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Rome Break

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scooping | 15:27 Sat 29th Apr 2017 | Travel
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Any tips about flying to Rome (from Manchester), staying in Rome (cheaply) and cheap places to eat and drink?
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Scooping....Rome is wonderful and everybody should go there, at least once, but it can be expensive !

I was there exactly 10 years ago next month, and stayed for 4 nights. We stayed in a small hotel in the Termini area, which was very good for transport links to most of the main attractions.

But it was only on our 3rd and 4th night that we discovered where we could eat very well and relatively cheaply.

The first two nights we ate in Piazza Narvona, and near the Spanish Steps. Wonderful food but mega expensive. Our Hotel concierge then told us about Trastevere !

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trastevere

This literally means beyond the Tiber and is located on the west bank of the Tiber. Its an area of higgly-piggly little streets, full of great value places to eat, all set around small piazzas. There are also very good value small Pensions and Hotels, and the area is about 25 mins walk from St Peters, and the Castle San Angelo.

Beware of the Italian "sitting down rule" though, in small bars and cafes. You will pay much more money to have a coffee or a drink sitting down, rather than standing at the counter !

One last tip...."latte" just means hot milk to Italians, not coffee as it does to us. We ordered two lattes and were brought 2 glasses of hot milk !

A phrase book will be worth its weight in gold.
Question Author
Great stuff. Thanks Mikey.
Jet2 fly from Manchester to Rome Fiumicino. I've just tried some random dates in June and there are plenty of options available at well under £100 return.

The Spanish budget airline, Vueling, also flies that route. However Vueling flights which aren't to/from Spain are often relatively expensive. (For my sample dates around £200 return seemed to be the norm).

Ryanair operate flights from Manchester to Rome Ciampino. Although Ryanair has a reputation for using airports which are nowhere near the cities they nominally serve, Ciampino is actually closer to the centre of Rome than Fiumicino is. I found plenty of flights available in June for well under £100 return.

This website is excellent for find budget accommodation:
http://www.hostelworld.com/
(When I travelled to Madrid three years ago I found a lovely little hotel, spotlessly clean, with air-conditioning, TV, free wifi, etc for just €22 per night. Don't be put off by the word 'hostel' in the URL. There are cheap hotels and B&Bs listed there too, with reviews from people who've stayed in them. Just carry out an initial search and then use the 'Type' filter to select the types of accommodation you're interested in).

As an example from that site (using random dates in June), La Grand Maison (with a maximum '10'rating from reviewers) is right in the heart of the city, with a single room costing £33.75 per night Sunday to Thursday and £38.83 on Fridays and Saturdays. A twin room costs £54.98 (Sun to Thu) or £63.44 (Fri/Sat).

The same website also has recommendations for cheap places to eat in Rome
http://www.hostelworld.com/blog/best-cheap-restaurants-rome/
as does Trip Advisor
https://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurants-g187791-zfp16-Rome_Lazio.html
and The Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destinations/europe/italy/rome/articles/Romes-best-cheap-restaurants/
The 'sitting down' rule also applies to Paris. Park your arris and the price automatically doubles. I've seen many a tourist highly indignant at this.
Good post from Buenchico !

I would also recommend good comfortable shoes Scoops......those cobbled streets look marvelous, especially after a shower of rain but they are hell to walk on !
I've always found the Independent's articles '48 hours in .....", useful and informative.
Their recommendations for hotels and restaurants are not generally cheap, but the comments on what to see and do are very helpful.
Question Author
Thanks one and all. Great stuff. Looking forward to it.
Give my regards to Frankie. You can't miss him, he's the one in the white skirt with the white hat.

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