Travel advice for a student studying abroad in Rome!
 

Hi everyone! I am going to be a college Junior studying abroad in Rome Italy for the next academic year (Fall 2008 and Spring 2009, Aug-May). One of the main reasons I decided to go for a whole year is to get in as much traveling as possible.
My issue: studying abroad is costing me over twice as much as it would cost for me to attend my home university for a year, so I am trying to get as much traveling in for the least amount of money! (I am aware this is still going to be a lot of money but I am trying to budget as much as possible) My number 1 and 2 places are Morocco and Egypt. I am also hoping to/planning on visiting Spain, Greece, France, Germany and wherever else I find myself interested in.
I am looking to get some recommendations for the best and most fun/interesting/cultural things to do and places to go... for cheap money of course.
Thanks for your help!

That is a pretty general question, you will probably get more answers if you narrow down your concerns and post separately. You have named six countries besides Italy!

I, too, studied abroad (Aix-en-Provence, France)....look into a train pass once you get there...if you know exactly when you will be traveling, you can get a Eurail Pass before you go...
really put yourself out there and try to make friends with the natives...you'll be surprised how fluent in Italian you'll become..even more so if you have a 'friend' of the opposite sex!! You have mentioned many places...the countries not in the EU will be a better travel bargain..of course, there are hostels, etc...get yourself a good travel guide geared towards students..your student ID will get you some discounts as well...GOOD LUCK and have a wonderful time...my year in France changed my life...

Hi C,

I suggest that you go to the library and get some guide books.

>One of the main reasons I decided to go for a whole year is to get in as much traveling as possible....studying abroad is costing me over twice as much as it would cost for me to attend my home university... <

Sorry to sound like a Durth Uncle, but my best advice to you is to work on getting the highest grades possible for your degree and put off your travel until you have a job.

((I))

My daughter has just returned from spending her junior year in France. She knew she would want to travel as well but I thought she'd pretty well travel around Western Europe, maybe to someplace we had not yet been, like Greece.

The thing is - when you are in Rome you will be with LOTS of international students - not just Italians and certainly not just Americans either. Your horizons will be broadened as to where you can go or would like to go. My own daughter heard that some other students were going to Morocco, and since they are all on a student budget, they were going to do it cheap as possible. She joined them and had a fabulous time. They even took a trip into the desert that was being run out of the hostel. They rode camels and slept in tents. The pictures are incredible.d

The other big trip she took was to Poland. This was because she became great friends with a Polish girl and so the two of them planned a great trip to her hometown and also to other cities like Krakow.

I guess what I'm trying to say is just "go with the flow" - you may make friends with kids who have access to somewhere to go/stay that you may not be thinking about just yet. You are going to have a wonderful time. Rome is such a fabulous city and you are very smart to be going for the entire year. This will give you LOTS of time to explore!

A Eurailpass is rarely a good deal. There are very inexpensive flights with the budget airlines in Europe.

I'm so jealous! :-d

Zerlina is right about the railpass. They are generally for a certain number of days within a specific length of time, such as a month for example, so would not be cost effective with your travel spread over a year. And a railpass won't get you to Egypt or Morocco...

Assuming you will do a lot of your travel on weekends due to your classes probably being during the week, the cheap flights would be good for longer distances, or trains if you're going somewhere in Italy. I agree you'll probably get a chance to go places you haven't thought of based on people you meet and become friends with.

Look at STATravel.com. They specialize in student travel and were very helpful when my daughter studied in Florence. Their airfare was a good bargain, and it was cheap to change the return flights.

Have fun!

One advantage you have in terms of planning is time. Aegean Airlines offers deeply-discounted airfare between Rome and Athens and Athens and the islands if you catch the 'sales' around December or January. Keep checking their website, eventually you'll see them.

http://www.aegeanair.com

Late May is the perfect time to go to Greece.

Since your #1 interest are Morocco and Egypt, I would do the research on those two locations. Logistically they are the most complicated of any you mention, and likely will incur the most expenses and time needed.

It's easy enough to train from Rome to Paris, as example, without doing a whole lot of planning ahead of time.

www.whichbudget.com is a great site to find out what airlines fly between which cities. Have fun!