Rome - what part of Trastevere to stay 1st week December

The area around Piazza Navona will be very lively on December evenings, so don’t let that sway you. Look for a place where reviews say it is indeed quiet and close to transportation.

I did not like many restaurants in Trastevere. Found them too focused on tourists. I did like the pizza at Dar Poeta, though. That was worth the trip.

I have not been to Rome in December, my most “off season” trip was early-mid November. At that time, pre-COVID of course, all the popular tourist areas were lively at night. I would think Navona/Campo do Fiori would be good as well as Trastevere. But wait for someone who has been there in December to weigh in. Regardless, Trastevere would be a good choice.

As far as areas, closer to Santa Maria in Trastevere is always a good bet. There’s a lot going on around there. In general, closer to the river and the bridge is more convenient for getting to the rest of the city by foot, and more things cluster there. I’ve walked out well past that and it’s often nice but definitely less lively.
As for loudness of the individual apartment- that partly depends on the exact block and what kind of bars or restaurants are there. Best thing to do is read reviews and get the exact address, plug into google maps, and see what’s next door. Nice seeming trattoria is quieter than rowdy bar, and you can get a sense by the images and description of the place.

We have always stayed in the Trastevere and enjoy it. You are correct, there is good nightlife, not rowdy, just lively. About the only noisy bar area is near Piazza Trilussa, the college crowd hangs out there. Restaurants and nightlife fill most of the area from Santa Maria church to the river and down to Via Trastevere.

We stay at Hotel Trastevere, not fancy, just functional, some rooms can be cramped; but it is an example of a great location, if you can find something around Piazza San Cosimato it will be quieter. Across Via Trastevere, towards Basilica Santa Cecilia, would also be a bit quieter.

We stayed at an apartment 2 years ago in Trastevere that actually looked down, across the little alley at Dar Poeta. I was concerned about noise but even though this was a very old building and we were on the 2nd floor, we never heard a plate clank or people chattering. When you get ready to book something, read reviews and you should avoid the noisy establishments. We enjoyed Trastevere immensely for its liveliness and restaurants.

Laurel, curious - what area did you prefer the restaurants? I'd read several blogs that indicated the opposite, that Travestere eateries are less touristy than those in the center.

Thanks all for the location advice, seems that getting firsthand review feedback as to the noise level is the key.

And love to hear any other comments on the ease of visiting the center sights from Travestere!

We loved Trastevere and the area around St Maria in Trastevere. We arrived a few days before our RS Southern Italy tour and weren’t able to book rooms in the tour hotel. It was close to St. Cecelia. Anyway, our hotel was close to Piazza San Calisto and even though we were on the street level, we never had any trouble with the noise. It was an easy walk to tram #8 &#3 and we bought tickets adjacent to the tram from a newsstand (tabacchi). We ate at Dar Poeta and MamaEat, which had an extensive gluten free menu. We did eat twice at Tonnarello, which had long lines, but we felt the food was mediocre and the service was geared for high turnover.

Somebody mentioned Tonnarello, they are a perfectly good restaurant, focusing on pasta and a few other Roman dishes, but do be aware that they are part of a restaurant group, focusing on casual nights out. Not a bad thing, but they are not a small family run trattoria, but come across more business-like than other restaurants.

They have a good amount of real estate behind Santa Maria, but also own the restaurant just up the street, another Tonnarello on Piazza de Scala not far away, and Nonnarella over on Piazza San Calisto.

Again, decent food (basic pasta dishes are easy to make), but there are other, more personal, small places.

We often walked across the Sisto pedestrian bridge to sites we wanted to see on the other side of the Tiber. If we walked up the west side of the Tiber we were at St Peters square in about 15 minutes. When we wanted to get somewhere quickly across town there was a taxi stand at the Sisto bridge and we never paid more than 10€ for a ride to or from our apartment (we were a group of 4). We were there in 2019.

Two things we enjoyed in our neighborhood were cooking classes with two different companies. I’m not sure both survived 2020.

https://www.grano-farina.com/