Taking a Cab, not so bad and other Rome, Italy Transportation Tips

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Other
Getting TO/AROUND: "Rome is a city best seen on foot" is what I have read and readily agree with. However, there are times when you are just exhausted from walking but still want to go see the city. We took a taxi several times throughout our stay in Rome and found that not only was it inexpensive and convenient, it was also an experience in itself. The driving in Rome is absolutely crazy (Naples is worse) and being able to experience that from the perspective of being in the car was exciting and fun. Also, we almost always had a nice cab driver who would give us facts about places we would drive by in his broken English. Back to the inexpensive part: If you stay in the city center, you can pretty much spend no more than 7-10 Euro on a cab ride. It can be more at night as the base price may be a bit higher. This is also the case if you take a cab from the train station. However, this is no comparison to getting a cab in NYC. So in conclusion, I highly recommend this type of transportation when your feet are hurting or when you are lost, it is worth the money.

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'Mode': AROUND
Category: Subway/Metro
Getting TO/AROUND: The Metro is a great resource to use to get around Rome, especially all the major tourist sights. It costs just 1 Euro for a trip, but you can purchase a 24 hour pass, 3 day pass, a weekly pass, and there are other deals as well. We found this mode of transportation to be so convenient and easy to follow. The metro basically has 2 lines- Line A and Line B. Both lines intersect at Termini, Rome's train station. I recommend finding accommodations close to a metro stop as this can be very convenient, especially when you are trying to maximize your time to see all the tourist spots. For example, we stayed by the Barberini stop and could get on the metro and be at the Ottaviano stop within 10 minutes to go to the Vatican. Or from the Barberini stop we could go to Termini and pick up Line B and be at the Coliseum within just a few minutes as well.

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'Mode': TO
Category: Train
Getting TO/AROUND: Trying to figure out the train system and purchasing train tickets was so daunting to me as I was planning my trip to Italy. It turns out that there are tons of trains and the process was quite easy so waiting until you get in to the country is the best advice.
The process is quite easy: We used the automated machines and just followed the prompts. You choose your arrival city, departure date and 2 hour time frame that you would like to depart within. Then the train schedule comes up and you can then choose what specific time and train you want to use. We traveled on the Eurostar, IC Plus, and Regional train- Eurostar being the nicest and most expensive, Regional being very cheap but kind of scary. We chose second class seats and these were comfortable and convenient. Once you choose your train and departure time, you then get to chose whether you want an aisle or window seat. Before you complete your purchase, it will ask you if you have a "fidelity card?" I don't know why it does this, but you just hit "no" and finish your purchase-the machine will take all types of credit cards and it will give you a receipt.
You can in this process buy for multiple people and in the case with us, we got one ticket for "2 Adults."
The ticket itself is in Italian so it can be tricky to figure out what it all means. The ticket will of course have your date of departure with the departure time on the left and then arrival date and time on the right. (Remember that if you are from the US the date will be switched with the day being first than the month).
Below the departure city and arrival city you will see for example, "Carrozza 006" which is the train or car # that you will be getting and "Posti 84, 87" are the Seat #'s that are reserved.
Remember to validate your tickets in the yellow ticket machines before you board the train. The yellow machines are located at almost every track and is easy to do.

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