Where to stay in Florence, Rome, Sorrento, Cinque Terre

Amanda,

I can't speak to Cinque Terre or Sorrento but I have stayed in Rome and Florence. If you are staying 3 to 4 nights in each location, you might want to consider holiday apartments. There are LOTS of city-center 1 bedroom apartments for less than $150 in both cities. Plus, apartments allow you to stretch out a bit and usually come with a cloths washer.

Another consideration to think about. September and October are in the mosquito season. I would recommend getting an apartment or hotel room with air conditioning (and confirm the A/C will still be turned on).

For Florence, the area between the train station and the Duomo is really convenient to all the tourist sites. Our (2 Bed/2Bath) apartment was in Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini right next to (and overlooking) the Medici Chapel. It was a 5 minute walk to the train station, Duomo and Mercato Centrale. There were pretty good restaurants close by and a grocery right down the street.

If you want something a little quieter, the Oltrarno comes highly recommended. It's much more residential and has some really fine restaurants.

Our apartment in Rome was a 1/2 block north of Piazza Navona and a reasonable walking distance to many sites (we walked to St Peters one evening and it was absolutely sublime. Again, it was close to good/affordable restaurants and a grocery. I would, however, take a taxi (€10 or so) to the Vatican museums if going on a tour...

As for hotels in the city centers of the tourist areas (Venice, Florence, Rome, etc.), most of these buildings are very old and major renovations are prohibited. So, the hotels are relatively small generally family-owned/operated. There aren't too many big-name chain hotels in these areas to almost any small hotel is going to have a "homey" feel.

Have to agree with Work2Travel - especially in cities like Rome and Florence, if you wish to stay in the center you'll find plenty of offers for that time of the year for holiday apartments through VRBO.

Whenever I stayed in Cinque Terre I hopped on a train at the end of the day and headed back to La Spezia, where my accommodation was: thirty minutes away and less expensive (although also less striking!) than sleeping in CT - so maybe that's a solution you may want to consider for Cinque Terre specifically.

Going back to holiday homes for Rome - that's the scene I know the most, you can look for places either on AirBnB or VRBO, as mentioned. There's several chains operating in the city, too: Homeaway, Homelidays, From Home To Rome, Housetrip... When making a choice consider that the city center is very walkable in Rome, and even more so in Florence so you'll always be close to a monument or landmark no matter the apartment you pick.

Florence: city is tiny and very walkable so really does not matter, anywhere within the city walls will be fine.

Rome: I place a strong preference for the ancient center (area by the Panthenon piazza but Piazza Navona or Trevi Fountain is same as well) and would pay a little higher price here. You can spend a little under budget in some of the other places to make up for it. This is in the heart of it all and the one place where that to me at least is crucial.

Sorrento: this is the one place I would prefer to stay up on the cliffs above town instead of in the center. Views are far superior and the center is not all that historic, scenic or happening as say in Florence or Rome so should not be treated with the same importance. Good place to find lodging with a swimming pool since your other locations won't have one and in late Sept- early Oct Sorrento is still swimming pool weather

Cinque Terre: stay in one of the 5 towns not outside, just choose a place you like. If you don't need a "view" prices are reasonable, look at Airbnb here. Breakfast probably won't be included here so factor that into your budget. We really enjoyed Manarola but would have been equally happy with Vernazza I am sure. Those 2 towns would definitely be my top choices.