Please help with lodging

I think you mean Monti, right? I stayed there less than two months ago and thought it was a good location. It feels very much like a real neighborhood and not a tourist area. Near the Cavour metro stop, also many busses run along Via Nazionale which is nearby. Trevi fountain is definitely walkable. I walked all the way to the Pantheon from Monti one day, full disclosure my feet hurt for over a week after my recent solo Italy trip. (I am an early 50s male). Monti is a great balance between authenticity, value, and location. Depending upon precisely where you are, Coliseum was a pretty far walk from where I was staying, you might want to hop on the metro for one stop from Cavour station (maybe it's not farther than Trevi, just my perception that it's far because the street was long and straight). It looks a lot closer than it is because it's so big. This neighborhood is also walkable from Termini, and it did not feel creepy at all after dark. Overall it's a very good choice. My advice in Rome is to slow down and use your mind with a good map, not your legs. Think before you walk, the blocks can be very long and many streets have no street signs. You can end up walking in circles and tire yourself out. Maybe it's just me, excited to be in Rome again after nine years, but that was my experience. My feet gave out way before my endurance.

If you PM me about the precise location I can be more specific. (I spent five nights in that area in late October).

Rome is great, I am sure you will have a great time!

That's what I was afraid of, haha....my feet giving out before the rest of me. Thanks for the help. What is Trastevere like? Do you think that would be a better location? This is my first trip, so I am somewhat blindly making reservations as best I can, with fingers crossed!

We found it easiest to get around Rome by city bus. They're fast and frequent.

Anyone would do well to get a mass transit map and learn to navigate the city bus system and the subway (underground) system. It'll certainly save your legs.
On our last trip (in April), we picked our B&B based on the proximity to the subway system, and we ended up 4 blocks from the Vatican walls.

Monti will be the perfect neighborhood for you. We stayed in an apartment in Monti in October 2015 and thought it was perfect! We are returning in May and will again be looking for an apartment in Monti due to its close proximity to the Colosseum, restaurants etc.

I am in Rome for the 2nd time since 2002 next Thursday for 4 days so I've been researching like you
Try searching your lodging in Tripadvisor https://www.tripadvisor.com/ or booking.com and you will get several years of reviews from many travelers including location. Trastevere is one of the centers of Roman night life; rich in pubs, restaurants, There are two American universities in that area so you are bound to run into a lot of American college kids and panhandlers in street that they attract. So if the thought of this does not agree maybe stay in Monti.

Trastevere--never been there over four visits to Rome, but in practical terms, not as well connected as Monti. The metro is not the answer to all transport challenges in Rome, but it does go to some of the key spots (Vatican, Spanish Steps). Trastevere you are going to have to rely on cabs a lot more. That might be o.k. as cabs are reasonable in Rome, but for me I like to be within walking or metro of the majority of places that I want to go. The bus routes near Trastevere might not be bad though, worth researching. Having said all of this, just looked at Google images of Trastevere and it looks awesome. I love Rome!

Also: my hotel was 95 Rooms in Rome at 94/95 Via Panisperna, a place that I highly recommend!

I stayed in the Campo de' Fiori area in October. Was an easy walk to Colloseum and Vatican (about 1/2 way in between). Close to bus lines but a bit of a hike to Spanish Steps and Borghese Gallery. We took a cab from Termini and it wasn't a horrible price.

If you have more than a couple days in Rome, you can use Rick's audio walking tour of Trastevere to see it - morning is best so you can see the farmer's market. Take his Ghetto walk first (very close to the Trastevere starting point).

For sightseeing, it looks like the Monti apartment will be a more convenient location for a first visit.

Monti covers quite a broad area (pull it up on google maps), from an oddly shaped section south of the Colosseum to Quattro Fontane to the north, Santa Maria Maggiore to the East and Piazza Venezia to the west. It would be helpful to have the actual address of your accommodation but if it's "not far from Trevi Fountain" and a 15-minute walk from the Colosseum, you'll be up on the northern part of it somewhere, probably between Via Nazionale and Via del Quirinale.

We've stayed on Via delle Quattro Fontane - one of the streets which defines the northeastern border - and walked through the larger neighborhood often on our way to one thing or another. The location is fine but if you're not used to a lot of walking (we are) you might want to make occasional use of the public transit system. We were both late 50's last we were there, and have done almost all of our exploring on foot but you could use the metro to get down to the Colosseum, and you're not all that far from Trastevere at that point. Same with the Vatican: hop the metro up to Ottaviano. Buses and trams are your other options but we've never taken them. Depending on where you're going, it can be faster to walk than wait for a bus that's going to do a slow crawl in traffic.

If you both are "very active", you might find that you'll do just fine on your feet with minimal use of transit at the end of the day. Rome is a great city for expending shoe leather as you'll experience more from the sidewalks than from behind a window, and can wander into interesting corners where a bus or tram can't go!

There are frequent trams and slightly less frequent buses between Piaza Venezia and Trastevere, but I would stay in Monti. Note that on weekends, the area around Piazza Venezia/Via dei Fori Imperiali/Colosseo are closed to traffic. The last couple of trips I have stayed in the Monyi area between the Colosseo and Via Cavour, very nice area.

If u decide on taking busses or metro in Rome be super vigilant about pickpockets.
Public transit is always packed and that makes it easy for theives.
I know more travelers that were pickpocketed or purse snatched in Rome it can ruin a vacation. Wear a moneybelt etc.
Take a taxi, they are fairly cheap and save your feet. Or opt for another area to stay in.

Thank you for all of your info and suggestions. The apartment is in the Rione Mondi District. Hmmm, any further thoughts?

Kathy, Rione Monti is just the official, full name of the district. Without an address, we still can't tell you exactly where you'll be although from the description I'm sure it's on the north side of it. It's fine; you don't need to make a different choice. There is no place in Rome so central that you could avoid taking transit altogether if you're not up to going everywhere on foot. We haven't found that to be difficult but we have hopped the metro/commuter train now and again when going farther afield than you probably will, or wishing to cover a sizable stretch of ground more quickly.

We have never taken a taxi.

Pickpockets; yes, Rome has them. So does any other large tourist city. They are simply to be outwitted rather than feared, and that is not difficult to do. A lot of RS posters swear by moneybelts and neck wallets. Others have hidden, interior pockets. Our method of choice is a Pacsafe day bag with locking zippers (Travelon makes them as well) and/or I pin a small zippered pouch inside my waistband for my daily cash: virtually invisible and easy for me to access but no one one else.

Whatever method you choose, the trick is to disperse the location of your valuables so they're not all in one place, and make it difficult-to-impossible for light fingers to access them without your knowledge. Never carry valuables in a purse or put anything you don't want to lose in an exterior pocket. Don't even use an interior pocket unless it's one designed to foil a thief. Once we've checked into a hotel, we keep some of our cards and bulk of the cash in the room safe and take out only what we need for the day.

Really, there's no need at all to be paranoid about the thieves. The vast majority of tourists who've been relieved of their valuables made themselves easy victims. If you just take some precautions and avoid distractions, you're unlikely to have a problem. But safety tips might be another topic for another thread. :O)

We stayed in small apartment on Via del Boschetto in Monti near the Via del frasche cross street. We loved the neighborhood and had dinner most nights at Gli Angeletti in the Pizza della Madonna dei Monti. It was an easy to the Coliseum and Trevi Fountain. We took the bus to the Vatican and took the Metro back from the Bourghese. It was an easy walk with luggage from Tremini. The closest metro was Cavour.

I appreciate the information you have all passed along. Glad to know that Trastevere is a college student area because that means no sleep, and not where we would want to stay!
From your replies, Mondi sounds like an interesting neighborhood.

There are two American universities in that area so you are bound to
run into a lot of American college kids and panhandlers in street that
they attract.

No reason to change your reservation but there are quite a number of RS posters who have enjoyed stays in Trastevere very much, including the esteemed Roberto who is one of the more knowledgeable and trusted authorities on the Italy forum. There are pockets/piazzas all over Rome which tend to be noisier than others so it's not necessarily an overall trait of any one district.

We haven't stayed in that area yet but in our walks about, we haven't really noticed a heavier presence of college kids, and there were fewer beggars than in other areas. No worries about panhandlers, though. We didn't find them to be aggressive in Rome whereas Paris was a different story.

Street peddlers of umbrellas, bottled water, trinkets and whatnot in tourist-concentrated areas everywhere can be a little persistent at times but again, not a worry.

By the way, I love college students and work with them 5 days a week. I just know they are, for the most part, night owls, and this lady needs sleep to walk miles the next day! It sounds like Monti will work out just fine according to you comments. Thank you.
On a different topic, we are staying in Vernazza......any suggestions on things to see and do?

CS -

Would you mind sharing information on the flat you rented in Monti? I'm struggling to find options in the area and would appreciate a reference.

Thank you so much -

just returned from italy also rented a place in monti area. it's really good, i can walk to the coloseum or plaza venizia in about 10 minutes, and walk to roma termini is about less than 15 min. it's a pretty good location you'll like it.