renting an apartment in Florence for a week in April 2012

Do you have the RS Italy book yet? If not, that's a good starting point, especially since it's loaded with the specifics for how to get to places.

Thanks, I do plan to buy the book. I consider his books "my bible" when I travel.

I use vrbo.com for rentals. They are reliable and have a good selection of apartments.

Here is a good resource: http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/vr/list.asp?r=Florence I stayed here and it was decent: http://www.tuscanyaccommodations.org/uk/Florence_Apartments-7/Piazza_Stazione_Apartments-10/Zanobi_Apartment-243/

I have been to Florence 4 times; and last Sept. had an apartment 3 blocks from the Duomo. While the apartment itself was really great, and I had a wonderful view of the Duomo from my lovely little private terrace; I would NEVER stay that close in to town again. All night long the noise was horrendous. Drunks, noisy students, car alarms, people shouting, cars revving ,shop burglar alarms going off. I got hardly any sleep for the 6 nights! Next time I would stay in Santa Croce area or across the river in Oltrarno; away from the Ponte Vecchio, also a noisy spot at night. You can walk everywhere so easily in Florence, so I would highly recommend renting something a bit farther from the madding crowd. If you are interested: this is the place I rented, and I really loved it; just not the noise! http://www.waytostay.com/Florence-apartments-en-229-3923.htm The company was fine to deal with, and answered emails promptly.
Good luck, and I also recommend SlowTrav as a wonderful resource.

Thank you for this post. I hadn't even considered the noise factor. Very valuable information!

Hi - I just found a fantastic apartment on SabbaticalHomes.com. I have never used them before, but the site is highly recommended and my Italian friend went to check out the place for me and it was just as advertised. It's located on Via della Ruote and although it's not right next to the Duomo, Florence is so compact that walking there will only take a few minutes. There are other Florence apartments listed as well.

Great! Thanks, I will add that website to my list. I appreciate your response.

We also had an apartment through vrbo with a terrific view of the Duomo from its deck, but the bedrooms didn't face that way, the apartment was on a pedestrian street, and I don't remember any noise at all at night. There were a lot of restaurants on the street, but our bedroom faced toward San Lorenzo cloisters.