Getting around Rome for cheap (Part 1)!

Before I left for Italy, I read up on everything about Rome, how to get around Rome by buses, by metro, by rails, airports, when not to ride them, where to pick up trains and what metro station I will need to get on and off to get to my hotel, common phrases and how to say them correctly, yet having all this information in hand, I was excited yet nervous upon arriving at the airport. I was concerned that my research may not be accurate and the information that I read about, may not be up to date. Some information were out of date, like pricing, I have included more details below. And then there were things that I came across that I knew nothing about such as additional costs or free maps. With that said, I hope this blog will help guide you through Rome with a bit more confidence and save you a few bucks.

Getting around Rome is not as bad as one may imagine. Rome has a great public transportation system and the cost is quite reasonable. Don't worry about not speaking Italian fluently, that will not be a problem as I experienced. Knowing a few common phrases were more than sufficient, I have included some common phrases that I learned from a book I picked up for $7.95 - Conversational Italian in 7 days, you can print it out, you can buy the book or you can always check it out from your local library to take with you on your trip. The goal is to get you as prepared as possible in a more cost effective way.

A couple of things you will need to do before your trip and upon arriving at the airport in Rome. You will need to know what Metro station your hotel is closest to (either via the hotel website or get the address and use google maps, print out the directions and bring them with you, street map view and text) and be prepare to walk a few blocks, so either pack lightly or have a luggage with some wheels and some comfortable walking shoes. Another suggestion is, go to the library and check out a Rome Guide with a detailed map attached to use to navigate yourself to your hotel after getting off the Metro. Earlier I mentioned the airport, upon arriving at the airport, there will be a ton of free advertisement pamplets with a metro map and even a street map of Rome inside them, grab a couple of those (one for each day and one for each person, just in case), if not, you can buy the metro map and street map for € 5 - 7 ($7.5 - $10.5 US) euros at the station but again, the point is to reduce your cost, so pay attention to these details to avoid incurring these additional costs. One thing I couldn't find online was information about the bus routes, so you can always pick a map of that at the Roma Termini Metro station (I didn't see any free ones any where, its not like in the states, you have to pay for them).

Airports: Rome has two major airports, I arrived at Fiumicino (also known as Leonardo da Vinci), the bigger of the two airports where most of you will be flying into as only scheduled flights come into this airport. Ciampino is the smaller airport used mostly for business and charter flights. (see information about Fiumicino (FCO) Ciampino (CIA) at this link http://www.romaclick.com/Rome-airports.htm).

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