TripHip - Travel Tips and Advice for Traveling on a Budget

Some of the most popular things people want to see when they visit Rome, are all the Roman ruins. You might be surprised that these sites can often have admission fees and certain hours of operation. I know I was surprised to find that out.

Sites like the Colosseum, the Forum, Capitoline Hill, Palatine Hill and the catacombs on the Appia Antica will all require an admission fee.

On the other hand, the Pantheon is free. I guess that's not really a ruin but I thought I'd mention it anyway.

If you're a traveler in Rome wandering around the Historic Centre - the Centro Storico - you're almost certain to come across one of two kinds of restaurants. The first is the charming back-alley trattoria, with lovingly crafted homecooked meals, fresh and delicious, redolent of freshly grown and ground herbs, with charming waiters and reasonable prices. The second is a noisy restaurant offering mediocre antipasti, soggy pasta, overcooked vegetables, and a bill that seems to inflate faster than a hot air balloon. Rome is unfortunately more susceptible than most cities to that dreaded "tourist trap" culture. So, what's a traveler to do?

The first thing to do is look for restaurants outside major tourist squares like Campo dei Fiori or Piazza Navona, and rather focus on side-streets or hidden piazzas. Menus with pictures of the food are a definite no-no, as are waiters actively getting you to come in (if the restaurant were so amazing, why would he need to hawk customers off the street), and English language menus posted outside should also be a warning side, although this isn't quite so dire as the others. Recommended restaurants in the Centro Storico include Pier Luigi, in Piazza Ricci, Da Luigi, off Corso Vittorio Emmanuelle II, and Trattoria da Moretta, in the piazzetta of the same name by the Tiber River.

The second thing to do is try to order traditional Roman dishes, which are likely to be the best prepared. If you're feeling brave, don't ask for a menu, but just ask your waiter "Che cosa e buono oggi?" (KAY KOSAH AY BWONO OH-GEE/What's good today?) and let him decide - but be sure he's not going to rack up a 100 euro bill first! What he dishes up is likely to be the house special, based on the freshest ingredients available. Second best is to order something traditionally Roman off the menu. Artichokes (carciofi) alla romana are one good bet; another is carciofi alla giudea, fried in the traditional Sephardic Jewish way. For the culinary adventurous, offal like tripe, oxtail, and osso bucco are classic, but more moderate specialties include anchovies, chicken "al forno" (roasted in the oven, ideally with "patate arrosto" - potatoes) and pasta "amatriciana." For a side dish, ask for spinachi "in padella" - sauteed with garlic, olive oil, and tomatoes, and you can't go wrong with fresh fruit or gelato for dessert!