Rome- best neighborhoods for transportation?

The area near Largo Argentina, which includes Campo dei Fiori, Piazza Navona and the Pantheon is good for both walking and public transportation and there are many restaurants. Bus tickets cost 1.50 and are good for 100 minutes at a time. You would also be close to Piazza Venezia which is a main transit hub. Besides the buses, there is a tram from Piazza Venezia to Trastevere so if you want to venture over the river your bus ticket will work on the tram too. I wouldn't bother with the hop-on bus which is ridiculously expensive.
You also may be surprised when you arrive to find how close some of the sights are to each other.
Have fun!
Cynthia

I agree with PonyGirl about the neighborhood close to the Pantheon. It's a couple of blocks off the bus route towards St. Peters though. We especially like the many tourist sights that are close by--and the area restaurants.

We usually stay a block or so from the Ottaviano-San Pietro Metro station. We're familiar to the area and it is very close to the Vatican Museum. And it's easy to get to by the Metro system from Roma Termini.

Rome is one of those cities that you can walk yourself to death in. And figuring out how to get around on the buses is the easiest form of transportation.

I like the Largo di Torre Argentina area too. I had a good experience at the hotel Smeraldo https://www.smeraldoroma.com/en/

Easy bus access from the train station, close to the two piazzas and Pantheon mentioned above, very close to the place that Julius Caesar was assassinated which is now a cat sanctuary, very close also to the Jewish Quarter, just over the river from Trastevere (tasty gelato on the way), and just around the corner from tasty nosh.

Showers a little small, good brekkie, good staff, quiet with the window open (but bells from the nearby church which I love but not everybody does, not at night).

Just a thought.....

The hop on bus will not take you thru the historic center, it skirts it. Taxis in Rome are very reasonable, use these rather than other means if you have joint problems. There’s an app to call or a map with taxi ranks. You can’t just flag them down.

The Monti neighborhood has good metro and bus connections. I stayed in that neighborhood for years as the transportation connections are so good.

I am now staying in the Campo dei Fiore area and find it is nice to just walk everywhere as it is slightly more central than Monti for my walking needs.

We always enjoy staying in the Piazza Navona area. It's an easy walk to so many things and there is a taxi stand just outside the Piazza Navona too. We have stayed at Locanda Navona and at Hotel Dui Torri and we enjoyed them both. You can see and do a great deal in 2.5 days but be mindful of the sites that require advanced reservations (Vatican Museum, Borghese Gallery, etc). Good luck, I love Rome and I know you will too.

I second Monti because of its proximity to the Cavour metro stop, Colosseum, Via Nazionale, Piazza Venezia, and many restaurants.