Traveling during peak summer season can be brutal. Because the heat is harsh and you’re likely run into grumpy tourists, overcrowded tours, and expensive accommodations. Well, you can explore Rome on a budget and with these travel tips, beat the heat!

I brought my travel umbrella to help with the intense sun rays, my hand fan, and my stainless steel water bottle that keeps drinks cold for up to 24 hours. Also, this ice cube tray is designed specifically for water bottles. Don’t forget your sunscreen AND mosquito repellant.

Travel Cost Breakdown

Flight:

Round trip BCN –> FCO (Rome – Fiumicino) on RyanAir – $97.73 USD
RyanAir has a bad reputation and is known as the Spirit Airlines of America. But how can you pass up on a deal like this? Other airlines were charging 3x the amount. 

Tip:

RyanAir charges 55€ if you don’t have your boarding pass printed or on your phone. Above all, make sure your suitcase meets the requirements for carryon. They will charge you for everything.

Accommodations: If you are traveling with a large group of people, I recommend Camila Home San Lorenzo on AirB&B. This particular listing had 4 bedrooms and slept up to 10 guests. Cost: $94 USD/night!!! What a steal!!

How To Get From FCO Airport to City Center (Termini Station)

Flat Rate Taxi Fare:

FCO to the city center – 48€
 Ciampino to the city center – 30€

Leonardo Express Train to Termini Station – 14€

Airport Transfer To City Center

Exit Terminal 3 and follow the signs for the bus. On the right hand side,  there are stands selling bus tickets. A ticket costs 6.90€. No advanced tickets are needed and credit cards are accepted. Once you get to the Termini station, there’s a tobacco store where you can buy bus tickets for 1.50€ each (credit cards accepted here as well.) I did an average of 2-3 bus/metro rides per day.

For your return back to the airport, just head to the Termini station and you can buy your bus tickets directly from the bus driver. I believe it’s cash only – I didn’t see anyone paying with a credit card.

Transportation: Bus Vs. Taxi

Public Transportation

Bus tickets are NOT available for purchase on the bus. I witnessed some tourists get fined 100€. You MUST validate your ticket through the machine. Tickets are available for purchase at tobacco stores, bars, newsstands or at major metro stations.

Fares

1.50€ each
24 hour pass for 7€/day
48 hour pass for 12€
72 hour pass for 18€. I don’t recommend getting the day passes – I did a mix between taxi and bus. You can read more about it here.

Because I like to travel on a budget I try to avoid taxis and instead use other means of public transportations like bus or subway. Since we weren’t staying right in the center of Rome, I definitely needed to use public transportation but I was very disappointed. The buses were never on time and I recall waiting at a couple bus stops for over 30 minutes. On top of that, we had 5 people in our group so it was hard to flag down a taxi that could accommodate all of us.

Taxis

That being said, please download the “MyTaxi” app. It saved me many times because if we relied on public transportation, we would have been late for our tour activities. We made the mistake of getting into an unofficial private taxi and the rates were really high! The Rome city taxi cabs are all white with the number clearly written on the side of the car. Here’s an example of a price difference. From my AirB&B to the Colosseum in a regular cab cost me 12€. In the other “taxi” it cost me almost 20€.

Starting Taxi Fares

• Mon – Fri, 6am – 10pm €3
• Sat – Sun and holidays, 6am – 10pm. – €4.50
• Fare anytime from 10pm – 6am €6.50

By law, all taxi cabs are supposed to have a credit card machine. I happened to run into a few that said theirs was “out of order” so be sure to always have cash on you.

What To Do: Explore Rome On A Budget

Ladies, leave your wedges and heels at home because you’ll be walking on mostly cobblestone streets and uneven sidewalks. 

Trevi Fountain – Went there at 6:30 am to beat the crowd. Face away from the fountain and toss a coin in with your right hand over your left shoulder.

Vatican City – Opens at 9:00 am. By 10:00 am there is a long queue, so I suggest getting there early. Ladies must cover the knees and shoulders. Men were supposed to dress in pants and no flip flops. It was summer and I saw many men in shorts and flip flops so I’m guessing they’re a bit relaxed on the men’s dress code. Photos are allowed but no flash photography. Explore Rome On A Budget

Sistine Chapel – I didn’t get to go here because the line was too long. Doors open at 9:00 am and it’s free entry.  By 10:00 am the wait in the sweltering heat was 2.5 hours. You can purchase a Skip the Line Ticket for around 35€. No photographs allowed in the chapel.

Spanish Steps

Pantheon – Free Entry Explore Rome On A Budget

Colosseum – Entry Fee is 12€ and is good for 2 days. 

Bocca Della Verità – Mouth of Truth – 2€. Legend says if you’re a liar and you place your hand inside the mouth, you’ll lose some fingers.

The Aventine Keyhole – Free Entry – We waited in line for 5 minutes to peep through the keyhole. It was a beautiful view of the St. Peter’s Dome.

Golf Cart Tour

On our final day, we embarked on this wonderful 2 hour golf cart tour of Rome by MyBestTour.com. We had  our own group of 14 people and the large golf carts can take 7 passengers.

Where To Eat:

We pretty much ate pizza, pasta and tiramisu every day for lunch and dinner. 1 of the nights we devoured a 2.5 foot long charcuterie board. I know there’s a million restaurants in Rome but these restaurants I can vouch for! Average cost for a pasta dish is around 7€-10€ and the special truffle dishes were around 10€-12€.

• Ciacco&Bacco San Lorenzo – Large charcuterie plate for 5 people – 30€. Reservations recommended since seating is very limited.
• Pizzeria La Casetta – Local spot near our AirB&B and my favorite tiramisu
• Ponte E Parione – Truffle pasta with bacon and the fried zucchini flower dish was to die for. The servers here also were very friendly and funny.
• Spaghetteria L’Archetto – So many pizza and pasta dishes to choose from!
• II Tempio Di Minerva – Pasta carbonara and ravioli with truffle & spinach
• La Gelateria Frigidarium – Gelato!!! 1 scoop costs 2€

Because of our short time I didn’t get to see as much as I would have liked to, not to mention that the heat was a killer, so every day we had to come back home to take breaks. I will be sure to come back to Rome so if you have any recommendations on other cool places or your favorite restaurants please share.

If you’ve enjoyed my Explore Rome On A Budget blog, check out another guide to Montepulciano, Italy – Wine Country!