbiness. We are a retired couple in our sixties.

We loved staying at Le Rose Siberine September 2017 for five weeks in the Sant’Ambrogio neighborhood in Florence. It's on Borgo la Croce, a wide pedestrian-only street near the Porta alla Croce where there's a bus stop for the mini-buses that go all over Florence. Two bedrooms, two bathrooms (although only one shower). Silvia, a perfect airbnb host, also has another similar apartment in the same area, maybe the same building.

In Rome, we now always stay in Testaccio somewhere near the Piramide metro station (and the train station that goes to Ostia Antica, and also buses to the airport). The last time, we enjoyed staying at Casa della Robbia in November 2015. Near the intersection of Via Galvani and Via Marmorata. It's a large studio but does have two sofa beds besides the queen real bed. Paola is another great host. My review starts out: " If part of your enjoyment of travel is staying in 'adventure apartments' where things leak, blow up, fall apart, won’t open, won’t close, break off, fail to work, or can’t be found --- sorry, you must look elsewhere. Paola’s thoughtfully planned and thoroughly functional apartment will not provide you with any hilarious or horrific stories."

You can read my detailed reviews of both apartments on airbnb.

Have a wonderful trip --- we thoroughly recommend the plan of staying in one place for many weeks if you can!

Dear Nancy, this is exactly the kind of recommendation I am looking for. Sounds like you and I have the same type of attitude to location and type of apartment and will definitely look them up as soon as I can.

Angela--

Plenty of good advice here re: apartments, but a couple things you want to my way of thinking--air conditioning (even in May or September) and nothing higher than 2nd floor, even with a 'lift' as they call them. And be careful when booking as the Italians sometimes call 'first floor' the floor above ground floor, like the French call the 'premier etage'.

Yeah, 2000 pounds is about $2800 and gets you more in the ballpark...

Angela,
We used www.SabbaticalHomes.com to rent an apartment long-term in Rome (18 months in our case). Sabbatical Homes can be a good source of lower-priced apartments than the typical vacation rental sites. Worth a try!

Dear all, thank you very much for the excellent advice, it has been really helpful in helping us make a decision on apartments.

hi angela
sent you a private message (PM) check your inbox.
aloha