Homestyle cooking and accommodation in Florence

susan2208

New member
hello, I will be travelling to Florence from the end of August to end of Sept 2012 (1 month). I am planning on studying and ideally would love to stay in a house/B&B where the Signora of the house (landlady) cooks the daily meals. This way I can learn Italian and enjoy some home-cooked Tuscan meals. Any suggestions please? Or a good B&B? In town is preferred? Thanks Susan
 
Dear Susan,

I was thinking about your request wondering which could be the best solution for your needs.
I’d suggest you to have look at this web site: Merrygoround. They are an agency that can help you to find the prefect accommodation for you for renting a place for a whole month, which would be better than heading to a vacation rental that generally only rents for a few days to a week.
I sincerely advice against staying in a B&B in the center of Florence because of its high prices.

I was also wondering if you already know the course you will attend, because in that case you could also ask the school directly if they could provide some recommendations.

Don’t hesitate to ask any other questions!
 
want a boarding house, not really a B&B

Ciao Susan,

What you're describing is what is usually available as "home stay" with families for foreign university students studying in Florence (I did it myself and loved it!) but it was arranged through the program I studied with. These were families that had contacted the programs themselves and then selected by the program as being fit for the students and was part of the experience of studying abroad. Many programs also have students staying together in apartments, it depends on the programs.

Outside of the program, I think what you have to look for are the "boardhouses" or "affittacamere" in Italian. The city tourism office has a list of these "non professional room rental B&Bs" but the reality is that many of the ones of this list ARE run as small B&Bs and won't offer the type of stay you're looking for. But you can look through the list and look for the ones with just 1-3 rooms and get in touch with them. You have time to look for and see if you can find something that matches what you're looking for before deciding to rent a small flat or apartment for yourself. Keep in mind that the ones that will be the most appropriate will not be in the center of town but on the outskirts - use a map service such as Google maps to map the addresses. If their in the area outside the main "ring" road that circles Florence, they'll more likely offer the type of place and experience you are looking for.

For now I recommend you look through that long list and narrow it down, and if you already have a program you'll be studying at, contact them as well as Sara suggested. Good luck with the search!!
 
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