10 Of The Best Ways To Enjoy Rome … On A Budget

Villa Doria Pamphili, Rome. Photograph: Alamy

Roam in Rome and savour its art – old and modern – ruins, regional food and music for free or just a few euros

Keep the kids happy: public parks and picnics

When the unrelenting sunshine at archeological sites and the absence of air-conditioning in museums is too much for kids and parents alike, go to one of the city’s public parks where umbrella pines provide shade, fresh fountains abound and vast lawns are ripe for lounging. Stock up on picnic provisions at one of the city’s markets, such as Mercato Trionfale (Via Andrea Doria), or Mercato di Testaccio (Via Galvani) and retreat to Villa Doria Pamphili (Via di San Pancrazio), a former noble estate above Trastevere that covers 450 acres. For an archeology-focused outing, the Parco degli Aquedotti (Via Lemonia 256) and Parco della Caffarella (Via della Caffarella) host ruins in their free public pastures.

A museum alternative: privately run archeological sites

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 The Church of San Nicola in Carcere. Photograph: Alamy

Tickets to state-operated museums and archeological sites often come with a steep price tag but visitors can find more affordable admission at privately run venues. A visit to the temple ruins beneath the Church of San Nicola in Carcerecosts €2-€3, paid to the guardian seated near the church entrance. A few streets away from the Colosseum, the Church of San Clemente charges €5 for entrance to its subterranean archeological sites consisting of a first-century city block, a second-century Mithraic sanctuary, and a fourth-century church. Nearby, theCase Romane del Celio rests above an ancient residential quarter; the full ticket price is €6. Just steps from the crowds at the Trevi fountain, €3 buys access to theVicus Caprarius, two first-century buildings and a medieval complex, all of which is narrated by terrific signage.

Let street art dazzle you

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 Big City Life is a project by Stefano Antonelli and Francesca Mezzano in Rome. Photograph: Alamy

For the price of a €1.50 bus ticket, visitors can reach the peripheral districts of Tor Marancia and Trullo where street art has been used to revitalise neighbourhoods and stimulate community ties. In both zones, internationally renowned street artists have collaborated to paint whole city-block facades with geometric and figurative murals. Closer to the centre of town, the Ostiense, Garbatella and Testaccio districts, all accessible by the Metro B, have become palates for local street artists. Likewise, Tor Pignattara, Pigneto and Centocelle, all east of the centre, are awash with the colours of murals and posters.

Taste some gourmet gelato

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 Photograph: Lisa Kyle Young/Getty Images

The frozen treat remains the city’s most accessible gourmet snack. For €2-€3, visitors can indulge in freshly churned gelato and sorbet made with stellar ingredients. Go to Via Vodice and you’ll discover that at Al Settimo Gelo pistachio and hazelnut are natural pairs. Carapina’s (Via dei Chiavari 37) seasonal fruit sorbets, such as cantaloupe and apricot, perfectly translate the intensity of the season’s produce and Fatamorgana, Il Gelato (both with multiple city locations) and Otaleg (Via dei Colli Portuensi) serve creatively flavoured scoops made with natural ingredients – no longer a given in Rome’s increasingly commercial gelato industry.

Fresh designs: take in public contemporary architecture

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 The MAXXI, National Museum of 21st Century Arts. Photograph: Alamy

Rome may not have a reputation as a modern city but that doesn’t mean there aren’t pockets of contemporary architecture to be found. The Flaminio district, which is just outside the third-century Aurelian Walls, is rife with stunning 20th- and 21st-century architecture. Hop on the No 2 tram at Piazzale Flaminio (the standard ticket, valid for 100 minutes, costs €1.50) and ride north for seven stops to the Tiziano/Apollodoro stop. Just 200 yards away, Zaha Hadid’s MAXXI house’s Rome’s collection of 21st-century art. The collection itself has an entry fee but lounging around the manicured grounds in the shade of the angular concrete structure is free. A few streets west, Luigi Nervi’s Palazzetto dello Sport and Renzo Piano’s Auditorium are gorgeous examples of contemporary architecture and both are surrounded by public spaces perfect for appreciating the buildings free of charge.

Dine at the markets

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 Mordi e Vai, Rome. Photograph: Katie Parla

Rome’s 125 city-run food markets are fantastic destinations for an immersion in what’s fresh, seasonal and authentic. Until recently, they sold mainly raw materials, but since opening in a new space in 2012, the Testaccio neighbourhood’s market has begun selling prepared foods to eat in or take away. Numerous stalls, many of which are along the Via Beniamino Franklin side of the market, cater to market vendors and students from the adjacent university. Mordi e Vai, which is owned by a former butcher, specialises in simmered meat and offal sandwiches, while Dess’Art does Sicilian specialities such as panelle(chickpea fritter) sandwiches, arancini (fried rice balls) and cannoli. Nearby, Da Artenio sells pizzas, roasted vegetables and other baked goods to take away.

Sounds of summer: concerts and festivals

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 Marina Rei and Carmen Consoli perform at Eutropia festival, Rome, July 2015. Photograph: Roberto Panucci/Demotix/Corbis

Inside the city’s former slaughterhouse on Largo Dino Frisullo, in Testaccio,Eutropia features mainly Italian rock acts (as well as a few international stars; concerts through to September, ticket prices vary), while the RomaRock festivalat the Capannelle racing track draws international pop, rock and electronic artists, such as Robbie Williams, Lenny Kravitz, and The Chemical Brothers (events till September, various ticket prices). The Roma Incontra Il Mondo festivalat the Vill’Ada hosts an eclectic mix of contemporary musicians from €5-€15, while the courtyard of the Church of Sant’Ivo alla Sapienza hosts theInternational Chamber Ensemble (Corso Rinascimento 40). Full price tickets cost €20. Gay Village (Parco del Ninfeo, Via delle Tre Fontane), the long-established LGBT festival, offers dining venues, theatrical performances, concerts, a disco and even cooking classes; admission ranges from €10-€18.

Accommodation on a budget

 Generator Hostel, Rome

Trendy hostel brand Generator has a property on Via Principe Amedeo near Stazione Termini. It’s still in the process of being given the full Generator treatment but should be fully operational in early 2016. In the meantime, double rooms start at €105. When the Generator is completely up and running, there will be more than 250 beds in roughly 78 rooms – and a rooftop terrace. North of the station, on Via Marghera, the well-loved and long-established Beehive remains the standard in pleasant budget accommodation and rents hostel beds from €25 and private guestrooms with shared bathrooms from €40. There is a lovely garden and a vegetarian cafe on site.

Great masters’ art – in situ

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 Venus and Cupid fresco by Raphael at the Villa Farnesina. Photograph: Alamy

The Vatican Museums entry fee is a whopping €16 (€20 if you book tickets online) but there are plenty of places to see in situ works by the same masters represented in the Vatican’s halls and chapels. In Trastevere, the Villa Farnesinaon Via della Lungara, features frescoes by Raphael and Il Sodoma for €6. At Sant’Agostino (Piazza di Sant’Agostino) near Piazza Navona, access to a Raphael fresco and Caravaggio painting is free. Michelangelo’s Moses and Christ the Redeemer statues, which are displayed in San Pietro in Vincoli and Santa Maria Sopra Minerva in Piazza della Minerva respectively, are both free to view. VisitSan Luigi dei Francesi (on Piazza di San Luigi dei Francesi) and Santa Maria del Popolo (Piazza del Popolo) for glimpses of Caravaggio’s moody oil paintings in the very chapels in which they were meant to hang – rather than an out-of-context museum setting.

Get archeological on Via Appia Antica

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 The Baths of Caracalla. Photograph: Alamy

The costs for admission to the archeological sites along the Via Appia Antica, ancient Rome’s most famous highway, range from free to just €6. The Museo delle Mura, on Via di Porta San Sebastiano, is a small museum recounting the history of the city’s third-century defensive walls – it’s free and permits you to walk along part of the ancient wall circuit. Admission to the Circus of Maxentius and adjacent Mausoleum of Romulus is free. The Capo di Bove’s (Via Appia Antica 222) excavations, also free, feature a private imperial bathing complex and include access to a small museum with maps and historic photos that show the Appia zone’s development over the past century and a half. The €6 ticket for the Tomb of Cecilia Metella, a first-century-BC mausoleum near the Appia’s second milestone, is valid for seven days and covers visits to the Baths of Caracalla (Viale delle Terme di Caracalla), as well as a sprawling noble estate called the Villa dei Quintili (Via Appia Nuova 1092).

Contributed by Katie Parla, www.theguardian.com

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