Camping Italy and general Rome questions

Old Sep 14th, 2015, 04:52 PM
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Camping Italy and general Rome questions

For my first trip to Italy I am thinking of using a mix of hostels/apartment rentals and campgrounds. Are campgrounds easier to find space in now that it's not super summer or is it harder since I'm reading that this time of year gets to be high season? Or does high season generally apply to lodgings in the cities?

I'm starting off in Rome for about 7 days and making my way north on the train but I basically have 3 weeks in total to spend in Europe and I really want to get a good feel for Italy this time especially Rome. Rooms in the city right now look like they're kind of over my budget. Any good campground recommendations?

I'm also seeing that there's not 24 hour train and bus service anywhere so if I stayed outside the city and wanted to come in and just party on certain nights and go back where I'm staying, what's the best place to leave my bag so I don't carry it around all night? I see the train station has a bag drop but are there showers at the station? Are there pay showers around? Are most toilets pay toilets? Sorry for all the questions but I have no clue what to expect. Any help is appreciated, thanks guys!
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Old Sep 14th, 2015, 07:43 PM
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Lonely Planet might be a good forum for you to check out. Sounds like you will be traveling a bit different than most on this forum: showering at the train station and campgrounds. We can help with what to do in the cities, so between both forums you should be able to get a bit of info.
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Old Sep 15th, 2015, 09:43 AM
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In Rome there's lots of cheap lodging near Termini station, both hostels and cheap hotels. I doubt if you'd save much money by staying in the periphery of the city, and you'd waste a lot of time commuting. You can use www.booking.com to look for cheap lodging. Use "Rome center city" as your destination. You can then sort the list by price. Pay attention to the guest rating, and read the reviews, keeping in mind that some people expect too much when they're paying very little.
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Old Sep 15th, 2015, 10:24 AM
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There are no showers at the Termini station, by the way.

Also, booking.com offers hotels, hostels and some apartments. I just checked and see that there are multiple offers under €20 a night, for beds in hostel or hostel-type lodgings near Termini station.
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Old Sep 15th, 2015, 12:19 PM
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For lots about what to expect on trains and in stations here are some sweet sites: www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.

Realtively few stations have showers - some huge ones do but you can never count on it so do your research and yes stations inevitably have pay toilets staffed by a toilet lady (usually IME a plump middle-aged women in a cleaner's dress) and can cost up to a euro but are thus guaranteeably clean - men's WCs may be free for urinals.

I have camped all over Europe by train and usually left my heavy bags in a train station locker or left-luggage - nearly every station of size will have one but in Italy and France and the UK only the busiest largest stations will have them. Most countries every sizeable station will surely have them.

Outside of July and August camps in places like Rome or Paris or London will usually have ample room and even rent out cabins at times - camps are not as cheap as they were - in London I was shocked recently to see $45 a night to pitch a tent!

Carrying around camping gear is bulky - consider Europe's zillions of youth hostels and youth hotels - figuring in the cost of getting out to and in from camps and time the savings will be minimal and hostels are much better to meet folk yur age - camps are mainly full of families and bus tours like Contiki which have their own section of the camp.
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Old Sep 15th, 2015, 12:59 PM
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Get a copy of Let's Go Europe - invaluable coverage of cheap places to stay and also campsites - worth its weight in gold just for the accommodations critiques - amazon.com and the few remaining large bookstores.
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Old Sep 17th, 2015, 06:14 AM
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There are lots of campgrounds, but I'm not sure they would be any cheaper than hostels (if cheap is your goal) unless you are carrying a tent around. Many have little bungalows you can rent. This one in Florence seems to be pretty popular with the younger set and is on a bus route.

http://www.ecvacanze.it/it/camping/c...g-michelangelo

This one is just outside of the Pompeii entrance, but there are several more in the Sorrento area.

http://www.campingspartacus.it/en/

Without an itinerary, there isn't much point of listing places. These might give you an idea of prices.

Don't rule out convents/monasteries as some don't have curfews.
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Old Sep 17th, 2015, 08:54 AM
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This one in Florence seems to be pretty popular with the younger set and is on a bus route.>

there are two camps right in Florence last I knew - the one talked about above - next to the youth hostel - and one right on the Piazza Michelangelo - superb view of Florence and more an older crowd.
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Old Sep 23rd, 2015, 02:59 AM
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The campground kybourbon mentioned is part of a chain and I stayed at one of their Rome locations. I'm not sure when you go, but at this time of year you should be able to find lodging and probably for less than in August. Here's the Rome one I've stayed at a couple times but they have others:
http://www.ecvacanze.it/it/camping/c...amping-village
Traffic can be evil during rush hour getting to the subway from here but with no traffic it's a 15 minute bus ride and the bus is just across the street so getting into the city is really easy and cheap. No night bus though. There are some night buses in the city and along the A line train. A hostel still might be more convenient but in the city its high season until November. There's a slightly more convenient location that has more of a feel of being connected to the city managed by what I think is the same group: http://www.camping.it/english/lazio/romacamping/

I don't think the station has a shower either but it has a pay-toilet and a bag drop and if you're always coming and going via the station and need to do bag stuff this is probably the best thing to do. If you get a hostel bed you'll probably have a locker there and at that campground you can rent small cabins and things if you're not carryng a tent and then can just leave your stuff there like you would at any hotel. Are you trying to carry a tent? They rent tent space with separate bathrooms too at the campgrounds.

My last trip to Rome I used a bag drop outside the station that was right in the center near Piazza Navona and walking distance from the subway at the spanish steps and they were probably the safest place I've ever left a bag with insurance and all. They also happened to have a clean free toilet and changing room but no shower that I noticed or looked for. This is their site and I plan to use them again: http://www.stowyourbags.com/
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Old Sep 26th, 2015, 02:21 AM
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Wow this is really great detailed stuff and thanks so much! It makes me glad i asked the internet.

I'm not carrying a tent I just thought maybe camping outside summer season might be a cheaper option and it seems like a cool way to experience cities but still be with nature and quiet at night if there were places to rent for that.

I guess in the end it would probably be better to book a hostel or something and even now booking.com is such a resource. I've found a lot of options there! its pretty encouraging to see real people backing it up on real forums. I should totally get a lonely planet account and some guidebooks too. I Really like the way these ecvacanze rentals look. they might be exactly what i was hoping for so I'll be looking into them and the options on booking.com too because I really like that site. As awesome as being near nature may be some nights being near stuff on foot or by a quick bus or train might win.

Cool to know about the shower situation at train stations (here we have pay showers at a lot of truck stops) and that place for bags looks good if I end up needing something like that.

Thanks again guys. I'll check out Lonely Planet and see if my timeline comes together a bit.
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Old Oct 2nd, 2015, 03:40 PM
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Just an update to let everyone know Lonely Planet was helpful too and advised me that hostels are probably the best options if I'm also thinking about travel costs or Im not taking a car, and I'm not renting a car, just traveling by train or bus. Some options on booking.com look really attractive and the same price as camping pretty much its just my heart is torn now since the campgrounds just look so much like what I enjoy. Once I've made an actual decision I'll share it.
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Old Dec 7th, 2015, 01:24 AM
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i just found this signing back into my account for the first time since being back and the trip was just everything I possibly dreamed of and more. I did end up trying out a camping village and a hostel too and both had their pros and cons so I should update this with my trip info sometime. I also traveled by train and found it not so bad even though I would've liked to drive between cities. All I can say after seeing Rome is I'm happy i didn't decide to try parking there. booking.com and hostelworld were both good and I used the bag storage place towards the end of my trip with great results. I wish I would've used them at the beginning since the staff were some of the most helpful and informative people I met. I will update this with links to where I stayed and where exactly I went besides Rome. Thanks again everyone!
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