Since you're are staying in an apartment, you won't need to eat all of your meals at restaurants. Even if you don't want to cook, you should be able to pick up something at the markets to eat at "home" one or two evenings. This will allow you to average out your budget and enjoy a nice, modest dinner in trattorias a couple nights. Don't forget to look for Tavola Caldas (I know I must have spelled that wrong) for a nice affordable meal. If you're not really big eaters, I think you can get pizza by the slice for well under your budget. For a regular sit-down dinner, though, even in a moderate place, you will pay over your budget. As long as you're thinking in terms of an average I think you could make it work, but realistically, you might want to bump it up somewhat.

Thanks, hanabilly. That's exactly my plan. Most of the reason I'm trying harder to eat for less in Rome is because we'll be in Venice, Varenna and Milan afterwards, staying in b&bs rather than apartments (our stays there are shorter). So we'll have to eat in restaurants more - and I know those places aren't cheap either! I had posted on another thread where people thought that that budget was doable, so that's what I was going off of.

A little over is fine. I just try to keep the costs down where I can, on things that aren't that important to me - the less I spend on this trip, the sooner I can go on another!

Of course! If you have any questions, let me know. A friend and I were traveling together during this portion of the trip, so we did it together. You guys are going to have a great time!

I was also being budget conscious during this portion of the trip, so I have a few restaurant recs that might suit you. I need to look back at my notes. There was a great little restaurant near the Colosseum, but away enough that it wasn't packed with tourists. I'll find the name and let you know :)

Kyliebaby, that would be GREAT. Thank you!

hi again, jent,

the sort of routine you suggest [sightseeing, lunch, sightseeing, collect supper on way home] would be perfect, as shops tend to shut in the afternoon, opening again at about 4pm and generally staying open til about 8; though as another poster said, some supermarkets stay open til later, the smaller ones tend not to.

bars stay open til pretty late so you can always go out after eating in for a bit of life! (italian TV is pretty dire unless you like game shows with littered with scantily clad women, and that includes the football! [calcio, FYI].

Thanks, annhig! I'd heard that about Italian TV... hmm. May have to stock up on audiobooks or something. :)

I love Italian TV, especially that "variety" show with those two wacky guys (I can never remember their names). It doesn't matter if you speak Italian or not, it can be fun to watch. What I really like are dubbed over versions of American TV shows.

dave

Oh, I'm sure we'll watch a little for the cultural experience. :) Dubbed movies sound fantastic!

Found my notes!

The restaurant is called Le Naumanchie, and like I said, it's near the Coliseum. I had "Fettucine Fatte in Casa Naumanchie," which was fresh egg pasta with Luganica sausage, basil and parmesan for €9. Bruschetta was €1.20 and house wine €3.50. It was good and cheap, so I hope you enjoy it if you make it over there!

Wow. Just looked at the date of my notes, and one year ago today we took the cooking class at Le Fate!

Kyliebaby, you. are. awesome. Thank you! The date I can email Chef Andrea for reservations is steadily approaching. :)

Wow, your trip sounds fantastic. Here's my two cents. My husband and I used public transportation when we arrived in Rome and it was easy and I felt pretty safe, however, I kept and eye on my belongings and was aware of the people around me. Because our flight out was early in the morning on a Sunday, we had our hotel arrange a driver (I believe it was RomeCabs)for 50EU and I thought it was well worth it at the time for the convenience.

Since you are going to so many different places, you might want to check out the Roma Pass. We got them (I think they were 25 Euros a piece) and they paid for themselves and them some. I think you get to get in free to two places and then a discount everywhere else. They also get you on the Metro for free.

When you go to the Borghese Gallery make sure you spend some time walking around the park. It's really pretty and there are some great views of Rome. I loved the Borghese Gallery and the Bernini sculptures and felt it was the best gallery/museum that we visited in Rome, and we visited a lot of them.

I don't think you will find it too hard to find meals for 15-20EU. Try places down side streets and family trattorias. We had good luck with food in Rome compared to Venice. It was very difficult for us to find good food in Venice. Every place we chose was very expensive and the food almost inedible. I am sure there are great places to eat there, we just unfortunately didn't find them. Enjoy your trip.

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I really enjoyed this thread as I am planning a honeymoon for October and we will be spending 4-5 days in Rome. I definitely want to look into this cooking class!!

A few years ago we ate at a small inexpensive restaurant in the Jewish Ghetto neighborhood, Il Portico at 1 via del Portico d'Ottavio. It had a range of foods including pasta, pizza and specialties like fried artichokes. This is an interesting neighborhood to explore and is not far from your apartment location.
Dar Filettaro near Campo dei Fiori specializes in filetti di baccalà, a Roman-style battered salted codfish

We (husband, teenage son and I) had no trouble taking the train from the airport. There is an express to Termini or a local train to the station in Trastevere, then the #8 tram to Largo Argentino, which is close to Piazza Navona.

Suru - good family trattorias are exactly the kind of thing I'm looking for! I hope we find some good ones. I've been debating the Roma Pass. The quandary for us is that if the weather is nice and all goes according to plan, we'll probably use it first on Sunday for the Colosseum/Forum. But then all of Monday we'll be at the Vatican, so that uses up a whole day that the pass is valid. That might be OK, though. I'll have to do some more research on that. A friend of mine has convinced me that I *must* go to the Borghese, and the grounds will definitely be part of that!

Vttraveler, thank you for the restaurant recommendations! I'll add those to my list. I think I'd heard of that local train, so I may look into that as well.

I'm starting to get a tiny bit concerned about our apartment; I emailed Sleep In Italy last week to ask about the possibility of checking in or at least dropping our luggage off early, but haven't heard a thing. I sent them another email today so hopefully I'll hear back. Skype is harder to do with a 9-5 job and the time difference!

christrmpt04, the cooking class gets great reviews on TripAdvisor. I'll definitely post a trip report when we get back and let you know what I think!

Just heard back from Sleep in Italy, and we're going to be able to check into our apartment by 10! I'm still debating between a car service and the local train/tram that Vttraveler mentioned. ~€45 for a car isn't bad, but compared to €16 for two people for the train trip, I'm at least going to look into it.

NP, jent103! I'd love to hear how you liked the class, and also compare notes on what you guys cooked. I'll be back in Italy in June, and if he's changed it up, it might be worth heading back to Rome for round 2. My email is at the bottom of my blog, or you can always update this thread when you get back. Would love and update!