hiya bucks in Bourne End, Flackwell Heath, Marlow, Wycombe, Wooburn June 2015 | Page 28

Travel Review: Rome … on a budget! For years Rome was a destination on our “to do” list but friends and family who visited this amazing city told us how expensive it was. However, not wanting to put the trip off any longer, we decided to “do” Rome on a budget. We booked our flights with Avios air miles (Tesco clubcard) and browsed the internet for the best deals on accommodation. We found a B&B on booking.com that had amazing reviews so we booked 3 nights at Colfelice B&B*. Located on the 5th floor of a quiet residential apartment block, 15 mins on the metro from the centre of Rome, Evaristo, our Host, had the whole bed and breakfast thing down to a tea (Twinings breakfast actually). A bottle of wine was waiting in our room for us, along with maps and other essential information on Rome, including details on the Roma pass. (This pass cost 36 Euros per person and allowed 3 days travel on the metro, trams and buses and entrance to two city museums, meaning we didn’t have to queue either; it proved to be a brilliant buy.) Our room was spacious and we also had our own private balcony. Rome is an amazing city and you are never more than a stone’s throw from an historical monument. We took the metro from our B&B station Colli Albani to Manzoni (5 stops) and walked to the Colosseum, the Roman Forum, Piazza Venezia and across the river to the Vatican City (allow at least 2 hours for the Vatican museum). It’s a long walk from the Colosseum to the Vatican, but there is so much to see along the way. There are loads of pavement cafes and pizzerias to choose from. Our benchmark price for a margarita pizza was 7 Euros and the pizzas were huge. Restaurants around Trastevere (the Vatican side of the river) were much cheaper – only 3 Euros for a pizza, and they were just as good and just as big as everywhere else (needless to say I put on half a stone living off pizza for 3 days but it was so tasty!). The Sistine Chapel, in the Vatican museum, whilst amazing, was equally matched we felt by many of the churches you can just pop into; Santa Maria del Popolo being one of our favourites. The Trevi Fountain was being restored so was under scaffolding but we had so many other things to look at we quickly moved on. We took the metro to Spagna and walked through the extensive park of Villa Borghese where you can hire bikes, go-carts and segways if you feel the need. The park was wonderfully peaceful and relaxing, with great views over the city. So did we manage to “do” Rome on a budget? Yes we did, and we can thoroughly recommend it to everyone. *Mention Hiya Bucks when booking Colfelice B&B and you might just get a discount. Helen & Roy To submit a Travel Review of a holiday, a day out or a local attraction you have visited recently please email [email protected] 28 To advertise in Hiya Bucks text or call 07947 349134