The Neighborhoods in Rome

Rick Steves Rome guide divides Rome into several distinct neighborhoods that I use when I'm planning sight seeing so I can make the best use of my time by wander around in one general area. Rick's guide also give great descriptions of each neighborhood. If you can pick of one of his guides and then compare the maps in the guide with the maps on the apartment websites you'll be able to better pinpoint the apartment locations. Our favorite neighbhoods for accomodations is the area near the Campo De Fiore and Trastevere. The Campo is perfectly located for walking all over Rome (The Pantheon-Heart of Rome neighborhood in Rick's guide). It's lively and accessible . Trastevere is more authentic and is across the Tiber from the main areas of Rome. Crossing any one of the bridges takes two minutes on foot. Hope this helps.

Google Earth Streetview has mapped almost all of Rome, meaning you can zoom down to street level at almost any location and take a look for yourself as to what the neighborhood looks like. If this is your first trip to Rome I suggest the Piazza Navona or Campo dei Fiori neighborhoods for really good central locations.

If you want more of a village feel, try the Trastevere neighborhood. It's south of the Vatican and across the Tiber river from the historic center. Very easy access to the major sites.

If saving money is a consideration, you might consider the Termini neighborhood.

It will be difficult, you'll need several maps I think. View the apartment on the map they give you, then take a full rome map and find it there. That should give you a better idea. If you're unsure, narrow it down to a few of the apartments you like and we can advise you whether the location is good/central etc. Best of luck!

Thanks for all these tips. The Google street views have been especially useful to "travel" along in virtual space. We think we'll be in the vicinity of the metro line B - EUR Fermi stop. It's a bit out of town but appears to be a decent (read, 'safe') business district.

Hi Keri. I don't know if you're interested in any apartment suggestions but I can personally recommend a great apartment complex in a great area! It's the Palazzo Olivia apartments near Piazza Navona. The reviews on Trip Advisor are really favorable. The apartment was clean & very comfortable and it's off of a major street on which you'll find bus stops, atm machines, taxi stands, internet cafe's, etc. The street that it's on is very quiet & we didn't hear any street noise at night. The building has an elevator & the apartment was air conditioned. The location couldn't be beat. If you want further details, feel free to send me a message.

I looked at many apartments but you're right...it's hard to judge exactly where they're located and in my case I wanted to be as central as possible. You pay a bit more in the Piazza Navona area but it was well worth it for us. We loved being able to walk around the Piazza Navona area at night with a gelato in hand. Have a great trip!

Wow, the EUR is certainly out a ways and, unless you are into glass & steel high rises, has as much charm as any modern business district in any large city anywhere. Most neighbourhoods in the center of Rome are perfectly safe and walkable at night. You won't get much of the flavour of Rome out that way.

Rome is as safe as you are smart.

Same goes for (almost) any big city.

Most on this board would say the area around the Spanish Steps puts you in a part of Rome with a great balance of character and convenience.

As most of the properties in that area are out of my price range (or booked solid by travelers more timely and savvy than myself), I opt for my second choice -- the area between the Termini Train Station and the Colosseum area. That area has a mix of properties, some very nice for high(sih) prices, and some very affordable (with more charm, less amenities, and dated furniture).

EDIT: Oh... and agreed with the last poster... the EUR? Really? Don't do it. While a 'modern architecture experiment' can be a good glimpse of a city's culture (like Barcelona, for example), the EUR is just plain "not Rome".

Sounds is if the 'Okies' are in agreement re the EUR. :-)

I'm confused about your reasoning behind choosing the EUR area to stay. Have you heard somewhere that Rome is not safe? Why stay so far away, when part of the charm of Rome is wandering around in the evening?

I hope it's not too late for you to rethink your choice of lodging. Go for somewhere around Piazza Navona or Campo dei Fiori instead. They're safer than pretty much any major American city.

Thanks to you all for your kind concerns. The reason for our choice is two-fold.

First, this stay in Rome is only one small part of a 9+ week trip. We are shooting for a price of under 100 euro per night for lodging. So far, in the main parts of Rome that's a target we've not found with availability (mid-May). However, our booking is changeable so things are open.

Secondly, we will have kitchen facilities for a long-ish (week) stay in an area, this means we don't need to live the 'tourist' life every night. But certainly we will use this trip to scout out properties and neighborhoods for a future visit.