Print

Rome

Coloseum Cheap airfare to Rome: www.kayak.com, www.skyscanner.net, Olympic Airways, Aegean Airlines and Alitalia. Best price was Aegean, but once you have added the baggage costs, Olympic had the best offer. Olympic has shown great improvement in service as well, so it is worth it!

Rooms at reasonable cost: www.Venere.com

Moving around in Rome: Get ready for a lot of walking and get equipped with a sensitive GPS or a good map and guide book. If you are staying for 3 days a good option is the Roma Pass (25 euro). It covers free entry to the first 2 museums, discount at the rest and 3 days free public transport in  Rome. Calculating Colosseum (11 euro) and the Borghese Gallery (8,50 - 9,50 euro) it is well worth it and as a bonus you do not have to queue. Please note the need to book in advance  for Borghese at +390-632-810.

Another option for  transport is a BTI card for 3 days (11 euro) and CIS for 7 days (16 euro). The cost of a single ticket for metro and buses is 1 euro and it is valid for 75  minutes. For the metro the ticket is only valid in one direction. Please remember that your ticket must be validated at the machines on the buses. From the airport to Rome take  the "treno ordinario" FR1 (8 euro  as from 1.4.2010) and avoid the pitfalls that reach up to twice cost!

In Rome there are plenty of cafe/bars. Italians prefer a quick coffee  and a croissant (1.5 - 2.5 euro) for breakfast in the morning. You can also find healthy sandwiches (tramezzini/panini), desserts and even pizza at these cafes. Eating your meal/having your coffee standing (at the bar)  is cheaper than if you sit at a table. Another cheap and delicious eating option is to grab a slice of pizza from one a of little restaurants with ready made pizzas where you pay by the gram e.g.Pizzeria Florida (less than 5 euro per person... depending on how hungry you are!). Many fast food shops have cheap meals for people on the go as as well, where you can even find  souvlaki with pita (kebabs). There are also some self-service shops with ready  home cooked meals (salads, boiled, steamed, baked) away from the hordes of tourists eg Papero Giallo Snc, where you eat well for less than 10 euro per person. These are very popular with the locals.

We recommend  "La Renella" Panificio Arnese Srl which apart from the fantastic steaming freshly baked bread, serves pizzas and desserts. It is crowded but well worth the wait! Remember to take a numbered ticket as you enter.

We tasted the very best and very fresh pastries in Valzani. In conclusion, with a little care one can savour the Italian cuisine in a traditional environment, without spending a fortune for example Trattoria da Lucia (about 25 euro per person and it is best to book a table).

Worth seeing is the Vatican Museum (15 euro). If you want to save yourself hours of queueing (at least 2-3 hours in the queue) make sure you book online (+4 euro), or make sure you go after 14:00. This might however limit the time you can spend in the museum, but if you plan which rooms you want to see in advance, it works well.

Pompeii: Situated 210 km from Rome is  a unique, forgotten by time, ancient city. Although it is tiring, it is an ideal  day trip. We rented a car from Thrifty (station Termini) at 46 euro. Extra costs  for tolls and gasoline came to about 65 euro.