Advice about Rome

[Anonymous]

We are planning on visiting Rome and Florence in Nov with a then 1 year old. Would love suggestions on where to stay especially with a baby.

[Anonymous]

We found a self-catering apartment in the Trastevere for our 1-week visit back in 2005. Forget the service now, maybe http://www.friendlyrentals.com/ or http://www.romesweethome.it/. It was great having the extra room for our son, as well as the cooking facilities and a place to cook all of the fabulous treats from the marketplaces. Rome is a really walkable city - we only used a taxi for the arrival & departure; the rest of the time, we walked. There is soooo much to see! Our son was 9 mos at the time, and we used the Bugaboo extensively.

The supermarket nearby carried Pampers diapers & organic babyfood. So, didn't really need to pack much.

A word of warning: My husband did venture out on the side streets of the Trastevere once or twice later at night and said it was a bit spooky & expected to be mugged any second (yes, we're veteran city dwellers - NYC for 14 yrs & Paris for 1 yr). But by daylight, everything seems happy and easygoing. Waiters and people in general are very welcoming with babies; DS got a lot of attention! We chose to hang at home from 8pm onward most nights.

There is a *lovely* deli called Volpetti, which is a bit out of the way, but so worth visiting if you are even a tiny bit of a foodie.

Have a great trip!

[Anonymous]

OOOHHH...my favorite topic, my husband is from Rome!
Stay centrally located (duh!). We stayed in some different areas.
We really enjoyed Hotel Fiore on Via Nazionale, just at the bottom by Trajan Market and the Quirinale. Super close to Forum Romano / Fontana di Trevi / Spanish steps, etc. It is a small hotel and with a one year old, probably just fine. When we went four years ago, they had just put in new bathrooms. Breakfast room daily. I don't know if fridges are offered for small snacks, but certainly ask.

Last year we went with two kids; four and one and my mother. We rented an apartment because of wanting a home base of sorts as we had family visiting and meals at home were necessary 50% of the time to allow the kids to decombust, save money, etc. We rented with Rental in Rome. The apartment on top of Piazza Barberini, just south. It was pretty much at Via del Tritone and due Macelli. It is about four blocks from the Spanish Steps. This was certainly closer to Borghese Gardens.

Believe me, there are so many "centers of town" in Rome, it depends on what you want to be closer to on a regular basis. The two areas above were my favorite because of the central location. Trestevere and Montevedre are certainly hot hot hot. A big reason is Euro / American ex-pats with money are relocating to this area and displacing some blue collar Romans. VERY cool neighborhoods, but not central to the sights, so to speak.

One thing I noticed and did not anticipate was the additional expense of cabs. DH and I are big big walkers so when we went without kids, we walked everywhere, all day long. We stopped for wine when tired, etc. Our four year old DS couldn't walk all day (DD in a stroller so she would nap). SO - we found ourselves walking OUT and then DS was tired / winey and we would need to cab back just for time and rest.

Obviously, I am less knowledgeable on Florence, but the city is overall much smaller than Rome...

ENJOY! (I am so jealous - we are two more years from going again....)

[Anonymous]

I agree that you should definitely rent an apt. Trastavere is very nice, but I would suggest with a small child you might want to be more central, somewhere near Campo de Fiori, or Piazza Navona. Slowtrav.com is probably worth checking out for possible apts.

[Anonymous]

OP here,
thanks for the suggestions. I am excited to check it all out

[Anonymous]

We go to Florence every other year and stay in the Pensione Pendini, which is on the Piazza della Republica. It is nice (3 star) but not elegant, and the older rooms are huge.

The reason we keep going back is that it's the best intersection we've found of location (location location), price, and decent room. Right outside the door is a carousel and other vaguely interesting things for kids, like the open air market, street musicians, etc.

Everything is Florence is close, but this location really is ideal, IMO, especially when you need to keep going back to the room to change a diaper, nap, what have you. (Remember, you won't be able to change diapers in the bathrooms -- which are really just toilets/holes in the floor -- in central Florence or Rome. Too tiny).