Spending 5 Nights / 4 Days in Rome + 1 Day Trip to Pompeii

David, without knowing which sites you plan to visit in Rome it's impossible to suggest if a "sites pass" will be of benefit to you. You can check out the romapass but be aware that unless you visit at least three sites covered by the pass and use public transportation a few time the pass will not save you money. You can easily book skip the line entry tickets to specific sites online, which will save you time.

If you can provide a list of sites we can offer more assistance.

http://www.romapass.it/?l=en

You can buy your train ticket to Naples online now and book a super economy fare if they are still available. These tickets are non refundable or changeable so be sure of your plans before buying them. Be aware that this will put you over your daily budget as well.

http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=4ddd1a035296f310VgnVCM1000005817f90aRCRD

Enter roma termini and napoli centrale as your stations. From Naples you'll need to take the commuter train to the ruins. You can buy those tickets at the station in Naples.

Donna

David, I am concerned about your budget. Admission to some of the major sights can be $11 or so (Pompeii, for example). How are you allocating your daily budget? Not to pry, but have you calculated actual costs?

I appreciate any budget concerns. I'm attempting right now to finalize my expected costs for each stop of my tour of Europe. I have some room to increase my budget, but I still want to keep it limited. I will be traveling light, and sleeping where I can. I welcome any suggestions concerning what my daily budget should look like, and or pricing information. Thanks so much!

• David

You should check each homepage for the sights you want to see and add up the costs. Then you will know if it is worth getting a pass.

In Roma, a single metro, bus or tram ride is about 1.5 euro for a little over an hour in one direction (validate the ticket or you may pay a fine, transfers in the same direction of travel are free). You can buy a daily ticket but if you are a good walker it may not be worth it - the day ticket expires at midnight, you would have to use it at least three times in one day for it to pay off.

Your city-to-city transportation costs may be more than you think as well - from your other posts, you are also planning to travel outside Italy. Go to each national train website to price each of your tickets. Discounted fares are available if you want to buy in advance, but then you are committed to that train at that time/date, and you will have to buy a new ticket if you don't make the train (unless a connecting train on the same ticket is late). In Italy, regionale trains are cheap, but many routes are only covered by fast trains (advance purchase tickets from 9euro to 39euro for most trips).

Food is usually the most flexible budget item, but it costs something to eat every day! Even if you live on grocery store pre-made items or pizza-by-weight, it adds up.

I don't know what "sleeping where I can" means, you need at least a hostel-type place to lay your head, or couch-surfing.

My most frugal estimate would be 10 euro per day for museums and sights (average), 5 euro for intracity transportation and snacks (standing up), 15 euro per day for meals (average); that leaves 40 euro per day for intercity travel and lodging.

I think the timing of your itinerary is fine and I think you would have time to do the other things you are interested in. Victor Emmanuel is close proximity to the Colosseum and the Forum and soaking in the magnitude of the building is free. Galleria Borghese is (in my opinion) a bargain at 11 euro. But max time in there is 2 or 2.5 hours so technically more expensive on a euro per hour basis.

For budget, a dorm room in Rome is about 25-30 euro a day. When I was a hostel traveler, it seemed like there were less hostels in Rome than other big European cities and booked up quickly. I am not sure if that is still true but I would recommend making reservations as soon as you decide your itinerary.

I presume you were planning on taking the fast train to Naples to make Pompeii a more reasonable day trip. Round trip, this will cost about 60 euro assuming you buy tickets in advance and there are still discount tickets left. Full price would be 80-90euro. The slower trains are cheaper but will shorten your sightseeing time.

Churches in Rome are plentiful, full of art, and free. So research sights other than St Peters and the Pantheon. I am using the word "church" in the most general definition. I remember a conversation recently about church vs. basilica vs. other and I am probably getting it wrong. But the point, great places to go, especially if you are trying to keep the budget to a minimum.

Thanks for your advice. Saw everything and more except the catacombs but I did go to the the Capuchin Crypt. I went to Pompeii and Herculaneum as well. Rome was so very beautiful. Maybe I will find an excuse to return sooner than later, but next year the plan so far is to visit Northern Italy. Pisa, Florence, Milan, Venice--so I welcome any suggest for those locations.

Sincerely,
David

David, so glad it worked out for you. Note that Northern Italy is a bit more expensive.