How do I get around?
 

If my hotel is 5 miles from the center of Rome, what is the best way to travel in and out of the city?

Have you contacted your hotel? Or used google maps?

Or googled "Rome public transportation"? Plenty of useful websites, in English no less...

If you mean coming in from the airport -- most hotel websites give instructions for that . . .

Besides asking your hotel, unless you state where your hotel is, we can't help you.
5 miles out puts you outside the Aurelian Wall. Depending on where you are located, it can take a lot of time getting in and out of the city.

Is there a reason for staying 5 miles outside of centre? You are likely to spend more time and money in transit each day than you are saving on cheap accommodations...

oh jeeze - jamikins is right. I skimmed the OP (obviously too fast) - and thought you were staying in the center.

Why are you staying so far out?

Ask what time it is, and some will invariably answer with "Why don't you own a watch?"

Helpful vincenzo.

The reason I ask is because I made that same mistake the first time I went to Europe. I thought I would save money on accommodations but I didn't think about the extra time and money in transit. We wasted so much time/money on transit!!

If I can help someone to not make the same mistake without realising it than I think asking the question is a good one. And I will keep asking it.

<<Ask what time it is, and some will invariably answer with "Why don't you own a watch?">>

Which is a bloody good question, actually. As is the question of why you're staying five miles outside the city you want to visit.

OP needs to check bus maps and commuter trains.

Or you can buy yourself a pair of good shoes.

Well, DUH! WHY on earth are you staying 5 miles outside of Rome? And why didn't you know how to get into the city when you booked this hotel? Get a map. Call Mom and Dad. Honestly, you don't seem prepared for international travel.

Welllllll, if those responding had checked, they would see the OP first asked about visiting Rome back in June of last year for a trip to be made in May of this year. It seems that is still the plan.

Back in June, this first time travellers couple were advised by regular posters here, to not take any kind of tour but to travel independently. Having then decided to take that advice the OP is now obviously getting down to some of the details.

Now here's the thing. If regular posters got them into this, I don't think it's fair for regular posters to now give the OP a hard time about why they have booked a hotel 5 miles out. They're first time travellers and they don't know any better. This forum and regular posters bear some responsibility for them being in the situation they are in! So ease up on rdcjus.

Rdcjus, is your hotel booking cancellable? If so, you may want to look for a hotel more centrally located and can ask regulars here to suggest hotels within your budget if you specify your budget. Did you have some particular reason for booking so far out from the centre? Travelling by car for example and wishing to avoid city centre traffic.

Congratulations on deciding to do your own travel planning and not using a tour company. I always think that is a better way to go. I hope you aren't thinking you should have just booked a tour and avoided the crap on this thread.

Interesting theory Dog.

If I need to get mobile and buy a car and cannot drive it, is is the fault of the guy who advised me to get a car in the first place ?

Seems to me there is a limit at handholding which has been crossed here.

But ok, I will not sit at the right of our Lord when I depart this world.

rdc, I'd start with rome2rio with th exact address and see which transport lines appear. You can then click on bits of the page to get the details. If there are only occasional buses the you may need to take taxis which mount up$.

Even within Rome it pays to stay along the bus or better the metro lines.

If the OP did actually post last June about his/her trip this coming May, he/she has had almost a year to figure out where to stay in Rome.It's beyond lame to come back here after almost a year and whine about how to get into Rome from a distant location.

I would note that the very first response to the OP's original thread included encouragement to consult a guidebook or two -- which is absolutely critical advice, IMO, to any traveler, but especially novices, who don't even know what to ask.

Google maps -- or at least the version I use -- can offer detailed public transportation information that is not available on rome2rio.com (which, from what I've seen, does not allow specifying a time or date of arrival or departure).

Like jamikins, I once chose to stay in an inconvenient location to save money, and ended up paying more than I would have just to get into and out of my primary destination. So, if the OP's reservation is cancellable, looking into other options might be worthwhile. If not, welcome to the crowd of those of us who learned some lessons the hard way! Consider you options for limiting the number of times you need to go back and forth each day, and yes, get yourselves a good guidebook or two! The cost will be nugatory in comparison to the cost of your trip, and you might even learn some REAL money-saving tips (in addition to learning the things you don't realize you need to ask).

Good luck!

Welllll, Dogeared, why the he!! should one look up a poster's past posting history to answer a straightforward question about how to get from a distant hotel to the center? You chide us for not doing so unjustly, methinks.

nuke, well said

The OP seems to have replied on a wrong thread.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-or-venice.cfm

It seems he's staying out because of points. Probably the Cavalieri as it's about 5 miles out.

Not really, Dogeared. This Forum is noted for its members who go out of their way to give helpful answers, but those answers can sometimes be a bit blunt when the question seems a bit dumb or demanding. As you will note the OP's question was curt and demanding without any hint of a please or thank you to soften it. I'm sure that added to the negative reaction of Forum members to what seemed on it's surface an irrational thing to do: staying on the outskirts and commuting.

Then you, an apparent newcomer, jump in to tell us what awful people we are.

<< If my hotel is 5 miles from the center of Rome, what is the best way to travel in and out of the city? >>

Where on earth is the OP whining in this question? Methinks someone else is doing too much "wine-ing"! LOL!!!

I guess Dog is right - my comment was deemed so snarky that it got removed.

But it is a long misunderstanding for me : OP comes like an elephant says no please no thanks and I'm the bad guy because I'm saying that yes, a hello and a please would be nice. And yes the question is naive, and no, I don't have a degree in psychology.

Ah, bah, we'll see how snarky Dog becomes after he/she sees how OP's can behave sometimes.

I'm pretty sure that Dog has been here before.

To return to the OP's question, I've always found Rome public transport to be very good. Depending on your exact hotel location, your travel should be included in the various integrated transport tickets (you can buy them by the day)

zoecat, I too feel that this dog has left his mark in the past.

Yes, but quite a bad preach...

'Your blood pressure goes up'
Don't get your hopes, I am not losing any sleep nor getting any blood pressure increase on forums. I hope you don't either. Neither do I in rush hour. But no, I am still not getting over the fact that people can't start their posts with the four letters magic word 'hello'.

Consider me as the Don Quixotte of the forum then.

Another reason for staying in the historic center of Rome. Most of the times I've been in Rome I've stayed centrally and walked to my destinations. There's so much to see walking in the historic center that you would miss on the bus and especially on the subway. Like the odd Roman ruin or the street of shops that sell robes and regalia for priests. Or a beautiful church.

I feel more immersed in the city at walking speed.

>>I'm pretty sure that Dog has been here before.<<

Yes -- under at least two different screen names - maybe more. (Does Canada and yachts ring a bell >) )

>>Does Canada and yachts <i>in Greece</i> ring a bell<<