Rome, Italy the sights and sounds

[Table 5]

Not sure if this is the official "Rome" thread, but heading there with the family (kids are 10 and 12) in November. Can anyone recommend general neighborhoods/locations to stay in? Ideally we like to stay in more quiet/local neighborhoods that give some authentic flavour, but that are still walkable to the action (as opposed to in the middle of the action), but I'm to any suggestions.

Specific hotel/airbnbs are of course also appreciated.

[Whynotnow]

We just left the Argentine Style Resident hotel. Great breakfast to start your day. Just loved it, maybe not the exact neighborhood you were looking for but just so walkable to everything and going in the direction of Campo de Fiore great little streets, Jewish ghetto nearby and trastevere an easy walk. Go the other direction and Pantheon and Trevi are there but you are away from that madness, but close enough to it.

Gattabuia and Mercato Hostaria were both good restaurants. Rome is now one of my top 2-3 cities in the world, get lost in the side streets, it’s amazing.

[Fuzz]

We stayed in this area, you can street view to get a feel:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/eQHYPLNJQtuhmhsM6

We did walk a few times, but it was also nice to have a Metro nearby, because you just end up doing so much walking all day. There is so much to see. For us this area was also nice because we came in to that train station.

[Whynotnow]

Not usually highly recommended to stay near Termini so interesting to hear you had a positive experience there.

[Fuzz]

It was 10 years ago, has it gone downhill? Felt clean and safe when we were there. Some nicer hotels a little bit north, I think. But we were travelling a bit more budget.

[Strange Brew]

Rome is an amazing city and probably one of my favorite places I have ever visited. But it keeps getting more and more crowded, makes me wonder what it will be like 20 years from now.

Anyway November should be more reasonable. Make sure you have skip the line tickets and you may even want to consider paying for a private tour guide one day, you will save so much time.

We stated at the W this summer, it was very nice and walkable to everything. But maybe not the best set if there are four of you as you won't have much space. Great rooftop pizza restaurant.

[looooob]

Originally Posted by Table 5

Not sure if this is the official "Rome" thread, but heading there with the family (kids are 10 and 12) in November. Can anyone recommend general neighborhoods/locations to stay in? Ideally we like to stay in more quiet/local neighborhoods that give some authentic flavour, but that are still walkable to the action (as opposed to in the middle of the action), but I'm to any suggestions.

Specific hotel/airbnbs are of course also appreciated.

maybe its cliche at this point but we went with our kids about a decade ago (when they were roughly- a year or two older) than yours are now


we stayed in Trastevere- and found it ticked alot of boxes we had at the time but that sound similar to yours- now parts of Travestere are likely a little 'lively' and busy themselves, but we found it really the right tempo for us and easily (long but easy) walks to the main must visit hotspots


https://whereandwander.com/trastever...d-crowds-rome/

[troutman]

What about the smells?

[Locke]

Originally Posted by troutman

What about the smells?

The feels tho...

[topfiverecords]

Originally Posted by troutman

What about the smells?

There are less American tourists in November.

[opendoor]

Originally Posted by looooob

maybe its cliche at this point but we went with our kids about a decade ago (when they were roughly- a year or two older) than yours are now

we stayed in Trastevere- and found it ticked alot of boxes we had at the time but that sound similar to yours- now parts of Travestere are likely a little 'lively' and busy themselves, but we found it really the right tempo for us and easily (long but easy) walks to the main must visit hotspots

https://whereandwander.com/trastever...d-crowds-rome/

I was going to recommend the same. I haven't been to Rome in about 6-7 years so maybe it's changed since then, but Trastevere was definitely a good mix between being away from the huge crowds but still being lively. And it's quite close to the center of the city so the normal sightseeing stuff is super easy to do from there.

[Winsor_Pilates]

Was 10 years ago but we found hotels in Rome can be really crappy.
We booked one place and left immediately after checking in, just ate the cost and found somewhere else.

If it's a 4* hotel, expect it to feel like a 2*.
A 5* feels like a 3*.

[topfiverecords]

Just went to Rome in February. Most hotels in Rome consider kids over age 3/4 as adults and will charge extra occupancy. Saw many that were adding 100 euros/night per!

A few places were 12 and under though, but some don't even make it clear what the age is so pay attention to that when booking if you're taking your kids with you.

My son was 8 when we went. I just put age 4 in the online booking, the max age you could do for children and expected them to call me on it when paying but they didn't. We worked out it saved $600CAD playing dumb North Americaner but didn't get to pull out the "non parlare italiano signore".

TLDR; don't have kids if you want to travel

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

Was 10 years ago but we found hotels in Rome can be really crappy.
We booked one place and left immediately after checking in, just ate the cost and found somewhere else.

If it's a 4* hotel, expect it to feel like a 2*.
A 5* feels like a 3*.

I'll never forget my first Roman Hotel! I remember it like it was yesterday!

I get into the room which was...well...it was a ####hole.

Cigarette ashes on the pillow...as is normal hotelier standard, okay. Pull back the top sheet aaaand....there is a large bloodstain on the sheet accompanied by a matching knife slash through it and the mattress.

Someone was gruesomely murdered here. Probably in their sleep. Likely recently. Now...theoretically speaking, if whomever was responsible for this event 'got their man' then I should, technically, be safe.

This got me to thinking, I should check the door lock. Nope. That doesnt work.

There were no more rooms and it was late at night, but the concierge did give me a new pillowcase and top-sheet as well as a chair that I could prop up against the door. Nice fella.

Suffice it to say, no sleep was had. That was evening of non-stop Peroni and existential dread.

[Whynotnow]

Originally Posted by Winsor_Pilates

Was 10 years ago but we found hotels in Rome can be really crappy.
We booked one place and left immediately after checking in, just ate the cost and found somewhere else.

If it's a 4* hotel, expect it to feel like a 2*.
A 5* feels like a 3*.

The place we just stayed at was fabulous. I think in the age of internet you can do enough research to avoid the crap for the most part.

Also with 4 people don’t be afraid to use taxis. We never used the bus, often our trips were like 9-12 euros and bus fare would have equaled close to 7. No cramming into buses, worrying about validation, schedules and pickpockets. There’s a lot of walking in Rome and we liked it to jump when we had a longer walk.

Yes the taxi guys could be scammy, we saw it all. One “forgot” to turn in the metre, I caught him a block in on that one. Ones card machine didn’t work. Another took a bad route to add a few euros. Just tell them up front you are paying buy card and then make sure the meter gets turned on. The app called freenow works like uber for taxi, it will just bring one to you.

[Strange Brew]

Uber in Rome is linked to the taxi network. The uber app gets you a taxi and it worked pretty well. Good for getting to the airport or if you are moving hotels or something with bags. IMO for getting around the city, walking is preferable. Traffic is gruesome and after all, it’s better for you. Get ready for 20000 steps a day. Maybe in November you won’t need a shower before dinner though.

[BowRiverBruinsRule]

Originally Posted by Locke

I'll never forget my first Roman Hotel! I remember it like it was yesterday!

I get into the room which was...well...it was a ####hole.

Cigarette ashes on the pillow...as is normal hotelier standard, okay. Pull back the top sheet aaaand....there is a large bloodstain on the sheet accompanied by a matching knife slash through it and the mattress.

Someone was gruesomely murdered here. Probably in their sleep. Likely recently. Now...theoretically speaking, if whomever was responsible for this event 'got their man' then I should, technically, be safe.

This got me to thinking, I should check the door lock. Nope. That doesnt work.

There were no more rooms and it was late at night, but the concierge did give me a new pillowcase and top-sheet as well as a chair that I could prop up against the door. Nice fella.

Suffice it to say, no sleep was had. That was evening of non-stop Peroni and existential dread.

Are you certain this did not happen at the Bus Depot and on a bus. You know flashbacks can sometimes be confusing.

[Wormius]

We found a nice AirBnB near the Spanish Steps. We found the location pretty ideal for walking to most of the tourist sites and everything. Probably not the greatest if you’re looking for good food. It was pretty mediocre tourist trap offerings.

[Inferno]

How ironic this comes up when I'm considering a trip to Italy sometime next year.

I was going to do Rome-Naples-Sicily but now I'm wondering if I should do Athens-Rome-Naples since it's only like an 90 minute flight.

[Whynotnow]

Originally Posted by Strange Brew

Uber in Rome is linked to the taxi network. The uber app gets you a taxi and it worked pretty well. Good for getting to the airport or if you are moving hotels or something with bags. IMO for getting around the city, walking is preferable. Traffic is gruesome and after all, it’s better for you. Get ready for 20000 steps a day. Maybe in November you won’t need a shower before dinner though.

Just left a few days ago and we must have got lucky as we never once got caught in traffic with the taxi. Still walked a lot but just didn’t waste the steps on long traverses to get somewhere. Just don’t regret the handful of taxis we used.