Tips for traveling around Rome, Italy

If you haven't yet, check out my post about my Rome trip here!

So what is what?

What is Termini Station?

The mother of all transport station in Rome.

Credits to this website

Some Italian phrase that I mostly used are just Grazie, Si, No, Permesso, and Scusi. 

Internet

1. Need to call? Want to use internet on your phone when you're out and about?You can only buy a sim card at the store itself. More info here.
2. Wi-Fi can be found easily in restaurants and cafe. But in order to use it, you have to dine in (naturally).

Transportation/Navigation

1. Buy bus tickets online or at the bus ticket booth. Terravision is a good website to buy your ticket online, it might be cheaper to buy online too as I bought mine for 5 or 6 Euro for one-way and 8 Euro for return ticket at the booth. If you decided to buy it at the booth, be prepared to queue up for the line. If you buy online, you can skip the line to change your receipt for the ticket at the booth.
2. To use the public transport legally, you need to have a ticket before using the public transport there. 
3. Public transport are confusing but it saves time (if it is far and not in walking distance). You can find the routes from the internet yourself but it will be very confusing. Instead, ask your hostel receptionist or the tourist information center as they know better and they can tell you which transport to take in order to get some where. 
4. Get an offline map on your smartphone! I used Ulmon but I think there's plenty of offline map app out there.

For the budget/student traveler

1. Always have your student card with you if you have them. Most of the museums has reduced rate for students. Some are even free for students in the faculty of art or architecture. 
2. Do check on the opening hours of the places that you want to visit as some times, some are closed at some certain day and also some have free entrance at some certain day too. Example, free entry on every first Sunday of the month for Colosseum, Sant' Angelo Museum, and etc.  

Food

1. For the best Gelato experience, find the shops that make their own gelato flavors! I recommend people to try the chocolate family (which has like 4-8 diff types, any one will do) and also the pistachio flavor. For the best Gelato experience, find the shops that make their own gelato flavors! I recommend people to try the chocolate family (which has like 4-8 diff types, any one will do) and also the pistachio flavor. 
2. Restaurants which are famous are always full, so it is better to call them up and make a reservation so that you don't have to wait that long!
3. If you want to be on the safe side and make sure you don't experience bad food in Rome, just google it up. I'm sure you'll find a lot on the internet. For me, I'm more about budget and I found these two websites helpful: 
• http://www.ladyironchef.com/2014/03/rome-top-10-budget-restaurants/
• http://budgettraveller.org/cheap-eats-guide-rome/

Places of Interest

• Campo de' Fiori. Best to come to the market from 7am - 1pm on Monday till Saturday. They sell fresh fruits and veges here. There are also a number of restaurants in this piazza. Avoid Sundays as the real market are close on this day. 
• Vatican Museum. Do not be tempted to buy "skip the line" offers from people on the streets. They offer them at a much higher price!!! Instead, line up to go into the entrance of the Museum, go inside, pass the security check, and buy your ticket at the ticket booth indoor. 
• The Colosseo have long lines constantly. It's best if you go to the Palatine Hill entrance to buy your ticket because there's not much people there. The ticket is like a three in one package, so with the same ticket you can go to Palatine Hill, Roman Forum and also the Colosseo.
• You can skip the line to get into the Colosseo if you already have the ticket. Ignore the line, most of them are lining up to get the ticket. Just follow left.
• If you want more out of your visits instead of just being there and taking pictures. I advise you to get a tour guide or better, get an audio tour (you can walk at your own pace and you don't have to squeeze in with the other tourists). Just so that you can learn more about the place that you're standing on. Knowledge is power and it wouldn't hurt to know more right? 
• Visit the Spanish Steps, Piazza Navona, Trevi Fountain, and nearby areas at night! They look so much better without crowds. 
• Trevi Fountain is still under restoration (posted this on 16 April 2015) and might be finished by Fall 2015 (or much later I guess).

Others

• Remember to check the weather reading. If you know it is going to rain, bring an umbrella or a poncho with you. At least you know what to expect.

I hope this helps to my readers although it's not a very long and descriptive post. Plus, I'm sure there's a lot more post out there offering advices on Rome trips. These are just my personal opinions on things and I wished someone would told me about them beforehand. Finally, the most important part is don't stress and plan too much! I find just going with the flow and being in the moment works magic. Even though I planned a lot, I ended up not following them. Aite then, ciao!