Great apartment - an ideal place to stay in Florence. It's a very short walk from Santa Crose and all Florence has to offer, but just far enough away that you can escape the somewhat maddening crowds for a break. Either to sit in the courtyard at the table shown in the pics and enjoy a glass of wine, or come back during the day for lunch and siesta, which is what we did as we visited at the height of summer. Mornings are cool, so it's worth getting up early to explore and avoid the queues and crowds - then venture out again late afternoon.

There is a good supermarket close by and there are plenty of local shops, so again you can avoid the tourist areas. The flat is also close to bus stops, so you don't need taxi's to get to the station. We also used the bus (C route) to get to Parco Piscina Le Pavoniere, a great outdoor pool.

The apartment is well equipped and the table in the kitchen opens out, so that you can seat 4 around it. There is also a washing machine - which was very handy.

The bedrooms both have air con - which works really well and is very quiet - so we slept really well.

Susanna met us on arrival and was really helpful and friendly. She provided a contact number in case of problems during her stay and provided advice on places to shop & eat. I only wish we had stayed longer to eat at the all the places suggested - in particular the advice on ice-cream shops is spot on. I think I ate the best ice-cream in the world.

Do book your Uffizi tickets well in advance - I left it to the week before travelling and couldn't book on line.

We also booked a hire car for the day and I would really recommend doing this. The surrounding countryside is stunning. We drove down the Chianti way (State route 222), stopping for lunch in Castellina and on to Montalcino for ice-cream. Castellina is lovely and well worth a visit. Montalcino is stunning - it's like being at the top of the world.

Last, but by no means least, my son left his mobile phone at the flat and Susanna has been fantastically helpful and shipped it back to us. What a star host. Thank you :)