I’ve just returned from a six-week trip to Italy, during which time I based myself in a small apartment in Milan. It wasn’t right in the center of the city, it didn’t have all the amenities I’m used to at home, and I never could figure out how to make the dishwasher work properly without leaking. But it was so much more fun to have an apartment in Milan than to spend those six weeks living out of a suitcase in a hotel.
Why am I bringing this up? Well, because I think too often the words “vacation rental” conjure up one kind of image – a spacious or luxurious villa in the countryside, or a beachfront estate, or something along those lines – when in reality a vacation rental can just as easily be a tiny apartment on the outskirts of a big and bustling European city.
Two of the things I particularly loved about having an apartment to call “home” rather than a hotel room were the corner bar and the weekly street market. The corner bar in Italy is where you go to get your morning coffee and pastry, and I was lucky enough to end up down the street from one where the owners were friendly and where I could (by the end of my stay) actually just walk in and order “the usual.” That’s a great feeling. If I’d been staying in a hotel room, I’d have likely eaten the hotel breakfast every morning and not had the corner bar experience that is really so vital to getting to know Italy.
The apartment I was in happened to be on the street which is the scene for the local Friday market, which is a pain if you’re just trying to get through the crowds to your front door, but is fantastic if you’re doing the shopping. Within a few feet of the apartment building’s front door, I could buy everything from fresh fruit and fish to household cleaning supplies to used CDs to underwear. And even if I didn’t buy anything, it was always a treat to walk through the market and see what was on offer. If I’d been in a hotel, it’s unlikely I would have been in a residential neighborhood that had a street market, and I’d have missed out on that, too.
So, the bottom line here is that when you’re thinking about an extended visit to one city – anything that’s at least a week or more, I’d say – don’t limit your thinking about “vacation rentals” to oversized estates with more bedrooms than you need. Apartments in the city are great vacation rentals, and can really help you get to know a city on a different level than that of the average tourist.
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