Two things...fashion and inexpensive hotel and junnk shops

Depending on time of year, jeans ma be too warm.

There is a Hilton attached to FCO, but it may not fit the definition of 'cheap'. Depends on your point of view. Any reason to not stay at the hotel the tour is using? Saves having to move

Do your junnk shopping at the end so you do not have to lug it around the entire trip. Street vendors selling off tarps are likely illegal. Every time the police approached, they wrapped u the tarps and ran. ( They should be on an Olympic track team). Finding shops should be no problem.

Note that since you arrive in the AM, you aren't likely to be able to check into a hotel until the afternoon anyway, so you might as well keep moving forward and head for the area where you're going to be. Take the leap.

Are you up to speed on jet lag?

Where does your tour start?

I would not stay at a hotel in/near the airport even if that where your tour starts. I was astounded every time I turned a corner in Rome, no matter how many times I'd been past the same place, lol! The surprises will not wear off before your tour!

My advice is not to stay walking distance from the airport. There's nothing to do there. Get a hotel in the historical center close to your tour hotel (or the same as your tour hotel if possible).

As far as dress, just wear clothes that fit well and are neat (in other words, the opposite of flannel pajamas).

Maybe Zoe or someone who lived or traveled a lot in Rome can give some advice on flea markets...I'm sure there are some (somewhere).

Hi Liz.

Stay in the centro storico where you can wander historic streets and easily use public transportation. That means anywhere from the Vatican area to Piazza Navona to the Pantheon to the area around Campo de' Fiori. Many like Hotel Smeraldo near Campo de' Fiori. I suggest you use www.Booking.com to get some ideas of places in the centro and prices. You will see places farther out that are cheaper but you will pay for that in transportation time and inconvenience.

I know Zoe has a couple of favorite places so hopefully she will weigh in, too.

I wear (and wore) jeans and athletic shoes all the time when in Roma. If you are going in the hot weather months (mid-June through mid-Sept) jeans are too hot. I wore dresses (Travelsmith has some nice choices) and sandals or linen pants in that season.

So would I be out of place with a nice pair of jeans and sneakers?

Heavens no. That's what my husband and I have worn on every trip to Europe including several to Italy. I don't like dresses or skirts so jeans or capris are my standard uniform. Most tourists will be casually, comfortably dressed, and even Italians dress differently for long days of sightseeing than for work. We saw jeans EVERYWHERE, and tees with graphics are common among younger folks of all sorts of nationalities. Anyway, no one cares what you wear as long as you're reasonably clean and tidy, and dressed appropriately for visiting the churches (no bared knees or shoulders).

The exception might be to dine at expensive restaurants but we don't go to posh places for dinner.

LOL, no American I know wears a fannypack. I saw them more often on older citizens from other countries, and they aren't really safe for stowing valuables anyway. I also haven't seen much for sweatpants on tourists regardless where they've been from.

Staying in your tour hotel a couple of days early would certainly be the most convenient. Alternatively, check out MonasteryStays.com - they list some very interesting and generally reasonably-priced accommodations that help support monasteries and convents.

If you have free time on Sunday morning, there is a BIG weekly flea market in Porta Portese.

I like Hotel Fori Imperiali Cavalieri, near the Colosseum but on a quiet backstreet.

From the airport, you can take the Leonardo Express to Roma Termini. Walk out the front doors to the taxi queue (it moves fast, don't take a cab from anywhere else). Or, buy a bus ticket at the newsstand by the exit and take bus #70 to the last via Cavour stop (just before the ruins of the imperial forums). Ask at the Flor gelateria for directions to the hotel, it's a couple of turns away.

Note: on weekends, the bus may take a different route and won't stop where you need it to. And overall the taxi is much better as an easy option.

Catch the train from the airport to the Termini (main train station) and stay in that area - convenient to most everything and handy for transit. There are dozens of hotels in and around Termini. We have used three different ones - Sonya, Aberdeen. and Contilla. They are not inexpensive but convenient with great breakfast (well, Contilla is so so). From there you can wander anywhere you want. One great advantage from a wondering standpoint is that a lot of buses go to Termini, therefore if you see a bus with Termini on the front sign, get on, it will take you home.

I tend to dress a little better than the average Am tourist. I am of the opinion that sloppy dressed tourists send the signal they haven't a clue as to what is happening and, therefore, moves up a notch or two on the pickpocket's target list. Why dress like a slob? So far with nearly a year's travel in the past 20+ years, we have never had a problem.

I wish I knew how to quote and reply to everyone. :(

The reason I'm not staying in the hotel where the tour begins is the cost..it's upwards of $400 a night! Was away too much for an extra two nights. As far as net lag, I've read a few ways to help combat it or at least make it more manageable. Any suggestions would be helpful though.

My plan for dressing is nice but comfy....its good to know jeans are ok..some places online poo-poo jeans but with all the walking I plan to do, jeans and sneakers with a nice t shirt or shirt would be great. My trip is the end of May..hopefully it won't be too hot.

I think staying in a convent or monestary would be amazing! Great idea! Now as far as flying in to FCO, what is the train station I use to get into the center of things? There are great hotel suggestions! Thank you!

Check the weather online the day before you leave to be sure jeans will be OK. It wasn't extremely hot in Rome in late May 2015, but that's just one year.

There's a rail station right at Fiumicino airport. You can take the Leonardo Express to Termini Station, or you can take a cheaper/slower regional train to Tiburtina. Tiburtina would be closer to hotels in Trastevere. For most other areas of the city where you'd be likely to stay, Termini will be more convenient.

There are much, much cheaper options in Rome than $400/night single rooms, that's for sure. The least expensive rooms will be quite small, and their showers will be about the size of phonebooths, so do check reviews on a site like booking.com before you make a final decision. It's sometimes the case that most or all of the double rooms in a hotel are a pretty decent size (and couples will have been pretty pleased with their rooms), then there are a few tiny single rooms crammed into odd spaces. I don't mind small rooms, but it's important to know what you're getting.

$400 a night? What kind of tour is that? I’ve never spent that much in a hotel in Italy (or anywhere actually).
If that is the price then maybe you can find a hotel across the street for under €150, which is already more than adequate for most mortals. There are plenty of great places to stay in Rome for well under 150€.
I wouldn’t worry about the way you dress. Wear what you want and do t worry about looking smart for the locals. Italians won’t give a hoot either way. They are all used to foreigners wearing their gym clothes straight out of the hamper, so they won’t even pay attention.

Definitely would recommend the places mentioned above a block or so from the main train station.
I have stayed at the Contila, Sonya and Aberdeen - they are budget hotels and just a short block or so from the main train station.
You can check prices on Booking.com or tripadvisor

When you wrote about the $400 hotel room, I figured you weren't talking about a Rick Steves tour. Have you ever considered a Rick Steves tour? It is not a super small-group tour like your Nada's Italy Tour (it's more like up to 28 people), but it's much less expensive and I doubt that much quality would suffer because the RS guides are top notch. You won't get the super fancy hotel rooms but you could take two Rick Steves tours (or his 17 day Best of Italy tour) for the price you're paying for your Nada's Italy Tour. I have never seen such an expensive Italy tour for 10 days as Nada's - $5,800, exclusive of airfare is super pricy, holy cow! Not even Scandinavia costs that much per day, and Italy is considerably cheaper than Scandinavia.

Do check out the Rick Steves tours next time and what you can get at different price points....you'll stretch your money a lot further and, for the same amount, you can stay in Italy a lot longer. I realize that comparing a luxury tour with a "comfortable" tour is not apples-to-apples, but I'm just putting it out there just in case in might spark an interest in the future (travel is all about trade-offs). The key behind the tour costs is that the price goes down when you're able to split the fixed costs (guides, bus driver, etc) among a larger group. That's why the large tour groups like Globus (up to 50 people) have fairly low prices, Rick Steves is somewhat in the middle, and very small group tours (6-12 people) cost considerably more per person.

If one of your pre-tour days is Sunday, you might consider going to the market at Porta Portese. Parts of it are like a big American flea market; the rest is stands selling daily necessities. Keep in mind that the market can be very crowded and you would want to be mindful of pickpockets, but it is off the beaten path and somewhat of an outdoor junk shop.

Not really a junk shop, per se, but I loved stopping by Polvere di Tempo in Trastavere. The owner/craftsman is a wonderful man. He makes maps, globes, hour glasses, classic maritime navigational instruments, and other stuff. Came away with a few gifts. He speaks fine English (and Portuguese I discovered). Anyway, its a great, unique little shop.

As for lodging, we spent under $100 per night for an AirBnB in Trastavere October 2016. When looking it seemed easy enough to find something in that range that was acceptable quality...

The fact that you asked this question tells me something important: "Now as far as flying in to FCO, what is the train station I use to get into the center of things?"

You don't have a guidebook, do you? Add up how much you're going to be paying for this trip and then compare the cost of the Rick Steves Rome or Italy guidebook. Then buy it. You'll thank me later.

"So would I be out of place with a nice pair of jeans and sneakers?"

This depends on where you are going.

"Italy is above the American casual with our graphic tees, fanny packs, shorts, black knees socks with sneakers, sweatpants, etc.,"

News flash, Italians wear graphic tees, and shorts and sneakers...sweatpants not so much, but neither do the majority of people I know unless they are flying when they want some warmth and comfort and even then there are sweatpants then there are sweatpants. You can be comfortable and look nice with the two being accomplished by most of my fellow travelers I see and talk to from all over the world.

Take the advise to buy a guidebook, rather than relying on the word of people on a forum. Italy is not complicated once you understand that Rome has several train stations as does Florence and the correct name of the one you want, in Italian and what the short names will be so you can purchase the correct ticket online or at a kiosk in Italy.

Since you are going on a Nada tour, and my observation is that they are pretty up-market and want to feel that way, you might consider not how you will look to Italians and other tourists as you travel but how you will feel and how you will blend in with the other members of your small group. Rather than asking if you will be out of place in Italy ask yourself if you will be out of place in that group.

Some of the photos they have on their website may give a clue, or you can write or call Nadas and ask for advice.

If I were staying in $400 hotels (I never have, the most is the Sofitel in Rome off the via Veneto which only about half that) I don't think I would be in printed t-shirts or jeans. Maybe others would be, but not me....