Hi, my family of four, including two teenage boys will be in Florence for three nights at the beginning of June. We will be renting an apartment rather than staying in a hotel. I would love to hear opinions on which neighborhoods you like to stay in. I am leaning towards the Oltrano right now, but would love other opinions.
Roberto, if you see this I would especially like to hear from you as I always appreciate your responses.
We like Santa Croce, a little away from the crowds. easily walkable to sites.
My wife and I are renting an apartment in the Oltrarno area for a month in March 2018. Check out Windows on Italy for good apartments. Oltrarno offers a lot of advantages. Less crowded & minutes away from the central city.
Another vote for the Oltrano neighborhood. My husband and I rented an apartment in this area in October 2016 and loved the location. A block or two off the main tourist areas makes all the difference. Florence is one of our favorite cities. Enjoy!
Oltrarno would me my choice, although Santa Croce is also good.
Oltrarno is not technically a neighborhood, it means Beyond (oltre) the Arno river. There are actually 3 neighborhoods that comprise the Oltrarno, from east to west: San Niccolò, Santo Spirito, San Frediano.
Santo Spirito is the one closest to the Ponte Vecchio.
I guess Lonely Planet has decided that San Frediano is one of the 10coolest neighborhoods on the planet.
https://www.lonelyplanet.com/travel-tips-and-articles/10-of-the-worlds-coolest-neighbourhoods-to-visit-right-now/40625c8c-8a11-5710-a052-1479d2769fd4
We chose an apartment in the Santa Croce neighborhood based on advice from Lisa, our Rick Steves travel consultant. We love the area - beautiful piazza, breathtaking church, yummy cafes, restaurants, etc., handy grocery store and easy walk to everything.
I did a self-guided walking tour of the Oltrano and thought it would be a great area for a stay, much less touristy, with a residential feel. Close to a bridge would be best.
I'll second (or third) the recommendation of the staying in the area near Santa Croce. We stayed not far from the Church of Sant'Ambrogio and found the neighborhood much to our liking. It was a quick walk to the very center of town and yet far enough out so as to be relativity free of day-tripping tourists. There were all the services we could require in the immediate neighborhood and a number of very nice restaurants and eateries. Best of all we were a block away from the Mercato Sant'Ambrogio, a great open-air market for fresh foods and vegetables. It quickly became 'our' neighborhood (at least in our minds) and we make sure to visit 'our old haunts' every time we're in town.
No doubt Oltrarno is cool, but we rented an apartment about a block away from the SMN train station on the 2nd floor facing Piazza Santa Maria Novella. Close to the station, close to the Mercato Centrale, Duomo, Baptistery, etc. Loved it.
We love the Hotel Ballesteri close to downtown on the Arno.
Definitely nowhere near the Duomo!
Crowds and drunks all night long, and everything echoes off the stone.
My last few visits I have stayed in the Oltrarno area, but Santa Croce is fine too.
David,
Although Florence is a very walkable city, I recommend staying central to the sites you plan to visit. I have stayed in central Florence, on the very edge of the ZTL, on a couple of occasions and I really enjoyed it. Being close(r) to what you plan to see always optimizes the time sightseeing...
Another consideration is getting to and from the bus or train stations (assuming you're not renting a car) with luggage. The closer to transportation, the better. If you are driving, I would highly recommend that you research driving and parking in Florence thoroughly before arriving.
I knew you were going to get plenty of conflicting suggestions based on the personal experience each had.
Actually any neighborhood within the historical center will work. Generally the area between Piazza San Marco and Ponte Vecchio, passing through the Duomo, and Piazza della Signoria, is more crowded with tourists, and so is the area between Piazza della Signoria and Piazza Santa Croce. But everywhere, even the areas with more tourists, have hidden alleys that are not as trafficked.
That's the thing. The advantage of staying in the historical district is that if you're knocking around there and someone wants to go back to the room and take a nap while the others are still sightseeing, it can be done no problem. Or to drop shopping goods back up at the room and continue on.
The Oltrano is definitely part of the historic center.
Yeah, but Chani, the Oltrarno is on the south side of the Arno, correct? Most of the 'stuff to see' is on the north side. I do agree that the Oltrarno is a quite a bit more chill, but it's at least an extra 10-15 minute walk--more if you take the always-crowded Ponte Vecchio--if you want to go back to the hotel room from, say, the Baptistery.
I like the area between SMN and Repubblica......we stayed on a side street a little bit south of a line you would draw from the actual Basilica to Piazza Repubblica, probably a 2 minute walk to Roberto Cavalli.....it was so easy to pop out and back in as we were so close to most things, and not a bad walk to the station to do day trips....
Thanks for all the responses. I ended up finding a beautiful loft apartment in the Oltrarno, only about 1 1/2 blocks from the Ponte alla Carraia bridge, so easy access to the center of Florence, and the advantages of staying in the Oltrarno.
That's good. You are right between San Frediano and Santo Spirito. The two neighborhoods are loosely divided by via de' Serragli.
This location also puts you within easy range of another important landmark: Gelateria La Carraia.
