Italy (Rome)

    Oooh... Rome! The iconic city in Italy where one can find plenty to do. We bought our tickets online from Wizzair with 51 Euros / person leaving from Cluj Napoca and 38 Euros / person for the return trip in Tîrgu Mureş. Tickets were a bit more expensive than we expected due to the period of our trip, around the 1st of May, when they also have a national holiday in Italy. We landed at the Ciampino airport (A on map) just outside Rome and there are bus companies that can take you to the city centre. A one way ticket to the Termini station in the center of Rome is 3.9 Euros per individual, the trip takes 30 - 35 minutes, but we discovered it's much more convenient to buy a two way ticket for 7 Euros since sometimes there is a long line when returning to the airport from Termini and people holding two way tickets have priority boarding the bus.

   In Rome, a public transportation ride costs 1.5 Euros and can take no longer than 100 minutes. Buying a Rome Travel Pass is however more convenient, espe- cially if you are staying outside of Rome, like we did. We found a cheap camping named Seven Hills Village (↑location) in La Giustiniana, just north of Rome, and for a total of 31 Euros we stayed 4 nights in a bungalow, but also had to pay a 2 Euros per day resort tax. The Rome Travel pass can be used in any public transport such as train, tram, metro or bus and costs 6 Euros (1 day), 16,50 Euros (3 days), 24 Euros (7 days). You will need to validate the tickets on every ride you take.

     We mostly visited the co-mmonly known attractions in Rome, the Colosseum, the Roman Forum (←), Palatine Hill (all B on map), the ama-zing Pantheon (C on map), some other cool squares, boulevards and sites. We really enjoyed the Tiberiana Island (↑) on the Tevere river (D on map), Piazza del Popolo (E on map) and some common streets where we could escape the massive waves of tourists. Tickets for the Colosseum / Roman Forum / Palatine Hill are sold together as a pack. If you want to purchase it there, waiting in line will take 30 minutes to 2 hours due to the high number of tourists and will cost 12 Euros / person (7.5 Euros for 18 to 25 years old), the tickets can also be bought online for 16 Euros (11.5 Euros for 18 to 24 years old) without the waiting in line part. All tickets are valid for 2 days.

      
     At the Vatican (F on map), the museums are closed on national holidays, but we got to see the San Pietro square and the St. Peter's Basilica (←). We waited in line for 1 hour 45 minutes to reach the metal detector entrance for the Basilica. It was really impressive and huge, and since you are there you might consider climbing on the top of the large dome. Access fee for the dome is 5 Euros / person if you want to take the stairs and 7 Euros for the elevator option. Guess which one we took? :)

     If you're looking to have a cappuccino and a lasagna in a nice place, and you definitely should, try to find a more remote restaurant since all the locations close to the touristic attractions are much more expensive, just as expected. Coffee is about 1.5 Euros in most of the places and a meal is around 6 - 12 Euros. Do not hesitate to try the Birra Moretti and the local ice cream is a delicious delight not worth missing.

     The city has really cool places to see and amazing history but there are way too many tourists on the narrow streets, in the squares and virtually everywhere.