Where to stay in Milan?

If Rome is representing the "old" Italy, Milan is representing the "new" Italy as being the most modern and important business, finance and fashion city in the country. In Milan, you will not only find magnificant historic structures like the The Duomo di Milan or classical art masterpieces like Leonardo Da Vinci's Last Supper, you will also find the modern Italy with its shopping, fashion, colorful nightlife, football and opera.

At first sight you may think that Milan is a souless city catering to business and finance while having some historic sightseeing in the city center. Although the city center is very well maintained, you cannot say the same for the suburbs. And unlike many historic cities in Europe and Italy, you will not have a historic art piece at every corner.

The most famous building in Milan is The Duomo di Milano Cathedral in Duamo Square. Construction of this building has started in 1386 and today it is not only a must see in Milan, climbing one of the towers and watching Milan view is also a must do in Milan. Other places of interest in Milan would be Saint Mary of the Graces, The Certosa di Garegnano, San Satiro's false apse and Sant'Antonio Abate.

We will cut short into where to stay in Milan question. And instead of suggesting some Milan hotels, we will briefly introduce the Milan districts popular for accomodation.

The historic center of Milan is known as Zona 1 di Milano (Zone 1). This is one of the 9 districts in Milan and geographic center of the city. If you are planning to stay in Milan and looking for a Milan hotel, you should first look at places like Brera, Centro storico, Conca del Naviglio, Guastalla, Porta Sempione and Porta Tenaglia in Zone 1.

Milan is divided into 9 administrative zones and Zone 1 is the geographical and historic center of Milan.
The Duomo Square is in the center of Zone 1.

Duomo and Milan City Center (Milan Centro Storico)

Zona 1 di Milano is the geographical as well as historic center of the city and is the best place to stay in Milan. And in the center of this zone, there is Duomo Square (Piazza del Duomo) and Duomo di Milano Cathedral. One of the oldest surviving shopping centers in the world, historic Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II and Palazzo Reale are also here. To the east of the square you will find colorful Corso Vittorio Emanuele and its shops and to the north you will find infamous La Scala Opera House. Shopping addicts and art lovers would love to head to south of the square where they can find Brera full of art galleries and Via Montenapoleone full of branded shopping opportunities.

If you can find a hotel here within your budget, Zone 1 is the best place to stay in Milan. For hotels and details like room rates here, you can check Milan city center hotels and hotels near Duomo di Milano pages.

Where to stay in Rome?

Rome, the capital and the largest city of Italy, is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Europe offering fantastic Italian food, 2,800 years old history, great art collection and a very good modern tourist necessities such as a colorful night life, shopping and entertainment.

The answer to the question-title where to stay in Rome is quite straightforward. In Rome, you should stay in the historic city center or centro storico. Although there are several different centers of Roman Empire, Ressienance and 19th century, Rome’s historic center is not a very large area. The historic center, the area with almost all the tourist attractions, only covers 4% of modern city of Rome.

But again although it is not a very large area, it is a very very large open air museum and you will need to spend at least 2 days and better 3 days to enjoy a bit of every major delights the city offers. Staying in the center will save you time you would spend to reach there from outside and note that the traffic in Rome is not very good.

Rome is divided into administrative districts known as Rioni of Rome. Rione I (District 1) is Monti, part of Roman Empire time historic center of Rome. In this post, we will look at the answer to where to stay in Rome questions from the perspective of Rioni’s.

Source : Wikitravel

Rome Modern Center

Rome’s night life and shopping experienced in centered in modern center. Rome’s most famous and expensive street Via Venetto (official name is via Vittorio Veneto ) is here as well as the current official residence of the President of the Italian Republic, historic Quirinal Palace is here. If you go to Rome this area is probably where you will stay.

Modern center is the area to the east of Termini station. Castro Pretorio district next to Termini  offers many smaller hotels. Via Cavour and via Nazionale host the larger hotels full of group travelers. And for those with deep pockets, Via Venetto offers some of the most expensive hotels in Rome.

Trevi Fountain in Rome

Old Rome

The most attractive part of Rome is the old Rome, the center of Rome in the Italian Renaissance era. Beautiful squares (piazze) and more beautiful streets and back alleys are full of pretty cafes, restaurants and lots of historic structures. Old Rome is the area around piazza Navona, Campo de’ Fiori, the Pantheon and the Ghetto.

For more information about Old Rome hotels you can check Piazza Navona hotels, Campo de’Fiori hotels, hotels around the Pantheon and hotels in the Ghetto.

Fountain of Neptune at the centre of piazza Navona

Colosseo

When the city in question is Rome, there is older center than the old center : Colosseo. This is the center of Rome in the antiquity during mighty Roman Empire.  Coloseeum, Roman Forum, Capitoline museums as well as the Imperial Fora, the Markets of Trajan, the Capitoline hill and lots of museums.

Here there are some nice hotels. Hotel Forum with 300++ EUR per night is the super expensive option with a fantastic roof garden restaurant with super view.  On the other hand of price spectrum Nicolas Inn (85 EUR) offers large bathrooms and a very nice dinner other than a comfortable stay.

Vatikan City

Independent city state Vatikan and the Roman areas around it like Borgo, Prati and Monte Mario probably house more historic artifacts than any place on the planet. Vatikan is a must see of course but if you are not high in Catholic spiritual ranking you will not stay in Vatikan. Still, there are many hotels to stay near Vatikan in Italian soil. For hotels near Vatikan you can refer here.

Vatikan City

Trastevere

On the opposite shores of Tiber River w.r.t Old Rome and south of Vatikan lies Trastevere, a center for Rome night life. Trastevere is full of pubs, night clubs and restaurants and houses the most of expat population living in Rome. For hotels here refer to Trastevere hotels.

Where to stay in Venice?

Venice is one of the most beautiful and magical cities in the world. It almost looks like how it was 600 years ago and even the wear and tear of the centuries is quite visible, Venice is still very romantic and charming world heritage.

Venice is famous with its 170 canals separating and 400 bridges connecting its islands as well as the gondolas, traditional, flat-bottomed Venetian rowing boats, well suited to the conditions of the Venetian lagoon. Other than these a rich history and culture with hundreds of Renaissance Era buildings and museums wait for you here. This city was one of the most important trade post in Europe in the Middle Ages and in its heydays 300,000 people lived here. Today only 70,000 people call Venice home but in high tourist season there are much more tourists in the city (Venice sees 100,000 tourists in a day).

If you want to know where to stay in Venice, the easy answer is this : On one of the main sestieris (islands) of Venice Cannaregio, Castello, Dorsoduro, San Polo, Santa Croce or San Marco. Here is where you will find almost all of the tourist attractions. But each of these sestieris are quite different worlds.

Before introducing each sestieri, we should give you a very important advise: Where ever you stay, the last part of your trip to your Venice hotel will be from a quay to the hotel on foot. Venice is the only city in Europe which is completely closed to motorised vehicles and there is no land taxi here. While selecting a hotel, you always try to understand what kind of road this will be and how long it will take.

Venice map by Sestieri (Source : Venetian Dictionary)

Cannaregio

Cannaregio is one of Venice’s most authentic and beautiful areas. Venice’s Jewish Getto (one of the oldest in Europe), Santa Lucia Train Station and most of the actual venetians live here. There are some nice buildings here to visit like magnificent Ca d’Oro Palace and Church of Santa Maria dei Miracoli (one of the best products of Venice Renaissance architecture) and Church of Madonna dell’Orto (housing some paintings and grave of famous painter Tintoretto).

If you would like to stay away from overcrowded and noisy tourist attractions in a calmer neighbourhood or taste real Venice life, Cannaregio is the place to stay in Venice. Besides, hotels in Cannaregio are relatively cheaper in Venice standards. And if you would like to easily access Burano and Murano, the ferries are leaving Venice from here (exspress ferry, #12 stops at Cannaregio’s the Fondamente Nuova).

For hotels in Cannaregio, their detailed room prices, customer reviews and discounts you can check Venice Cannaregio hotels page.

If your Venice holiday dream is to wake up tp the view of Venice trademarks like Rialto Bridge or St. Mark’s Basilica and you would like to stay in a walking distance to almost all major Venice attractions, then Cannaregio is not for you.

San Marco

All souls visiting Venice will sooner or later visit San Marco. This small sestiere houses most of the major tourist attractions in Venice. Here, you will find St. Mark’s Square, Basilica, the Doge’s Palace and Rialto Bridge. San Marco is the most beautiful but most crowded place in Venice. And of course it is also the most expensive place to stay in Venice.

If you would like to stay near major tourist attractions in Venice San Marco is the place. Here you can also find lots of luxury shopping opportunities. But as we have said before, between March and October, this area is very crowded and expensive to stay, to eat and to drink.

For details of hotels in San Marco, their room rates, customer reviews and special deals, check Venice San Marco hotels page.

Venice is known to have the most expensive and average Italian food (they say the pizza you will eat in Venice will be the worst pizza you can find in Italy). San Marco is worse than the other areas in Venice. If you want cheaper and better eating, cheaper hotels and stay away from crowds, then San Marco is not the place to stay in Venice.

Rialto bridge in Venice, Italy

San Polo

San Polo is the oldest settlement in Venice and it proximity to San Marco makes it a popular place to stay in Venice. The oldest church of Venice, San Giacomo di Rialto, Rialto Bridge, Titian’s resting place Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari (you can also see his work here) and the largest square in Venice after Piazza San Marco, Campo San Polo is here. If you are looking for Venice night life and some of Venice’s best restaurants, you can find a fine selection here.

For a detailed list of hotels here, with prices, special offers and discounts, visit Venice San Polo hotels page.

Castello

Castello is the largest sestieri in Venice. With its history dating back to 13th century, Castello is a very local and authentic place where you can see young kids playing football in its streets and old ladies sharing gossip from window to windows. One of the most important attractions of Castello is Arsenale, where Venice Bianel takes place. the Basilica of Santi Giovanni e Paolo (one of Venice’s largest and most important churches), the Church of San Zaccaria (home to some of master works of Giovanni Bellini), Scuola Grande di San Marco and Santa Maria Formosa are also here.

Castello is like Cannaregio in a sense. Far from crowds and quite local except its western area which is near San Marco (and as expensive and tourist oriented). If you are in Venice for Bianel, then Castello is your place. Castello is also cheaper than San Marco.

For hotels in Castello, check Venice Castello hotels page.

Dorsoduro

Dorsoduro is quite calm in the morning and very happening in the night. Some of the most colorful Venice night life spots are here. In Dorsoduro, the best place to stay is the area to the south of Campo Santa Margherita. The most important attraction here is Accademia, the most famous art gallery in Venice. Other than Accedemia Peggy Guggenheim Collection (with art pieces from modern artists like Dali, Duchamp, Picasso, Mondrian and Kandinsky) and Church of San Sebastiano with its  Paolo Veronese, Tintoretto and Titian collection is here. Campo Margherita is full of bars popular among students and youth. Giudecca Island to the south of Venice is also under Dorsoduro administration.

For hotels in this sestieri, check Venice Dorsoduro hotels page.

Santa Croce

Santa Croce is a main transportation hub of Venice with Piazzale Roma and main port. Santa Croce is also the least tourist oriented area in Venice. There is almost nothing to see here but you can find some of the cheapert hotels in Venice in Santa Croce. But be careful because the money you saved from hotel stay may be spent for canal taxi and public transportation.

For hotels here, visit Venice Santa Croce hotels.