Rome housing advice

Everyone has their favorite neighborhood in Rome, but mainly for hotels. Mine is the Trastevere, excellent restaurants, wonderful streets, touristy near the river, but very local back away from the river.

Others like the Piazza Navona/Compo di Fiori area; others the Pantheon area, still others near Termini.

I have the same question as karri... we're going the first week of December, and there's a huge number of options at great prices (not surprising given the time and circumstances). Karri's ask for a picturesque neighborhood central to sights & restaurants is key.

I've read Trastevere is a great area, but I'm wondering if being further away & crossing the Tiber to get to the main sights every day is worth it when prices are so low that being around, say, Piazza Navona/Pantheon would be a better choice? Though the Ponte Sisto does make that area just on the Trastevere side look appealing. And with the short hours of daylight, a good area for evening activities is important - it appears that's a plus for Trastevere?

Thanks!

Prati is excellent, It is the area near the Vatican and well connected to the Centro Storico by bus, tram, and Metro. It is also walkable from the Vatican to Piazza Navona. It is much quieter and less touristed than Trastevere, IMO, with some great restaurants. (La Pratolina for pizza is great but you have to reserve. Also recommend Siciliainbocca but don’t expect too much English to be spoken.)

The area around Largo Argentina is also very convenient and walkable to many sites. I have walked from there to the Colosseo, for example and it is nice to be close to the atmosphere of the area from Campo de’ Fiori to Piazza Nadine. The Christ,as lights are lovely, BTW.

Be careful of staying too far out. We lived in Parioli and it was great to livethere, but coming and going as a traveler would take a lot of time away from enjoying the sights.

What I look for in an apartment (to help narrow down the choices); a washing machine, a dishwasher, real beds, not sofa beds, a Nespresso machine, and great reviews. Try Booking.com as you can usually reserve and have free cancellation while you continue to search.

The Pantheon area is my favorite.

In response about distance from sights. You can not stay anyplace that is a less than 5 minute walk from every sight, just due to where things are...but that doesn't matter you will be going that way once or twice, what you want to avoid is having to go far just to walk, or for a meal.

I guess that is why I like the Trastevere. It is just a short walk over Ponte Sisto to the Campo di Fiori area, a bit further, but not far to Piazza Navona and the Pantheon, The Capitoline area is about the same distance the other way, through the Jewish Ghetto area. To help, the #8 Tram goes up Via Trastevere, over the river and into Largo Argentina, from there, buses to Termini, Borghese, and the Coliseum. Along the river runs Bus #23, handy for the Vatican area; however we have walked to all, except the Borghese area, from the Trastevere.

What we do love is spending evenings and mornings in the Trastevere, lots of restaurants, nice bars and enotecas, you can also choose to hit the more crowded popular area, full of tourists, students, and locals...or go a few blocks the other way and spend your time with locals and families.

I'll have to try and find the name of it but I was in Rome a few years ago and we stayed in this hotel above a dentist surgery. The hotel only had about 3-5 large rooms but it was really budget friendly and perfect! It was really a hidden gem of an accommodation and only about a 10-15 minute walk north of the Colisseum too!

Look at The Monti neighborhood. We loved it, close to the colosseum, lots of restaurants and cafe's, and close to the Metro. Just an overall beautiful neighborhood, were you walk on cobblestone and turn a corner to find a Piazza with locals sitting, talking having a drink, lot's of churches you can wonder into.
Check out this one: https://tinyurl.com/bvkr8jrt
Trastevere: https://tinyurl.com/3j8db8yu

Don't forget to screen for two bathrooms unless you think you can get by with one. That seems a bit risky to me when you have five people who will most likely sometimes be heading out for the day at the same time.