Tuscany & Rome in 2018

[VivaMio]

I'd love to go with dh and dc(8 & 6).
Can anyone recommend a villa with pool or similar near Florence and a good hotel in Rome?

I like UNA hotel in Rome. The rooms are spacious and comfortable. The service is good and it’s very kid friendly. I like being close to Termini for convenience but it’s not the most picturesque district.

We rapidly decided to AirBnB it in Rome as prices for hotels were £££ for what you were getting.

Personally I would avoid Termini, it's v grotty and where all the streetsellers are sleeping rough near the station.

I agree the area around Termini is grotty but it’s perfectly safe.
When we go to Rome we always arrive into Termini so walking 50m to a very nice hotel is much more attractive than getting bags and kids onto Rome’s public transport and I dislike taking taxis in central Rome. Where you stay really depends what you want to do in Rome too.

I stayed in a lively hotel in Rome called
Hotel sanfransisco in the Italian quarter

We stayed there as it was cheaper for restaurants etc to eat out but only a short walk or tram ride to the center

There was a carrefore supermarket in the corner street and a fridge in the room so we had some picnic meals and yogurts etc for breakfast which kept our spending down

What I lived in June about the Italian quarter was the fabulous cafe culture and atmosphere in the evening

There is also a very cheap bar a short walk away near the square where beer was incredible cheap - we would go there after a meal and share a big beer and ice cream, whilst watching the buskers and street performers

www.hotelsanfrancesco.net/home-en/

Here is a link in case it’s of interest to you

One more thing

Forget visiting the Vatican or coliseum until 4:30 in the afternoon. At this time all the coach trips and two hour queues have disappeared and it will take you about 20-30 minutes to get into the attraction without the bother of ticket touts ir queue jumping sellers

Rome is amazing but in Summer it's very hot and very crowded - we found that a pain at times. There's so much to see - me and DH went last year and walked between 8-11 miles every day sightseeing. We went all over and saw everything though. Drink lots of water! We stayed in Trastevere, restaurant/bar/cafe district. Found this amazing place to eat, not too expensive either www.laprosciutteria.com/roma-trastevere/. Have to say we struggled with restaurants in Rome and felt quite ripped off at times - eating out can be expensive. That said, there are some amazing street food pizza pasta arancini places, low key takeaways which are great for a bite if you don't want the whole sit down thing. My top tip - get up at 5am and see the Trevi Fountain when there's no one there. Interested to hear other places where people stayed and found it good - I would try another area next time.

Agree Rome in summer must be hell - we went in Autumn, in was still pretty steamy!

There are great restaurants but you have to put a bit of effort into finding them, otherwise you will just eat a lot of crap expensive food. Never, ever eat anywhere on a main piazza - we had the worst pizza ever on the Piazza Navona. Lovely view and gosh, did we pay for it.

I agree - Rome in summer would be hell - but a villa in Tuscany with air con and a pool would be lovely. Better to visit Rome on a city break at another time. We went in Feb half-term last year and it was perfect - cool, but sunny and not at all crowded. Oct half-term would be good too as the main crowds have left by then.

Hi, anywhere around the Pantheon is a super area in our opinion...when are you going? We loved this location as we were near, Pantheon, Colloseum, Trevi Fountain and only a 20mon walk to Vatican.

Why don't you consider an Agriturismo in Tuscany. I can recommend at least 3 that were on my hit list in terms of food..nice place for kids.