Budget trip

Old Nov 12th, 2017, 07:35 AM
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Budget trip

We just got back from two weeks in Italy (husband's dream trip). We are a husband-wife team, independent travelers, budget travelers almost to a fault, but as husband gets older adjusting to some health restrictions with amount of walking, climbing, etc. We worked around those and had a fantastic time anyhow!

Overview:
Off-season trip to Rome, Naples and Florence, flying TAP (Lisbon layover), relying on public transit, renting an apartment in Rome and wrapping up with a few days in a budget hotel in Florence

Prep work:
We traveled carryon-only, which is a challenge with TAP - but as we learned, it is still doable. The base rate for our round-trip airfare was $489 each and we booked those tickets in mid-April for our late October/early November trip. Once the tickets were bought we found a great Testaccio apartment in Rome and a nice budget hotel near Florence's main train station. Our Naples hotel was also fantastic - right by the train station and one of the nicest hotels we've ever stayed in.

Successes:
We averaged 10 Euros per day, per person, for food - that includes restaurant eating and groceries. Many days were 5 Euros or less. If I'd gone without gelato, it would have been even less. ;-)

Less-than-Successes:
Booking the apartment locked us into being there on certain dates. I got great counsel on side trips, but that came within a few days of our departure so it was hard to rearrange much. We ended up doing an overnight in Naples - could have made that two or three days and based in Sorrento instead - but it came during our Rome apartment stay, so we were paying double on those days.

If we could do it over:
I'd spend more time in Florence so we could use that as a base for more side trips.
I'd have spent our arrival night by the airport, then left the next morning for Sorrento and used that as a base for at least two or three full days before continuing to Rome.
I would have cut Rome to 4 days (we were there 6 days).
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Old Nov 12th, 2017, 07:55 AM
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hi Kandace, on for the ride.
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Old Nov 12th, 2017, 12:53 PM
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I'm looking forward to hearing how you managed to feed yourselves for €10 a day, per person.

You really wouldn't have saved any time by staying at the airport before departing for Sorrento (unless you had rented a car). All the trains and buses to Sorrento leave from central Rome, so you saved time by staying in central Rome.
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Old Nov 12th, 2017, 06:47 PM
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Summary of photos at my Instagram page, if anyone's interested - https://www.instagram.com/kandaceyork/

Eating on 10 Euros a day - nothing glamorous. Breakfast was in our apartment and usually toast or crackers with cappuccino. By mid-day husband needed to rest up, so we usually had a "snacky meal" in the apartment, too. Supper was usually street food. I'm a near-vegetarian so that usually meant a margherita pizza that husband and I would split. We don't drink wine and we don't like expensive gourmet meals -- we like street food, and finding affordable meals was pretty easy.

Days 0-1
We arrived ~9pm and connected with our driver to go straight to our apartment. Ordinarily I'd take the train, but I wasn't sure about negotiating transfers and then finding our apartment on foot at night. The driver made everything much easier, and our apartment manager was waiting for us. Perfect! Apartment: https://www.booking.com/hotel/it/app...marmorata.html

We spent the next day just exploring our Testaccio neighborhood on foot. We visited the Protestant Cemetery, the pyramid, a *huge* market across the Tiber in Portuense.

Days 2-3
These days were earmarked for the Colosseum, Roman Forum/Palatine Hill and Capitoline Hill. We took the Metro (just two stops from our apartment) but we also walked A LOT! Visited a small grocery around the corner to get cooking essentials, and husband checked out Volpetti, a well known butcher store right by the apartment.

We also visited the Spanish Steps, which was insanely busy, and we walked the side streets and general area. I had vowed to try a new flavor of gelato every day - I fell a bit short of that goal, but one of my favorites was Fatamorgana Gelato near the Spanish Steps. Sooo good!

Days 4-5
We took the high-speed train to Naples so we could check out the archaeology museum before visiting Pompeii. We loved our hotel, Starhotel Terminus, and getting to the museum was easy on Naples' Metro.

The next morning we traveled to Pompeii, which was everything we'd expected and more. I wish all kids could learn history by visiting places like this, rather than just reading about it.

We had a bit of time after Pompeii, so we took the train a few stops south to Sorrento. I would have liked to explore the town more but husband was tired, worried about missing our connection back to Naples/Rome, so we looked around just a little and then took the train back early. We were back in our Rome apartment by 9 p.m. -- a full "overnight day trip" but very doable.



More to come...
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Old Nov 12th, 2017, 09:25 PM
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Just pointing out late October or even the first week of November isn't really offseason. With the Nov 1st holiday this week being mid week this year anybody who could took a long weekend one side or the other.
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Old Nov 13th, 2017, 01:13 AM
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Yes, low season usually begins the Monday after All Saints.
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Old Nov 13th, 2017, 04:15 AM
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Eating grass in the parks and leaves from the trees and drinking water from the fountain might achieve zero euro a day for food.
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Old Nov 13th, 2017, 04:20 AM
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I always eat so well but so cheaply in Rome. Breakfast is as much food as I can manage and then a bit more from the hotel buffet (just to give me a good start to the day!) lunch is a Panini or pizza Bianca, then seek out the best aperitivo spread, so if you get lucky you can have a little plate of pasta, some olives and breadsticks etc for the price of a wine or beer, and then by dinner you are not starving and can get away with ordering less. When we holidays in Cilento recently, I really noticed how much more we spent on food without having lots of aperitivo bas to pick at.
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Old Nov 13th, 2017, 04:53 AM
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Lamorna where do go for apertivo in Rome?
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Old Nov 13th, 2017, 04:55 AM
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I'd be happy just eating margheria pizza and gelato every day in Italy.
Enjoying your report Kandace.
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Old Nov 13th, 2017, 05:00 AM
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Freni & Frizione in Trastevere is good, not big portions but nice food and there's lots of vegetarian options. But usually we just go in to any bar where we happen to be at 6.30ish, order and drink and it's pot-luck with the nibbles - sometimes just savoury biscuits and olives, sometimes pasta, sandwiches, gnocci.
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Old Nov 13th, 2017, 08:57 AM
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Days 6-7-8
We had our first real rain on the morning after we got back; until then we'd had spectacular good luck with weather (65-70 every day, sunny, light breezes, low humidity compared to our home climate).

We spent the morning at Borghese Gallery - a good reminder that buses are less reliable than trams or the Metro, but we were able to pick up the 360 line instead of the 910 line that never showed, so we still got there on time. Borghese Gallery is amazing! By the time we left, the rain had ended and it was just too beautiful a day to do anything but roam the neighborhood awhile before catching the bus back to our apartment.

In the evening we headed over to Trevi Fountain. Crowds were comparatively big but everyone was good-natured. The magnitude of that fountain really can't be captured in a photo, but we tried.

The next day we visited the Pantheon and Piazza Navona. There were bus detours and roads being shut down as we headed that way; what we didn't realize at the time is that it was Unity Day, which I think was affecting the traffic flow. Anyhow, the bus ended up off route so we ended up just exiting and finishing the rest of the way on our way.

Pantheon was amazing - no lines - and when we came out we were treated to a surprise military band concert which was a wonderful treat. We listened to that for awhile, then headed over to Piazza Navona. To me, it had a "Covent Garden" feel with respect to all the buskers, which is a flavor I love. We spent WAY more time there than we'd expected, but that was fine.

In the evening we headed over to Mercato Testaccio which was maybe five minutes' walk from our apartment. Loved the place! We're big farmers' market fans to begin with, but this was so much more - yes, produce stands, but also florist shops, leather goods, some home furnishings and so much more. Because we don't drink wine, we decided to compromise and get grapes instead. They were seriously the best I've ever had.

We took the tram to Trastevere and walked the neighborhoods there awhile, got some pizza at a little local place, and just people-watched 'til we felt like it was time to head back to the apartment.

The next day was our last in Rome, and we just revisited our favorite places in the area. No pressure, just relaxing.

In the evening we packed up for the next destination: Florence.
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Old Nov 13th, 2017, 11:12 PM
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Old Nov 15th, 2017, 10:37 AM
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Looking forward to the rest of your report - especially Naples!
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Old Nov 15th, 2017, 04:38 PM
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Days 9-13
It was tough to say good-bye to our Rome apartment, but Monday mid-morning we packed our things, handed the keys over to the apartment manager and headed on to Termini to catch the train to Florence. I'd gotten comfortable in Rome, especially in Testaccio, and really was not looking forward to "moving" to another city. But I'm so glad we scheduled a few days in Florence, because we both fell in love with it.

Our arrival was confusing. There's construction all around Santa Maria Novella, so we wandered a bit 'til we found our hotel - http://www.hotellombardi.com/en-gb/ . It's a small hotel, only 15 rooms, with an almost-hostel feel. The staff, however, is SO friendly and helpful! Their English is universally excellent, though they did smile and help us as we fumbled through our Italian. Rooms are basic but acceptable, strong WiFi signal, good breakfast included, and all at a very affordable rate.

The first day we just roamed the streets in Florence's historic district and started to get familiar with the area around our hotel. Florence is cleaner than Rome and just has a "softer" feel. Street musician scene is unmatched!

The next morning we reported to Galleria della Accademia in the rain. We'd had remarkably good luck, weather-wise, and again, we had already scheduled a museum visit for the rainy time. Even though this was far from the peak season, there was a long line of people waiting to get tickets, so I was glad we had our vouchers ready. David was, of course, amazing - really no way to put that experience into words. We just kept circling around him.

In the afternoon, we caught the bus to Fiesole, a mountain town about 30 minutes from Florence by bus. One of my colleagues had recommended this side trip, and I'm so glad we did it. It's a quiet village, very different feel from Florence, with an archaeological park (which unfortunately closes at 2:30 p.m., just before we arrived), an abbey and just amazing views all around.

The next morning, we headed to Piazzale Michelangelo, southwest of Florence. I hadn't known about this spot until our hotel manager recommended it and even gave us the bus numbers we could pick up from the train station nearby. All the buses were delayed that morning, and we almost gave up, but I'm glad we didn't. The view from Piazzale Michelangelo was stunning! This is where those killer sunset-over-Florence shots are taken from, and it's easy to see why.

After Piazzale Michelangelo we headed across the river to Uffizi Gallery. I'm probably the only one to "say" this, but I found Uffizi Gallery underwhelming. Maybe we were getting desensitized to SO MUCH beauty and SO MANY masterpieces. We got as much enjoyment from the street musicians in the nearby piazza as we did from the museum.

We also spent just a ton of time walking around, across and beyond Ponte Vecchio and Palazzo Pitti. I *highly* recommend exploring Palazzo Pitti; it's less touristy than the historic district and has more artisan-style shops, too.

The rest of the day we just roamed the city. We had a bus pass, which made it easy to build our own "hop on hop off" tour of the city. Our hotel manager had given us a city map, so we stepped off anyplace that looked interesting, walked around awhile, then just caught the next bus that came by.

The next day was our last full day in Florence. We started out at Museo Galileo, which I had heard was not all that hot, but we LOVED it. As in, one of our favorite museum experiences of the whole trip. We took a long time there and when we were done, we both just sat down, speechless, as we processed everything we'd just seen and learned. We're kinda geeky.

After Museo Galileo we just revisited our favorite places in the city before, reluctantly, heading back to the hotel to pack up and get ready for our flight the next morning.

And that was that!
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Old Nov 15th, 2017, 04:58 PM
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Some links that may be helpful:

(Most of) my photos from the trip
https://www.instagram.com/kandaceyork/

Free app I used to organize the trip - I also shared it with our family back home so they knew where we were and could get updates about when our flight landed, if there were flight delays, etc.
http://travel.tripcase.com/

Rick Steves takes some criticism on this forum, but we found his podcasts and audio guides helpful. We'd listen to his podcast before going to a site, and then we'd use his audio guide once we were there (you can download them all free ahead of time so you're not using cellular/WiFi). At Pompeii, we rented their audioguides but found them cumbersome and used the Rick Steves audioguide instead.

Our Testaccio, Rome apartment
https://www.booking.com/hotel/it/app...marmorata.html

Butcher shop in Testaccio, Rome (husband visited and was impressed; I'm a near-vegetarian so no firsthand experience!)
http://www.volpetti.com/

Favorite cafe/bakery in Testaccio, Rome
http://www.pasticceriabarberini.it/

Favorite gelato in Rome
http://www.gelateriafatamorgana.com/web/

Mercato Testaccio in Rome
http://mercatidiroma.com/mercato-testaccio/testaccio

Eataly in Rome - we liked it, but we liked the vibe at Mercato Testaccio better
https://www.eataly.net/it_en/shops/rome/

Mercato di Campagna Amica (farmers' market by Circus Maximus - small but good)
http://www.mercatocircomassimo.it/

Our Naples hotel, right by the train station
https://www.starhotels.com/en/our-ho...rminus-naples/

Sorrento
http://www.sorrentoinsider.com/

Our hotel in Florence
http://www.hotellombardi.com/en-gb/

Fiesole, small mountaintop village near Florence
http://www.fiesole.com/

Favorite gelato in Florence
https://www.grom.it/en/

Mercato Centrale in Florence (we also visited the San Lorenzo Market a few times, trying to convince ourselves to like it, but we were not successful - however, we DID like Mercato Centrale very much!)
http://www.mercatocentrale.it/en/mer...rale-florence/
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Old Nov 15th, 2017, 11:01 PM
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I too like the area around Palazzo Pitti, that whole side of the river feels far more normal and the little shops are fun.
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Old Nov 16th, 2017, 02:57 AM
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Yinreddi, advertising isn't allowed on Fodors. Please stop promoting that website
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Old Nov 16th, 2017, 12:08 PM
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Old Nov 17th, 2017, 04:43 AM
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I think the Uffizi Gallery underwhelms a lot of people. It's huge, and highly concentrated on religious art of the Italian Renaissance. (That's not all there is, but I can understand why someone on TripAdvisor said it was "just one damn Madonna after another.") My daughter and I once spent seven hours in the Uffizi Gallery, and still didn't see everything we wanted to see, but I think most people would enjoy a museum with more variety. In Florence, the Bargello Museum and the Museum of the Duomo are good choices. I would add the museums in the Pitti Palace, but I haven't been there in a long time (about 20 years), so I hesitate to make a recommendation.
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