Which are the best apartment rental sites for an Italian visit?
June 2, 2013 6:48 PM Subscribe
Contemplating an Italian vacation (in the range of two weeks or so) in the next year or two, for a family group of about 5-6 people. Google turns up several websites dedicated to renting apartments/houses, but I'd love to hear some personal recommendations. Is Air BNB the best? Vrbo.com? Perhaps there's no real difference between them.
Besides the recs for rentals, I'd love to hear about best locations. I've been to Italy and seen a lot of the greatest hits, but that was 2001 and I'll be traveling with people who have never visited. The consensus seems to be in favor of a more rustic spot, but seeing Rome is also important. Perhaps a smaller town in Umbria or Tuscany, with decent train access to Rome? I stayed in Perugia and the train connections were decent but Todi was a much different story. I'm not sure what towns to focus on. Also, I've never driven in Italy and am not sure I want to start now! I would be open to trying, I guess!
Besides the recs for rentals, I'd love to hear about best locations. I've been to Italy and seen a lot of the greatest hits, but that was 2001 and I'll be traveling with people who have never visited. The consensus seems to be in favor of a more rustic spot, but seeing Rome is also important. Perhaps a smaller town in Umbria or Tuscany, with decent train access to Rome? I stayed in Perugia and the train connections were decent but Todi was a much different story. I'm not sure what towns to focus on. Also, I've never driven in Italy and am not sure I want to start now! I would be open to trying, I guess!
According to this tripadvisor thread, airbnb's reviewing system is a bit better.
posted by sebastienbailard at 11:16 PM on June 2, 2013
posted by sebastienbailard at 11:16 PM on June 2, 2013
I've had good luck with using owners direct. It is like AirBNB, but I heard of it before and is more for full apartments/VIllas than rooms in someones house.
posted by koolkat at 2:00 AM on June 3, 2013
posted by koolkat at 2:00 AM on June 3, 2013
Best answer: Throwing another option into the mix, we rented with Venere in Venice, Rome and Berlin (apartment, house and apartment, respectively) and had a great experience each time.
We'd traveled to Italy several times before doing a trip with family who had never been, and they really were interested in the "greatest hits" trip - "we can't come all this way and NOT see Venice", that type of thing, so we mapped out two nights in Venice, the balance in Rome with day trips from Rome.
posted by ersatzkat at 4:29 AM on June 3, 2013
We'd traveled to Italy several times before doing a trip with family who had never been, and they really were interested in the "greatest hits" trip - "we can't come all this way and NOT see Venice", that type of thing, so we mapped out two nights in Venice, the balance in Rome with day trips from Rome.
posted by ersatzkat at 4:29 AM on June 3, 2013
Best answer: If you stay in Rome, crosspollinate.com has some good options. I found a great (cheap) apartment with them. Orvieto is a great town not too far from Rome, though being on top of a cliff getting other places will take a bit longer each way, as you have to go down the funicular to get to the train station. Funiculars are cool though.
posted by kjs4 at 6:11 AM on June 3, 2013
posted by kjs4 at 6:11 AM on June 3, 2013
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That's my current uninformed impression. There are a couple others with slight nuances. I think, for country x, it's good to check a recent guidebook to see if much of country x uses a particular website.
I would spend one week in the Roman neighborhood of Trastevere, and then another week in a smaller city or a rented country house like an agriturismo.
posted by sebastienbailard at 11:05 PM on June 2, 2013 [1 favorite]