hello,

i am going to italy for a month in the fall
(first time). i am planning to rent an apartment/house in one location because the rental companies seem to give good discounts for rentals of several weeks. also i have done the 6 cities in ten days tours before and found that didnt really get to see any of those places and i was exhausted.
so, im trying to figure out where i should go for the month. i am currently torn between rome and florence because they both seem to have plenty to keep me occupied for the month and have extensive public transit (i dont plan on renting a car), but im open to other places. i do plan to take a few 1-2 day side trips to other places, but i want to stay in one place and really get to know it at my own pace. i might have a friend or two with me for a week at a time but basically, it will just be me.
So, anyone have any thoughts? suggestions/advice would be appreciated, and im wondering if the weather is pleasant in those cities in october.

Is it ok to hate you?

I'd pick Rome, but I'm nuts about the place so don't take my word for it.

it is ok to hate me! im quitting one job at the end of the summer, and taking a break before the next one starts. i will probably never again have a month off all at once.
as far as the thread goes, since you love rome, which part of town would you recommend? ( and if anyone has any florence recommendations please post those too).

I am not a jealous man, but you are really getting on my nerve! By the way, I think it's brilliant to stay at one place for a month. You get to know the local cultures a lot better. I'd recommend Rome since it's a bigger city and you have a whole month. Florence is only 1.5 hour away by train. Neighborhoods in Rome? Do a search on this board, it's been beaten dead. Here's one of the recent links: Rome locations

When in fall are you visiting?

How about two weeks in each city?

Hello Ruslspgs,

If you haven't come across them already, you'll probably find Robert Santa Monica's and Mizz Eve's Rome trip reports very informative.

I've never been to Italy, but want to go, and that's why I'm here, researching. The experienced Italy travellers typically advise first time visitors to stay somewhere in the vicinity of the Pantheon, Piazza Navona, Campo de' Fiori but certainly no further out than Trastevere. However, the necessity of locating oneself centrally seems to be less of a factor if one is going to be in a city for a longer period. Robert Santa Monica, for example, stayed a bit further out when he was in Rome for two weeks. The apartment he rented was cheaper than an equivalent one in the historical centre would have been, he had the use of a tree-shaded terrace, and he was the only tourist in a neighbourhood of Italian families going about their routines.

People report that October's weather is pleasant in most of Italy, although I seem to remember hearing that it sometimes gets drizzly towards the end of the month. Offsetting that is the fact that there are far fewer tourists attempting to get into the museums and art galleries than there are in summer. In looking up accommodation prices, I've noticed that several places offer shoulder season prices as opposed to high season prices in October, all the more so during the second half of October. (Of course you'd already be ahead of the game, in that a longer rental period would enable you to secure a better rate, as you've noted.)

Every Italian city has its champions at this forum. If you were to express an interest in spending a month in Venice or Florence or Bologna or wherever, there would be people who would cheer you on. As someone who has not been to Italy but only read and heard about it, I do feel particularly attracted to Rome. The reason is that it seems to have something of everything : Etruscan, Roman, Byzantine, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque and so on. Although Florence is the home of incredible art treasures, that I most certainly want to see, it apparently doesn't have much to show for the fact that it once belonged to the Roman Empire. Robert Santa Monica's and Mizz Eve's trip reports show how Rome can accommodate varied tastes. I found that Robert's interests seemed to tend more towards the Renaissance and Baroque periods, whereas Mizz Eve seemed to concentrate more on the Classical period.

Although Rome is not unique in this respect, it does have excellent attractions outside of it that are accessible in the form of day trips. Ostia Antica, Tivoli, Orvieto, and even Tarquinia (Etruscan necropolis) come immediately to mind.

On the other hand, there are a few folks who say that Rome is too noisy, busy and polluted for their taste. They prefer smaller cities like Florence. Considering how attracted I feel towards Rome, I'll be interested to see how I find it when I actually get there in person.

The Eyewitness Travel Guide to Rome, published by Dorling Kindersley, is a nice guidebook. If you'll be staying for longer, and if you're interested in art and architecture, I understand Georgina Masson’s Companion Guide to Rome is invaluable.

quote:

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Originally posted by Judy in Calgary:
People report that October's weather is pleasant in most of Italy, although I seem to remember hearing that it sometimes gets drizzly towards the end of the month.

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Another reason to go to Rome is "ottobrate". Rome is known for having particularly mild weather in October ^___^

Rome is our favorite city in Italy and if it were me, I would opt for a month there. There is so much to see and do in Rome that you will be very busy for a month even if you should decide not to go anywhere else. I'm so jealous! It's a dream I have to spend more than a few weeks there at a time and to have one month....well, you are a lucky man!

thanks for all the input. and i did consider 2 weeks in each place, but the apartment prices are much cheaper if you rent one place for the whole month. so im going to rent one place for the month in whichever city i choose, and visit a few other places on overnight trips.

Hi, ruslspgs. We are also doing a month in Rome (5/27-6/24). We rented an apt. on the V. Giubbonari, off of Campo dei Fiore. You're right about the long-term rental rates; a month only cost Euro 200 more tha two weeks at the weekly rate. Have been to Rome 5 or 6 times, can give you some ideas of what to do; send me a private e-mail if you want to.

I vote for Rome too! This past October we rented the Bramante Apartment between Piazza Navona and Campo de Fiori (too large for one person) and thought it was a fabulous location! And the weather was great too - very mild. I wore pants and a shirt with a light cardigan and was fine. Although, I did need to make use of my handy travel umbrella on a couple of occassions.

My brother spent 4 months in Trastevere this past fall, and thought this location was definitely more "Roman," however, he did feel that the Piazza Navona region was a more tourist-friendly home base from which to explore the rest of Rome. From our apartment we walked everywhere, literally. I don't think I took the metro once. Plus, there's just so much action around Piazza Navona. Especially at night!

I've also spent a vacation near the Pantheon. This is a great location too, but I was on a major street, and so there were hoards of tourists at all times. I think your experience will be more enjoyable if you find a nice apartment on a smaller little side street.

Florence is beautiful too, with almost every imaginable piece of great artwork, but there's just something so unique about Rome. It's definitely my favorite city in the world!

Have fun planning! And you may consider buying "Top 10 Rome." This past trip was the first time I used this book, and it really had some great restaurant tips, specifically on fabulous pizza places

Elizabeth