Preparing to arrive in Rome

Before arriving in Rome you can prepare a lot of things in advance in your home country to make the beginning of your Erasmus less stressful.

Accommodation:

As soon as you receive confirmation that you are going to Rome, start looking for accommodation. Accommodation in Rome is expensive. Good quality and reasonably priced accommodation in a nice area is very rare and you have to get there early to get one.

• Tip 1: Never sign anything before visiting the apartment, scams are common in Rome.
• Tip 2: Try to go to Rome in early July so you can visit the apartments that will be available in September. During this time, you'll be spoiled for choice.
• Tip 3: If you don't really want to get an apartment before arriving and you'd rather look when you get there. Book a hostel in advance. Cheap hostels in good areas fill up quickly.

Source

Travel:

• Tip 1: Find out if certain airlines have Erasmus discounts. Brussels Airlines offers a return ticket for €200 with 53 kilos of luggage and the return date can be changed once free of charge.
• Tip 2: Look at the various means of transport for getting to the city centre from the airport. Some are more expensive and quicker,

  others cheaper but more convenient... the Leonardo express train brings you from Fiumicino airport to Termini station in 30 minutes and costs €15 per person, there is one that leaves every 30-45 minutes. The shuttle bus, my favourite means of transport, costs €6 if you book online, it drops you off in via crescenzio in the Vatican side of the city, it takes 45 minutes with free Wifi on board.

• Tip 3: Make sure to always have small change or €5 notes on you. The metro only has ticket machines which only accept €10 notes if you buy 6 tickets, €20 notes if you buy 12 tickets... So if you only want one or two tickets then be careful to always have €5 in your pocket. Metro tickets cost €1. 50 each and are only valid for one journey. There are subscriptions but I never inquired about the prices.

Phone:

• Tip 1: One of the first things you need to do when you arrive in Rome is to get an Italian Sim Card. There are different agencies. Personally, I chose Wind, I had a student subscription of €12 per month (really €15 because they don't know how to do €12 top-ups, it's either €5-10 or €15) for 3000 free texts, 300 minutes free calls and 3gb of internet