Dear Fodorites, Do you have any tips for traveling on a tight budget in Rome. I have a hotel booking at the Sheraton Roma Hotel and Conference Center. The address is Viale Del Pattinaggio 100. Would I need a rental car to get around...or is the hotel within walking distance of attractions/public transportation. Any advice for figuring out a budget. I am a solo traveler and will be traveling from from April 7 th to April 16 th 2009. I would like to spend two days possibly on tours seeing the outskirts of Rome possibly including the Isle of Capri tour. I know that tour is about $165. How do I get the most bang for my buck for the rest of the time? What would be a reasonable cash budget? Would I need or expect to spend an exta $1000 for food and tours or would it be more or a little less than that? I have a rental car reserved, but might cancel it if I can get around more cheaply via tours, walking and public transit. Thanks for your help.

I would definitely not rent a car in Rome (or any other city). You won't know the area well enough and parking will be a problem. Take public transportation, taxis, walk - that's the quickest and easiest thing to do.

You can go to mappy.com or viamichelin.com and enter the address of your hotel to see where it is in relation to the sights.

Capri in April is iffy - may be foggy or rainy on the coast. I did a day trip to Capri from Sorrento once in April (hazy and rainy day) and wasn't impressed with the island. It's my understanding that you need to stay overnight on Capri to get a real feel for it. It's also a very long day trip from Rome.

You can do Ostia Antica easily on your own from Rome; it's just outside the city. You can also do Pompeii on your own as there are audio or guides available at the site.

For 10 days, I think $1,000 is a bit light - that's only 100 per day for food, transportation, and sightseeing admissions. Your Capri

tour is $165 so that only leaves $35 the next day for all your expenses (for example). I'd budget $2,000 for the 10 days.

You can buy an inexpensive lunch from a bar (sandwiches, pizza, tartines) and eat it standing up or take it away. It's less expensive to eat/drink standing at a bar, sitting inside is more expensive, and sitting at a table outside is the most expensive. Try to find restaurants a bit away from the major tourist attractions (even walking a few blocks will lower the price of meals). Figure out the bus/metro system and use that whenever possible to reduce expenses.

When we travel to Rome we find that if breakfast is included at the hotel which is many times the case we do not eat lunch.Two meals a day is plenty for us but we do love our gelato.Romans eat dinner very late,often about 9 or 10 PM
I would skip the tour to Capri and save it for another time. You will go back!That is just to far from Rome to waste that much time going there. It is not that great anyway.You will find there is plenty to see in Rome and near by.

Do not rent a car for Rome. You would be crazy to attempt to drive there. Just take public transportation. Rome is very easy to navigate on the busses.Get a good guide book with maps and instructions on taking public transportation.We used Rick Steve's Rome book and found it very helpful.

Is there a reason why you chose a hotel so far away from the center of Rome?If it is free I could understand it but if not I would try to find a hotel more centrally located.Dh and I stayed at the Hotel Esmeraldo which is next to Campo di Fiori and within easy walking to Piazza Navona and the Pantheon. It was not expensive and we loved being able to walk everywhere. Go to the tripadvisor web site and enter the name of your hotel and you will find some information on it.Just do a little research and you should be able to find a good hotel much cheaper and more in the center of Rome. I always use tripadvisor to find my hotels in Europe and we definitely prefer the smaller,charming local hotel that is not part of a chain.I do not like the business hotels but that is just my opinion.There has been several threads on here regarding inexpensive hotels in Rome.Just use the search function to find them.

Why are you so interested in Rome's outskirts?

You're about 300 yards from a metro stop. Just buy a week's pass (€16 for the metro, practically all buses and many trains, if I remember) from any kiosk, forget about cars, use the transport system, and explore Rome itself.

If you are on such a tight budget, definitely forget about rental cars and expensive day tours.

Figure out how to use public transportation and do-it-yourself.

Traveling alone I always pick a very central place to stay so I can get to at least some of the major sights onfoot (so would not have chosen tthe one you did regardless of price).

I believe you certainly can make $1000 work for a 9-day trip but may have to adjust your expectations somewhat.

ttt

Hmmm,wonder if op will be back?

Hi Howie,

I think you can do food on $1000 - especially since the exchange rate is now moving the right way...

I would prefer to stay somewhere more central like around Campo di Fiori and Piazza Navona. Save money and time on transportation.

Adrienne points out if you are thirsty or need a snack, go into a bar and eat at the bar. This is how most Italians eat lunch everyday. The cost is much less than sitting. In caffes in Italy you typically go to cashier first, order and pay, and then bring slip to bar and just place it there. The bar master will then help you.

Cancel the car for sure because you do not need it and it is very expensive in Italy to rent a car. Gas alone is about 2x more expensive than in the States.

Public transportation is very easy to use - just do a little homework before you go at www.trenitalia.com and you should be good to go.

Buon Viaggio!

If you've got as good reason to stay in Viale del Pattinaggio, fine. Ignore the "you must stay by the Piazza Navona" mantra

It's a short metro ride into town, and you're within not too uncomfortable walking distance of Rome's intriguing Fascist-era heritage: the EUR area. The buildings Musso left behind have worn surprisingly well and they look good. They're built less insensitively than the crass self-assertiveness of the early emperors, or than some of Rome's Victorian absurdities, and they're still in surprisingly good nick (compared to the slums most of Rome's newer metro stations have been allowed to deteriorate into, for example).

For a terrific example, get yourself to the Ara Pacis in the city centre. Compare the bombast of Augustus' mausoleum (not to mention the arrogance of his self-assessment engaved on the outside) with the Fascist buildings surrounding it and the Victorian buildings on the opposite side of the river.

I make this point, because it's just impossible to walk anywhere in Rome with your eyes open without being assailed by 2,500 years of successively brilliant and really crap buildings. Another reason why it doesn't matter where you stay if it's on a metro line: the point is to just keep on observing.

Did we lose Howie?