Hello! I will be traveling solo to Europe in May and have planned to spend a week in Rome. I have options of staying near the Vatican, the Colosseum or Palazzo Farnese. Am a little nervous as to which I should book. Can someone tell me about the safety of these general areas as well as convenience? Thank you so much for your help - I'm crosseyed from looking at maps, etc.!

quote:

Originally posted by Sharilyn:
Hello! I will be traveling solo to Europe in May and have planned to spend a week in Rome. I have options of staying near the Vatican, the Colosseum or Palazzo Farnese.

The Farnese is more "central". It is a safe area, as Rome is in general.

quote:

Originally posted by Sharilyn:
Hello! I will be traveling solo to Europe in May and have planned to spend a week in Rome. I have options of staying near the Vatican, the Colosseum or Palazzo Farnese. Am a little nervous as to which I should book. Can someone tell me about the safety of these general areas as well as convenience? Thank you so much for your help - I'm crosseyed from looking at maps, etc.!

Hi, Sharilyn. Glad you found your way here to Slow Travel.

As an alternative to maps, I found the appearance of Rome from Google "Earth" is a pretty awesome sight. I not only used it to chose my apartment in Rome, but Florence too. On the other hand, you can put those Rome areas you have questions about into the find button located near the top of the page. Otherwise, have fun planning out your trip. Cindy

Hi Sharilyn,
I, too, am a solo traveler, female. I rent an apartment near the Colosseo, in Monti. Just about as safe as one can be in Rome. After a week, the locals treat you like you belong there.

I like Monti a lot since it is filled with locals. Close enough to the centro storico with the electric busses. I did a trip report; it is on the "to be published list," so you may not get a chance to read it before you go. You can check out my site for a shortened version of my report but the site is mostly about my pictures.

You can read answers to many questions about being a solo traveler in Rome by doing a "find" on 'solo travel rome' (no apostrophes necessary).

If you can't find the information you seek, just email!

DMae

Another vote for the Palazzo Farnese area. You will be steps from Campo dei Fiori and its wonderful markets, as well as two excellent bakeries. You can walk to everywhere you'd want to go in less than 20 minutes, although Piazza Navona is only five minutes away and the Pantheon maybe 10.

Another vote for Piazza Farnese/Campo de Fiori. (They are adjacent to each other - so, really close.) Great, lively, young area.

You will find all of these areas to be fairly safe. People are out at all hours. I too vote for the farnese area. Most central to places you will want to see, great resturants, and transportation. The Vatican is still easy to get to, the colosseum within walking distance. For convenience- Farnese!

Count me in as another fan of the Piazza Farnese area.

So much so, that I would opt for this neighborhood over our previous favorite, the Pantheon/Piazza Navona area. (Which are still quite close.)

I like staying near the Colosseum. The Piazza around the coloseum is a center for both metro and bus transportation. In March 2006 I stayed in a nice neighborhood in back of the Colosseum in an area called Celimontana in an apartment.
http://www.romeholidays.net/eng/celioeng.htm
I felt safe at night walking to the metro or to restaurants. this neighborhood had all kinds of restaurants, grocery stores, a post office, coffee shops and bakeries. it was convenient for walking to view the ancient sites like the Forum and the palatine and it was close to old Christian churches with wonderful mosiacs and ruins in the baseemnt like San Clemente and the Bacilica of sna Paulo and Giovanni.