When in Rome...on a College Budget

By Karolyn Castaldo on November 16, 2012

When studying abroad, many students struggle to find ways to make the trips of their dreams work out to be affordable. They want to enjoy the time in their host country but also to branch out without eating only ramen noodles every night to make up for it. A of couple weekends ago I traveled to Rome, and though there were places I could have saved a bit more, I was fairly thrifty.

It starts with the flights. 

Photo by Karolyn Castaldo

If you can’t afford to get there, how are you supposed to plan the rest of the trip? Using a site that compares flight prices can give you a rough estimate, but it won’t tell you what the fees will be upon booking. My friends and I went to the travel agent on campus, told him the dates we wished to travel and had him tell us what the absolute cheapest would be. He helped us figure out what days might be a little cheaper and how to avoid extra fees. We flew Ryanair, an airline known for it’s terrible service, sketchy planes, and nickel-and-diming for everything, except the flights. We split a large checked bag between the three of us to save a bit of cash and we were on our way.

Then, you need somewhere to stay. 

More often than not, you can always find a hostel in Europe. However, you won’t always find one in a great area, or really near anything that’s worth seeing. Using our trusty travel agent, we found that the area near Termini (the bus and train station) was lacking in hostels that were affordable or very well-rated, so we went for an extremely cheap, bare-minimum hotel. It was a little dirty and very noisy at times, but having our own room and bathroom made up for it.

Now, you’re ready to tour. 

But how do you know what tour to take? On every corner there are men shoving tour pamphlets in your face and you will see at least five hop-on hop-off tours going by every ten minutes. We took the one by Green Line Tours. It wasn’t great, because the announcer on the bus didn’t always say what stop you were at or which direction to go to get to the sites and didn’t always stop for long enough to get off. However, the hop-on hop-off is definitely a great option for a short trip. You see a lot of the city and the sites but only the ones that you really want to. The downside? Unless you pay more for your tour, you will have to pay for entrance into sites like the Colosseum and the major museums and you won’t necessarily have a tour guide explaining what you’re seeing.

And then there’s the food and nightlife.

Photo by Karolyn Castaldo

Who doesn’t love a big plate of pasta? Here’s where my friends and I spent the most money. We would wake up and skip breakfast to save room (and a few euro) for a deliciously large lunch of pizza, pasta or salad during our touring. Much later into the night, we would get ready to go out, grab dinner and some gelato or a cannoli. We didn’t find the bars or clubs to be particularly plentiful near our hotel, and when we would dig one up, there really weren’t many people there. The bars were also very expensive, so we stuck to mostly having drinks with meals and splurging on food! We did our best to try a new restaurant for every meal and we were never disappointed–Italians really know how to cook. If there’s one thing that you shouldn’t be cheap on in Rome, it’s the food. It’s fairly reasonable if you’re careful.

You just gotta have some souvenirs. 

But not too many. The souvenirs weren’t very original from shop to shop, so unless you find a great price, I wouldn’t bother with them. Think of the people who would really appreciate a gift from Italy and go from there. If you can find something that doesn’t look too tacky or cheap (unless that’s what they’re into) at a price that’s right for you, go for it! If not, save your money. My friends and I each bought a 1 euro keychain as a little memorabilia of the trip. It’s cheap, easy to bring home, and very cute!

Though the prices can vary from area to area, you’re sure to have an amazing time in this beautiful city. Take advantage of it, but don’t blow all of your savings! Rome on a budget is doable and definitely a fun trip while studying abroad.

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