Itinerary help: Rome in 4.5 days in May
 

We're headed to Rome this May, arriving around 8:30am on a Sunday (assuming Delta doesn't change our flights again!) and leaving Friday morning for Venice. I've laid out the following itinerary so far - any thoughts/tips would be very much appreciated!

"We" are two women, ages 29 & 30, friends from college who travel well together. We've both been to Rome before, but both only very briefly about ten years ago (my friend didn't get to go to the Vatican at all, whereas that was basically *all* I did!). I like photography, history (not a total history nerd, but I like it), the usual things. My friend is very laid back and pretty much just excited to be going, with a few must-dos. Budget: we're hoping to eat one sit-down meal a day, more or less, spending about €15-20, and will be pretty careful about what tours we go on. (We're not on an extremely tight budget, but don't want to spend money on things which are not "worth it" to us - and yes, I realize that's extremely subjective!) We're staying in an apartment on Piazza del Fico, near Piazza Navona, booked via Sleep in Italy.

A few specific questions:
- It sounds like the market on Campo dei Fiori is open mornings, Monday-Saturday? Any grocery stores near our apartment that will be open on Sunday?
- I have an unlocked cell phone - where should I get an Italian SIM card? My friend has an AT&T iPhone she can use if she has to, but I use Verizon. We should have wifi in the apartment, so I can hopefully use the Skype app on my iPod as well.
- What is the best way to get to our apartment from FCO/Termini when we arrive (assuming we can go ahead and check in)? We're good walkers, but Google Maps says it would take about 40 minutes from Termini. I'm slightly skittish about using public transport with our suitcases, and all the posts about being ripped off by cab drivers at Termini have me a little paranoid about that too! I'm open to a car from the airport, but will weigh the costs vs. the train and walking/taxi/bus. I'll have a small roller suitcase (carryon size) plus a camera/stuff bag (messenger style, which I will carry in front of me with my arm on it!). My friend will probably have something similar.
- Any tips on good, inexpensive restaurants in the historic center are greatly appreciated! I've gotten a few but more are always welcome. We're not foodies but we do like to eat. :)

Planned itinerary:
<b>Sunday</b>: arrive at FCO ~8:30. I need to check in with Sleep in Italy to see if we can check into our apartment this early; their usual check-in time is later, but right now it looks like there's no one in the apartment the one night before we arrive, so I'm hoping we can make arrangements. If this isn't possible, we'll probably store our luggage at Termini and sightsee in the morning till we can get in. If we can go ahead and check in, we'll do that, clean up a little and head out. If the weather is nice and we're feeling like it, I'm hoping to visit the Forum and/or Colosseum this day - something outdoors to keep us awake!

<b>Monday</b>: We have the Scavi tour reserved for 10:45 this morning, and plan to walk there from our apartment. Afterwards, we'll plan to visit St Peter's and then the Vatican Museums. I'm still doing research about Vatican tours and whether it's something we want to spend the money on (honestly, I'd be good not going again, but my friend wants to go and I'm sure I'll enjoy seeing the art). Yes, this will be a long day. Any good recommendations for a relaxing, yummy, moderately priced dinner are greatly appreciated. :) Hopefully the rest of our time in Rome won't be quite so rushed.

<b>Tuesday</b>: Spend morning at the Campo dei Fiori market. Afternoon - Villa Borghese? I need to prebook this.

<b>Wednesday</b>: We want to take a cooking class (cookingclassesinrome.com), so I'm hoping we can do so this day. Chef Andrea starts booking 45 days out, so we can't finalize that just yet. The class takes about four or five hours and is in Trastevere, so we'll spend some time sightseeing there afterwards.

<b>Thursday</b>: See Colosseum/Forum if we didn't get to on Sunday; otherwise, reserve for whatever we haven't been able to do yet. Castel Sant'Angelo?

Whenever we have time, I want to visit the Pantheon, and of course the Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, etc. I also have a list of churches to visit. Since the Pantheon is open till 6:30 and the fountains, piazzas, etc don't really close, I didn't feel as much need to schedule those. Also at some point, we'll buy our train tickets for the rest of our trip (to Venice, Venice-Varenna, and Varenna-Milan; the most important one is to Venice, as we have to let our b&b there know exactly when we plan to arrive on Friday).

Thank you so much in advance for your help!

Comment on Campo dei Firori Tuesday morning- this will not take your whole morning, probably 1 hour max. if you are just looking around. I wasn't sure if you were shopping there and then taking items back to your apartment.

jent103...

Your trip sounds great. I've used Rome Cabs from the airport to the historic center (centro storico) of Rome on several occassion and found them to be reliable. I recall the cost is 50 or 55 Euro for pickup for two passengers.

I'm concerned with your 15-20 euro budget for your sit-down meals. I'm assuming that's per person? Are you wine drinkers? You can always order the house wine, but this budget seems low in my experience. I have easily spent 100 euro for dinner for 2 in Rome, but we always have a bottle of wine. I have found that pasta dishes are generally less expensive, but if you go for a meat dish, you may be paying 20 euro for that dish alone.

If you click on my screen name you will see several of my Italy trip reports there are 4 report that include time in Rome.

Thanks, y'all! Lynn - I was hoping to get some things at the market to have in the apartment. I'm still not sure it'll take all morning, but I also didn't want to overschedule!

LowCountryIslander - yes, that was definitely 15-20 per person, but I'm not sure about that dinner budget either! We are not big drinkers (my friend doesn't really drink at all, and I only started liking wine in the last year or so, so I don't drink very much when I do!). I was basing that on the fact that, in my town, $20 is an expensive meal for me (food only - I rarely visit the more upscale restaurants in town).

I realize things will be a little more expensive in the places we're going, Rome included, but was hoping to stick semi-close to that. If we eat cheaply two meals a day, though, we can probably spend a little more on dinner. Fifty euro each is pretty out of the question for us - there are just things that, in my case, I'd rather spend that money on. But if we can find a few authentic local restaurants where we can get a couple of courses for around 20 euro-ish, that would be ideal. (Any suggestions for Venice, Varenna and Milan are welcome too!)

Oh, PS - thank you for the car service recommendation! I'll have to talk to my friend about what to save money vs. spend money on, but will definitely check those out.

jent: if you are careful, I think you can eat at close to 20 euro for dinner. I would start now, researching low cost meals in Rome. It is fun to see different areas as you seek out budget restaurants.

We used Rome Cabs for our last trip to the airport in Rome. I am a victim of the 25 euro Termini > Piazza Navona taxi ride, and can tell you that it exists. If you speak a little Italian, you can make sure that a taxi at Termini offers you a decent approximate fare before you get it in.

However, you will have luggage, it will be Sunday, and God knows how Rome taxi drivers come up with their fares. Since it will cost the two of 25 euro to take the train from FCO to Termini, then the mysterious cost of a taxi, you might just want to book Rome Cabs.

On the other hand, if you can trust yourselves to insist on an honest rate from Termini to your apartment, you will save about 15 euro, which can go toward meals.

Someone should start a Termini car service where you can be sure of an honest fare at Termini. Maybe there is one...

When are you arriving in Rome? John Paul II's beatification takes place on 1st May and Rome will be really busy, with large contingents from Poland expected. If you want to see the Vatican Museums, I strogly recommend a tour or at least booking a timed entry now.

tuscan - you make a good point about it being Sunday. I just checked the FCO web site, and the train to Termini is 14E apiece - the car service is looking better. :) The only drawback would be if we can't get into our apartment that early on Sunday, in which case I guess we'd need to store our luggage at Termini anyway?

Alec - thankfully we're there a week later! It shouldn't still be so crazy, should it?

I'm not sure about luggage storage at Termini; you will have to find out.

Many apartments will let you store your luggage if you arrive early. I would check on that, too.

I have way too much info on places to eat in Rome, but here are a couple of special, absolutely delicious, and very cheap places:

- Il Forno di Campo di Fiori, at Campo de' Fiori, No. 22. This is a bakery that serves the Roman foccacia, pizza bianca. It's basically foccacia with olive oil and salt on top. They make it all day (along with other stuff); you stand in line, motion with your hands how big a piece you want. The guy cuts it, fold the bread in half, wraps it in paper, and you're good to go. We've eaten it for snacks at any time of day, or for lunch.

- La Florida, at Via Florida 25 in Largo Argentina. This is a tiny place that serves pizza by the slice (here again, you motion with your hands how big a piece you want, and you pay by weight). There are two tiny tables, or you can sit outside, by largo Argentina, to eat. They sell about 8 different types of pizza, all fresh, because it all sells so fast. Some of the types we've had: eggplant with bufala mozzarella and pacchini tomatoes; zucchini and some sort of cheese; cheese, olives and tomatoes.

hi jent,

click on my screen name too and you'll find my recommendations for restaurants and bars very near where you will be staying as that's the area we stayed in too. if you walk away from the piazza navona you will come to an area with lots of cheap eateries, where your budget should be ok, so long as you don't have the dearest things on the menu!

there are also lots of dishes that you can get to eat in if you go to the supermarkets and delis; it's often cheaper to eat out at lunch-time that it is to eat dinner.

have a great trip!

You might want to check my website for lots of free info on touring Rome ( passagetoroma.com ).

As to car service, I, as well as many others recommend Rome Shuttle Limousine ( romeshuttlelimousine.com )

On the website you'll find the google maps of 6 different "tours" we lay out, including MP3 files for each stop. In the library area you find a free downloadable guidebook and lots of other free stuff.

There are many ways to get decent and reasonably priced food in Rome. Primarily, don't buy stuff in the tourist areas, but instead go off a few blocks. As an example, across from San Clemente, there is is pizza place (Pizza Rustica), operated by this great man -Osama, which has the biggest and really great tasting lamb kabobs for about 6 euros.

dave

By the way, Public Transport is fine in Rome, whether by metro or bus. If you see a bus or subway that is packed, wait for the next one, it is usually right behind the first and is often half-empty. As to the metro, always to to either the front or rear of the ramp, this gives you the best chance to find much less crowded cars. The middle cars can be crazy packed.

I would take the Metro B from Termini to the Colosseo Stop. Switch to the 87 bus and get off at Largo Argentina. Short walk from there. A taxi from Termini is not a big "rip-off", you can figure from 7-11 euros, depending on people and bags. I know, I've done this trip often.

dave

I don;t think you should limit yourself to such a small budget for dinner - or even lunch in rome. It's just not very realistic if you want wine or bottle water plus a main course, perhaps share an appetizer and have a coffee. You can do some sort of pizza for that - but why go all the way to rome and not enjoy the cuisine?

You need to remember that Rome is a world capital - and I would be telling you the same if you were trying to have dinner for $15 or $20 in NYC - you're really restricting your options to a very few places. We typically spend about $100 for a casuale dinner with bottled water, house or modest wine and espresso. A special dinner is in the region of $300 for two.

jen,

If you do decide to use public trans to your apartment:

Ask Sleep in Italy for an estimate of how much the taxi fare should be from Termini to the apt. Ask them if that also includes the bag fee and weekend fee. The last time I was there, it was either 1E or 1.5E per bag in addition to the fare.

The key thing - DO NOT let anyone "escort" or "guide" you to a taxi the minute you step outside Termini! These guys are usually well dressed, speak English very well (and I'm sure other languages), and will politely ask if you need a taxi. They will attempt to wisk you right past the legitimate taxi stand and into the waiting gypsy cabs - where you will go for a very expensive ride.

The first time I visited Rome we fell for this and spent over 45 lira with a taxi driver who didn't know where to go!

My second time there, I knew to ask for an estimate from my hotel and to look for the taxi line myself! Fare was about 4.25E.

The next trip (to the exact same hotel a week later) the smooth talking guy asked if I needed a taxi and tried to escort me. I asked him how much in Italian and when he answered 20E, I said "WRONG ANSWER", turned around and left him standing there. Got in a legit taxi and went to my hotel for about 6.5E (it was a weekend).

Given that you will be 2 people - I would go for the private driver route.

Enjoy Rome!

I've done the cooking class with Chef Andre, and you are in a for a real treat! I'm your age, and his class was fantastic. My entire three-month trip was actually centered around taking cooking classes in Europe and blogging about them, and this was my post regarding the class in Rome (one of my favs): http://culinaryhopscotch.blogspot.co...ltimbocca.html

In about a week, it will be a year since I took this very class. Have a great time! I'm jealous :)

Don't miss Palatine Hill! It's got great views and is fabulous for a picnic.

I stayed near Piazza della rotunda and there was this great Salumeria:
Antica Salumeria Ansuini
http://www.cosmotourist.com/travel/d...meria-ansuini/
(best link I could find)

You can get all sorts of nice treats there and pick up prepared panini etc. It's great way to save some cash and eat the best of Rome.

Wow - thanks, everyone, for the helpful info!

nytraveler, I do indeed realize that Rome is a world capital. Thanks for the reminder. I've eaten just fine in NYC for less than the $50/person you mention (granted, it's been a few years since I've been). This trip is the result of a lot of planning and saving; nice restaurants aren't the highlight for me, though I do plan on a few nice long dinners over our trip like you're probably referring to. We'll spend a little more for those, and I don't intend to spend my entire trip finding the cheapest meal possible (been there, done that out of necessity - not fun). But the research I've done suggests that budget is more or less doable as long as we're not expecting fine dining. And we're not.

annhig, I need to print out your trip reports! :) About how late do the supermarkets/delis stay open? Just wondering if it's realistic to expect to have a larger lunch, sightsee the rest of the afternoon/early evening, and pick up something on our way "home" for dinner - or if we need to plan ahead more.

dave - thanks for the tips and site! I'm not afraid of public transport generally (I've used it in quite a few other cities without hesitation) - I'm just a little antsy about taking it with our suitcases and in our first-day-in-Italy, jet-lagged state. :) Dayle, I think I am leaning toward the car for our ride from FCO. I broke the costs down for my friend but I think she'll agree!

Kyliebaby, I'm so excited to read your blog post! The TripAdvisor reviews for Chef Andrea were great, but hearing from someone I know is legit :) makes me look forward to it even more. mad4u, thanks for the reminder about Palatine Hill! It hasn't been on my radar as much but that should change. That salumeria suggestion is great too - thank you!

I remember that the small supermarkets were open to 10:30 or 11PM.

Thanks, mad4EU! Perfect.