Anyone know Rome well? Where to stay?

[WhatWouldTheDoctorDo]

We're going to be in Rome for 1.5-2 days this summer and looking at Airbnb for somewhere to stay.

Would appreciate any advice for which areas are pretty central and good to stay in for a short trip with DC!

What do you want to do in Rome?

We stayed in an AirBnB just off the Campo di Fiori. Was brilliant for atmosphere and going out but if you are going to the Colosseum/Forum you will need the bus.

Other option would be Trastevere - again beautiful and loads of restaurants but easier to travel into the centre as you just get the tram.

Staying near the Colosseum (which we also did) means prices go up and quality and choice of food plummets.

Trastevere definitely, you can walk anywhere from there (30 mins to Vatican from there) and it's my favourite part of Rome. It's where the locals go to drink and eat so the restaurants are outstanding and also very cheap compared to the rest of Rome. Lots of cobbled streets with shops, churches, bars and restaurants. Very pretty with lots of atmosphere!

We stayed in monti last year and it's great, loads of places to eat and drink. It's quite a compact city so walkable or the tourist open top bus isgood. We got a taxi from monti to the Vatican and I'm sure that wasn't more than ten euros.

Thanks all. We haven't quite decided what we want to do yet, so should really look into that first! I found a couple of places that seem very close to the Vatican but I have no idea yet distance in relation to other sites. It was a last minute bolt on to another trip so haven't planned it much at all yet!

Somewhere near an underground station.

I'd decide what you really must do and work from there. You don't have a lot of time so don't want to spend it all hiking over cobbles or working out the transport system.

Rome is quite spread out and staying round the Vatican won't be that nice. It's miles from anywhere else and not so much by way for places to eat etc.

There are lots of areas where Romans go to eat and drink, not just Trastevere! Monti is also v convenient and a foodie hub.

We stayed very near to the Piazza Venezia, it was a great location, easy walking to most areas, and a central area for buses if you didn't want to walk. It was also not too far to walk to Trastevere for the evening. I would definitely stay in that area again.

We've booked an air bnb in trastevere in the summer on recommendations

I stayed in residence Julia on largo de torre Argentina in November. If you search you can find my posts. It was a fantastic venue fab views and location. Sergio was a fantastic host. . I'd stay again at the drop of a hat. The funniest thing was " we do not offer breakfast but guests get coffee brought every morning to the room" ..... the " not breakfast" is coffee, juice and a pastry 😂. On the day I went too early for him he put me a tray out, carefully instructed me in the use of the Nespresso machine and left a litre of juice in the fridge inn my room.
Also stated before in the hotel Celio by the coliseum. That was nice but not such a friendly individual place.

Thanks everyone this is all really helpful in narrowing my Airbnb search!

Oh and Coloseum is now top of our to do list, so any particular recommendations for areas near to there would be most welcome!

I second Trastevere. My favourite city, Rome. Enjoy!

Tip for the coliseum is pay for a tour when you get there and skip the horrendous queues. Plus you get someone to show you the graffiti cocks by roman prostitutes!

Definitely recommend Trastevere and avoid anywhere near termini if you can

Soaking up info as we are going to Rome in the May half term. Hulder we might be staying at the airbnb you used, hope it was good!

We're just back from 5 days there and we stayed between Spanish Steps and the Trevi Fountain. Recommend the area as felt very safe, lots of restaurants full of locals and most sites within a very short walk away (furthest was Colosseum which took a leisurely 30 minute wander past some amazing sights to get there).
We stayed in a really great managed apartment through Booking.com
My tip would be to book entry tickets online wherever possible as queues were outrageous for those who hadnt. Have a great time, its a wonderful city.

Thanks all. Would be grateful if anyone could share links (or by PM) of accommodation they've stayed in and would recommend!

We stayed here. The team who managed it at My Extra Home were so helpful too. They have other apartments if the ones in this building aren't available.
www.booking.com/hotel/it/crispi-luxury-apartment-my-extra-home.en-gb.html

We stayed near the main station
. The open top tour buses lea e from there. We took a tour hppping on and off all day.. if l was only there for such a short time l would do that as you get to go see everything. And yes book tickets in advance . You have a treat in store.

I would say the Colosseum is actually really dull. You go in, walk around in a circle, take you photos and you are done - I was warned about this by Mumsnet and it was true.

The Forum is massively more interesting than the Colosseum. Plus if you go there first, you spend less time queueing at the Colosseum.

Also agree that if you can book tickets online in advance, do. It ties you in to doing things at particular times/days but saves masses of time.

annandale - we were in Max's Place. Whatever you do, don't eat at any of the restaurants actually on the Campo dei Fiori - massive ripoff! Same goes for pizza places on the Piazza Navona, a big mistake. DH pointed out he'd had a nicer pizza the previous week in Pizza Express.

Osteria da Fortunata is lovely, two women sit in the window making the pasta all night. Grappolo d'oro and Ditirambo are also fantastic.

We stayed in a great airbnb apartment prtty much overlooking the roman forum. Just posting to remind myself to ask DH for the link later.

Found it. We had an apartment with one bedroom and a fold down couch, bathroom and a small kitchen. Breakfast wasn't brilliant, but the location was fab and it was good value.

Don't miss out on the Trevi fountain at twilight!

The main railway station termini is where the cheap hotels/ hostels are. I'm a big city dweller so these things don't phase me much but it has a huge reputation for pickpockets / petty crime ( after all people passing g through often have all their stuff with them ). As a line female I avoided it.

( however don't miss the palazzo massimo and baths of Diocletian there , the Pallazzo will store hand bagge size suitcases so if you are on you way to an afternoon train/ bus it's ideal)

This is all brilliant, thank you so much. Any other tips, tricks and recommendations for things to do with a 9 year old most welcome!