Stazione Termini is the worst place in Rome. If you want a day trip I suggest a train from some other station or some other means of transportation.
Florence is too far for. a day trip. Ostia Antica, Frascati, Tivoli, and Orvieto are good. Eating outside at one of the cantine in Frascati with a view of Rome is worth the schlep.
For a short (less than a week) trip to Rome I would absolutely stay in the Centro Storico.
Other than right next to the spanish steps, Vatican, Trevi, Navonna, or the Colosseum you will not be mobbed by tourists in Rome. There are hundreds of small streets and passages that you can hide in from the crowds.
We go often, and stay in the historic center, and walk everywhere. You can take ride to the market once or twice, but the rest of the time spend walking around the historic central Rome. Otherwise, you will be spending too much time commuting.
Day trip to Florence is possible by train ~ 1.5 hours ride, it will give you a glimpse of the magnificence that Florence is. Orvieto is a nice day trip.
If you’re hitting a bunch of famous places in a week or less, you’ll be spending a lot of your time with crowds, so you might want to pick a hotel that’s a bit off the beaten track, e.g. west of the Via del Corso and north of Via delle Coppelle.
excellent suggestion!
on my last 4 out 5 trips to Rome that is exactly where we stayed (in an apartment).
easy walk to almost everywhere.
I’m glad I have a little time (leaving early May). It will be a 12 day trip but I’m calling it 10 because of travel days. The plan is to do only one or two excursions out of Rome - we don’t want to be running here & there, but nor do we want to spend the whole 10 days in Rome. I’m not opposed to spending a night in another city like Florence or Orvieto. We also have a young cousin living in Spain until summer break. A plane ticket to Barcelona is super cheap. But our RT ticket is for Rome so that will be home base. An apartment “west of the Via del Corso and north of Via delle Coppelle” sounds delightful.
I’m curious about that train situation “Stazione Termini is the worst place in Rome.” Can you expand? Does that mean the actual trains or just the station? If we don’t use it how far out of the city do we have to travel get another train?
I appreciate the tips. Keep it coming. Really helpful!
Do you have names of the area or some streets in between these 2 areas? It would help in searching Airbnb.
Edit: checked both areas/streets on Airbnb. They both say near Pantheon, and Corso includes Piazza di Spagna. It will be tricky trying to figure out which is on a preferred little side street or in the middle of the crowd.
i do not know if it is the worst - I went there, got on a train and left. definitely not the place to hang out.
there are too many small streets. unless you are facing some sort of tourist attraction you will be fine. even a block away from super touristy Trevi fountain or spanish steps is fine.
I do not know that I would bother to go to the airport to fly to barcelona and back. I would train to Florence and staying there a few nights or drive to Tuscany or Umbria, stay there 3-4 nights, and explore the villages (Orvieto, Assisi, Montalcino, etc), marvelous food and wine there. Then return to Rome for one night stay in a hotel and fly home.
There’s no particular name for the northwestern part of the Centro Storico. I think there are a lot more hotels than Airbnb places.
Termini and the immediate area are gross, like a Greyhound bus station in a bad neighborhood. Though the high-speed trains use the Tiburtina station.
I would not plan a flight out of Rome on such a short trip. I’ve had too many flights that left or arrived hours late. Maybe buy your cousin a ticket to visit you in Rome.
Yeah, I’m starting to feel that. It’s just this trip started with me saying I want to go to Spain and husband saying what he always does. “You can’t go to blankety blank until you go to Italy.” Then there’s our cousin in Spain. But it’s starting to seem impractical.
That’s a thought.
Great itinerary, BTW. 
Watch out for the pickpockets.
Why do you like it? Would it be appropriate for a family of 5?
Yes. It’s a busy bustling place how Venice of old was where you enjoy big bowls of clam pasta and drink white wine by the liters
Rome: Via Margutta is my favorite street - it’s quiet yet central. There are several hotels ranging in price. The very affordable and lovely Hotel Manfredi is where I spent 12 nights last year. And, it’s walking distance to many wonderful restaurants (as well as walking distance to the sights).
Venice: favorite restaurant is probably Antica Martini, or a’ Becaficco
I love that one too. It is incredible how it can be so close to the Piazza de Spagna and so few tourists ever step there. Don’t know what your budget is but Marguitta 19 is a very cool hotel with suites.
Another cool street to walk or stay in Rome is Via Giulia.
Good call, Via Margutta is weirdly short of tourists even though there are flocks of them in nearby streets.
Off-the-beaten-path restaurant nearby:
Okay, so now that there’s unanimous agreement about Via Margutta (seems great btw) the new question is - nix the apartment idea and stay in a hotel on Via Margutta?
