Hoping to spend a month in Italy April-May 2024
My original thought was to hopefully find an apartment in Florence as a home base.
Now I am thinking about 2 weeks in Florence the perhaps 2 weeks in Spello.
I have been to Florence, Rome, Pienza, Montepulciano and Cortona and Sienna. Also visited the Amalfi Coast. This time i would really like to experience the local life in Italy and share it with my daughter. Prefer not to stay in a hotel.
Any suggestions would be great!!!
Thank you
Posted by
11608 posts
We spent two wonderful weeks in a house in Spello. I highly recommend it! We had a wonderful time in Spello and visiting other towns like Montefalco and Bevagna.
For the size of the town, there are a large number of wonderful restaurants. Lots of shops too.
Read “ Il Bel Centro” by an American woman who moved to Spello with her family for a year, wonderful!
Will you have a car? There are parking lots surrounding the city. There is also a train station and I presume bus service.
We actually “won” our stay in a charity auction and it was a big win for us!
Posted by
Florida
276 posts
Florence is my favorite city in the entire world, but it is also very busy and very touristy. I think it makes sense to pick two home bases, one in Florence and one in a smaller city that will allow you to really slow down and relax.
Also, changing regions will let you sample a whole new region of food and wine!
Posted by
Southeast of Seattle
732 posts
We stayed for a month in Florence in an airbnb that was just outside the ZTL by the Biblioteca. We did have two trips that took us to other places from there with a return to the residence, so I highly recommend a two week stay in something other than a hotel. The Oltrarno area is good and usually has plenty of nice offerings as does the Sant Ambrogio area. I would try to stay outside the main area of Florence, but you want have to be far away.
We spent an afternoon in Spello, but I’m not sure I would want to be there for two weeks, unless you have a car to travel about.
Posted by
Chicago
2100 posts
'The local life in Italy'...
Well, what does that mean, really? Different things for different folks. I have to say that when we spent a week in Rome in February 2017, I felt that was what I was living. Had a walk-up kinda sorta studio apartment overlooking Campo de' Fiori, and by the 2nd day I established a routine of sorts--wake up, brisk walk down to the Tiber, double back around, stop for a quick espresso, over to Forno bakery for pastries, then walk the Campo market for fruits, meats, cheeses that looked good, back upstairs for breakfast. All before 9AM. And it being late winter (but temperate--40s/50s), tourists were few and it was fairly easy to strike up an--albeit fractured Italiano--conversation with the vendors. I really loved that.
I think a week is one thing, a month another. I hate to call it a 'bucket list' thing, but I'm wanting to spend a winter in Roma, maybe from after New Years' through Easter, just under the 90 days Schengen rule. And for that in my opinion, you'd need a transportation hub, so you can travel other places, just to see something different over the course of a month. Roma Termini station goes everywhere, actually as does Florence SMN station--that's a wonderful hub as well.
You'll have your daytrips, and then maybe a couple days away at a time, which would be more tolerable if you got cheap lodging for a month. This was 2017, before inflation hit, but we paid about $85/night for that walk-up in Rome, and it was plenty nice, all we needed. And so close to everything.