ckendall

One more quick addendum to the above; if you have an older, still working cell phone, you can install the Italian SIM on that and keep your regular phone as a backup (or vice versa). I have an older phone that has my Vodafone SIM that is pretty zippy for data use (and has a local number when I need to say call a restaurant for a reservation) and keep my US Tmobile phone to remain in contact with people who do not know where I am.

JMN57

That's a good solution - also if you have a hotspot that works. There are a number of more complex workarounds - example, if you have Google Voice, you can forward your US cell # to that and answer on Google Voice if you have a data plan...

iapetus

+1 I have the same plan with Verizon. It's not cheap (and my employer doesn't reimburse, though I kinda think they should), but the ease of use and peace of mind using my phone easily make it worth the $10/day to me.

coolmuke

Thank you all. I will add roaming to my sprint plan.
Questions on Rome -
I will be staying near Roma Termini and these are the places I plan to visit the first day-
Colosseum, Piazza Venezia, Castel Sant'Angelo
I saw on the map and looks like I can take metro to Colosseum and then walk to Piazza Venezia. Any recommendations on how I can get to Castel Sant'Angelo and back to Roma Termini
Later in the evening if time permits, I can take metro to Spagna to get to Spanish Steps.
Looks good?

coolmuke

Do you recommend Hop on hop off bus?

travellingbum

I think the area around Termini is sketchy at best. Would stay in any other part of Rome, regardless of transportation options or where I wanted to visit.

coolmuke

I already made the booking. I thought it will be convenient and so read the reviews and booked.

Perche

What reviews are you referring to?

coolmuke

Perche

Then you are sunk, sorry to say, unless you have a refundable reservation. I will never understand the logic of using "reviews" like hotels.com, TripAdvisor, and others. I do not see how someone who has only been to Rome once, usually for 2-3 days and leaves a review, can be taken as a valid opinion about where to stay in Rome. They've only stayed at one place, so how would they know which place is better than another?

No one likes to have, "buyer's remorse," so no matter what, they almost always say that their vacation was great, unless they have a particular gripe. How would they know how one hotel stacks up against another. I don't know exactly how many neighborhoods there are in Rome, I think 23. Anyone who has only been to Rome once for a few days hass probably stayed in only one neighborhood, so how would they know whether it is better to stay near Termini, the train station, vs, Parione? They probably wouldn't even know if they were in Parione (hint, think Piazza Navona and Campo de Fiori). Do they know about Rione Ludovisi, probably the best shopping area in all of Rome? Rione Monti, with it's almost untouched Roman neighborhood feel? They never heard of it, because they probably only spent two days in Rome, so how could they be relied upon to give you advice about where to stay? There is probably not a worse place to stay in Rome than near Termini.

Using reviews are like somebody coming from Finland to visit NY City and staying at some hotel in the Bronx. They loved being in NYC, and write that it was awesome, but they stayed in the Bronx (I went to post-grad school in the Bronx, so I can knock it)! What do they know about hotels in Manhattan? It doesn't make any sense to rely on people who have only been to a city for a few days to provide expertise about that city.

It's similar to using TripAdvisor to find a place to eat, or a place to stay. Why would a tourist in Rome for three days have any idea which restaurant is better than another? Most importantly, the reviews are often fake. Italy fines them fairly regularly, because they pay college students for fake reviews for every hundred that they write. Kids put themselves through college by writing reviews.

There is a huge problem with fake reviews, and people writing on the basis of a one hit wonder holiday. Manipulation of reviews is why as a joke, a few college students in England made a homeless shelter rank as the best hotel in the U.K. It's why a non-existent restaurant in Italy was ranked as having 3 Michelin stars, when it was actually an abandoned police station in a ghost town. Of all of the fantastic restaurants in Rome, they listed a food truck as the best restaurant in, and in Venice the best restaurant according to reviews is a take-out place in San Marco Square that serves the food in boxes like Chinese take-out food, because it has no seats or tables, so you are expected to eat outside in the street, where the police will give you a fine for eating on the street in Piazza San Marco.

Reviews are like asking the least informed people what their opinion is. There are many knowledgeable people on this website, and I don't think that there is anyone who would tell you that you should stay near the Termini. The only exception is if you are landing in the evening and taking a train out early the following morning, so there is no point in staying in any particular place if you have to be at the train station at 7AM. Otherwise, Termini is not the place to stay.

On CNN there was a recent article, "Is this the best restaurant in the world?" It was a place called, "The Shed," in Dulwich, England. The only problem was, it didn't exist. It was a guy with a barbecue in his backyard. But the reviews made it the best restaurant in London. He posted photos of a bleach tablet covered with shaving cream as an example of his fine deserts .Only two people ever booked the place, and it was based on the reviews. The guy wrote about how he had to run down to the supermarket to buy food for them because he was stunned that anyone would actually eat in his backyard, because, it started off as a joke.

Curiously enough, the couple that came ate basically ate English takeout-food in his dirty back yard, and still, the knowing couple wrote a review saying that it was the best meal they ever had.

In Italy, relying on reviews of people who have only been in Italy for a few days doesn't make much sense. You should really try to cancel. I hate to sound like I'm trying to ruin your vacation. I am sure that people would say they stayed near Termini and had a great time, like someone who comes to San Francisco and stays in Daly City, not at Union Square, there is a problem with relying in reviews of a city by people who have only been there once for a few days.

coolmuke

Ok. I am going to try to cancel my reservation. I am arriving by train and will reach roma Termini at 10pm. Which neighborhood do you recommend for 2 adults with 6 year old and 2 year old. I will also have couple of big baggages.

Perche

First, make sure you reserve another place first, so that you are not homeless. Find a place as close as possible to the Pantheon that is within your budget.

The children will be free on the Leonardo Express from the airport to Termini (I assume you don't want to take a local train at that hour, and after a long flight with children), but it will cost 28 euros for the two adults. Then, from Termini you can't really walk to anywhere nice with two children and lots of luggage at night. It's not even safe around Termini at 10 PM. Just take a taxi from the airport to your hotel. It will cost 48 euros for all of you, the same as the train and a cab more or less, and you'll be in your hotel in half an hour. Just find a hotel that is within your means that is a close to the Pantheon as you can get. That's the sort of thing you can use travel websites for, but never for the clueless ratings.

slawecki

MAYBE POSTED IN WRONG PLACE, but answering post above.
we have made 2 RT on the AA vacation plan. we booked IAD-ATH and IAD-LIS in J. ENDED UP BWI-LHR-ATH. AND BWI-LHR-LIS. on both trips, we ended up on a BA 767 that i think was built during wwII. the tickets were odd, sort of AA on BA. NO FUEL SURCHARGE!!! we could not reserve seats, but was not a problem, as we were assigned seats, and i dID not mind much sitting next to wife. no problems getting a wheelchair. went through lhr on all segments.

THE SAVINGS were fantastic, and well worth the hassle of all the digging. about 6500 for 2, with lux hotels in center ATH AND LIS. FOR 2 WEEKS EACH.

coolmuke

I am taking train from venice with stopover in florence. Will keep the luggage in the locker in florence station and walk around and take evening train to rome.

Perche

OK, that helps to know. That's going to be a heck of an unsatisfactory day for all of you.