Students will be accommodated in apartments. All the apartments are situated in the same complex, located in the Trastevere neighborhood. Although the apartments differ in size, price and number of occupants, they all share some standards: kitchen area with small fridge and hot plate, small bathroom, basic kitchen utensils, no dishwasher, weekly house cleaning (but no dish-washing) and change of linens, utilities.
The Trastevere neighborhood is one of the most exciting places to live in Rome. It is an old neighborhood, considered an especially traditional Roman neighborhood, even though now it has become a residence for intellectuals, artists, and tourists. It has small picturesque streets, artisan shops, and many of the most beautiful churches, museums, and monuments in Rome. It has also recently become a center for nightlife in Rome, with some of the best restaurants, pizzerie, and bars in town.
To get a better idea of RILA’s apartments and classroom locations, click on the map below.
Although the RILA housing arrangement is intended to be a source of camaraderie, students who wish to live by themselves or with Italians should feel free to get alternative housing in Rome on their own. RILA cannot take any responsibility for making alternative arrangements or for the consequences of such arrangements. top of page
· Meals
Students will be responsible for their meals. Student apartments will be equipped with everything needed to prepare simple meals. To buy food in Italy, the cheapest and easiest solution is the supermarket, which is generally much smaller than American supermarkets but still very well furnished, and food quality is often very high. An alternative is presented by the “Alimentari”, which are traditional small food stores still present all over Rome. They represent a more characteristic alternative, although generally also a more expensive one. During orientation, soon after your arrival in Rome, you will be given a list of supermarkets, as well as other facilities, in the area around your apartment.
For eating out, Rome offers a fantastic variety of restaurants, pizzerie, pizze a taglio (stands with slices of pizza), cafés, bars, pubs, fast foods, etc. for all kind of tastes and prices. Food is generally very good, so do not be afraid to try new dishes and places. Two useful notes if you eat out: a service charge is always included in your bill; Italians usually leave just a small symbolic tip for the waiter (5% or less). Also, there is nothing like the American “doggy bag” tradition.
As you will certainly notice soon, alcoholic beverages are sold everywhere in Italy with no restriction on age or public consumption. Nevertheless, it’s pretty rare to see drunken Italians: we warmly invite you to follow the local example.
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· Cell phone Internet Laptop
RILA is committed to its students’ safety and security, so we require each student to have a working cellular phone while enrolled in our courses. You will be required to have your cell phone turned on, charged, and with you at all times during the month in Rome to enable RILA staff to reach you for everyday communications pertaining your classes, as well as in the event of an emergency.
Please be sure to communicate your cell phone number to your family before leaving the U.S. so they can contact you during your time abroad.
If you already have a cell phone, please be aware that mobile phones in the US work on different frequency bands than in Europe (i.e., 850MHz and 1900MHz in the US and Canada, 900MHz and 1800MHz in Europe and more or less the rest of the world). So before you leave please double check that your mobile phone is at least a tri-band, which works on three different frequency bands (if bought in the US they are usually 850/1800/1900MHz), or a quad-band (that works on all four frequency bands).
If you don’t have a mobile phone or if the one you have doesn’t work on the European bands, you will need to get a new phone for the time you will be in Rome.
To make things easier, RILA offers a mobile phone service to its students. You can rent a mobile phone through RILA, for a small fee to be paid in cash once in Rome (about 20-25 euros all included). The mobile phones will be dual-band cell phones that work on the European bands only. They will be complete with a SIM card with an Italian telephone number.
Unfortunately, there is no Internet connection in your apartment. However, you can easily access the Internet from one of the many “Internet point” (small stores where for a low fee you can connect to the internet through one of their computers or by plugging in your laptop). Another option is to bring your laptop of iPod with you and connect to the Internet in one of the cafes in Trastevere that offer Internet wireless service. Once in Rome, you will be given a list of addresses of Internet points and Internet cafes in your area.
Since there is no written assignment to be completed before the end of classes, you don’t need to bring your laptop with you. If you choose to bring it, you will need a simple adapter to plug it in. Laptops have their own transformer, so you won’t need one, but you will need a transformer and an adaptor for any other electric item you bring with you. You can easily buy one at Radio Shack of any other similar store.
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· Insurance and health issues
For your own convenience and safety, RILA requires that you have health insurance coverage during your stay in Rome. If you already have health insurance, please check with your insurance company that you are covered abroad. If you don’t have any health insurance or if you are not covered abroad, we can set you up with an insurer who offers a group health insurance policy for your time in Rome for a small fee.
Nota bene: If you have any serious medical needs while in Italy, you should be aware that some American health insurers will not cover you. You must check with your insurers about this. It is also important to bring with you any forms that they would require you to fill out at the time care is given.
The health insurer RILA uses is called Premier Group Health Insurance. It has a group rate of $35.00 per student, per month, with $0.00 deductible. For a brochure that you can download describing the coverage, see their website,
www.studyabroadinsurance.com.
Even if you have health insurance that covers you during your stay in Italy, it’s very important that you bring with you any medicine you are currently taking or which you might need in the coming months. Please make sure to bring enough medicine to cover (or better still, to exceed) your maximum need for the period you will be in Italy. Some American drugs are not available in Italy in the same forms as in the U.S. (or in many cases in any part of Europe), thus it could be very difficult and certainly pretty expensive for you to purchase such medicines while there.
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· Flight ticket
RILA students are required to organize their trip and buy their flight ticket on their own.
You should arrive in Rome on the Saturday before the beginning of classes.
Flights from the US to Europe usually leave the US the night of the day before their arrival date (so, to get to Rome on a Saturday you will have to leave the US on Friday evening/night). Please organize your trip in a way to get to your apartment between 9am and 8pm of the Saturday before the beginning of classes. Allow 2 hours to get to your apartment from the airport by car and 3 hours by public transportation. Please be aware that a late or early arrival could easily cause you a long wait before entering your place. If you find it impossible to arrive in that window of time, please let us know about it as soon as you can, so that we can try to arrange things in the best possible way for you.
When buying your ticket, keep in mind that many travel agencies offer special student discounts. You might start your search (but please don’t limit your search to these two; every year/month different websites have different special offers) on the following websites: www.statravel.com and www.StudentUniverse.com.
If you happen to buy a ticket with AmericanAirlines, please use our Business ExtrAA account number 797833. In doing so, you will automatically help RILA to gain miles to bring tutors and lecturers to Rome from the US. At the same time you will earn miles on a personal account in your name, to be used for future national or international flights with the same company.
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· Passport and visas
Your passport is your most valuable possession while abroad. Be sure to treat it with great care. Make a photocopy of the first page of your passport. Keep the copy with you at all times, preferably in something that can be concealed underneath your clothing. Leave the passport safely in your apartment.
In any case, absolutely do not carry your passport in a backpack, a handbag or in the back pocket of your pants! These are easy targets for pickpockets, especially on buses or in crowded areas.
Due to changes in U.S. regulations, passport applications are now taking up to four months to process. We strongly encourage you to start your application immediately and to pay an additional fee for expedited processing. Please note that expedited service can still take up to three months.
If you are applying for a passport for the first time, you’ll need to appear in person at a U.S. Post Office or Passport Agency to submit your application. You will also need to provide proof of citizenship such as an original birth certificate, proof of identity, and passport photos.
If you already have a passport, please be sure to check that it is still valid, and remember that upon your arrival in Italy you may be required to have a passport valid for at least six month after the program end date. If you need to renew your passport, you may have the option to do so by mail. Even in the case of renewal, we strongly encourage expedited processing.
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· Transportation in Rome
Public transport in Rome is run by “ATAC”. All public transportation (bus, subway, and tram) is on one ticket. You can even use the ticket on some regional trains (Met.ro trains: Rome-Viterbo, Rome-Lido, Rome-Pantano, and on Trenitalia regional trains, travelling 2nd class). For the period of time from your arrival in Rome to the end of June, you might consider getting a weekly ticket, which costs 12 euro for unlimited travels, while for July you might consider getting a monthly ticket, which costs 30 euro (monthly tickets are unlimited travel during calendar month in which you buy the ticket). Otherwise, individual tickets are valid for 75 minutes, and cost 1 euro each. Unfortunately, foreign students are not eligible for the student discount that ATAC offers.
Every ticket must be stamped in the validation machine in the bus/station/tram where you use it. For weekly and monthly passes, you only validate the first time you use them. Tickets (individual, weekly or monthly) can be bought at any “Tobacco shop”, easily recognizable by the big “T” on the sign, or at any Newspaper stand or Info point for tourist. You will find one or more of those in any block, as well as in train stations. Only very few buses have a ticket machine on board, so please be sure to get your ticket before you get on a bus. The fine for a missing ticket is 50 euros.
Once in Rome, to calculate a route, go to the ATAC website at www.atac.roma.it or directly to the route calculation page in English at http://infopoint.atac.roma.it/bw.asp?lingua=ENG
From/to Leonardo da Vinci (Fiumicino) airport: By car:
If you choose to book RILA suggested car service from the airport to your apartment, you will find the car driver at the exit of the luggage area. He will hold a sign saying "RILA" and will know your name and flight info (he will wait for you if your flight is late) as well as your address in Rome. If you choose to be part of a group transport you might have to wait for your fellow students (you will receive an e-mail with detailed information about it before you leave the US). The cost for this option is indicated on the registration “Travel info” form.
If you think you might prefer to take a public cab, please be aware that we don’t recommend it. Taxi drivers in Rome are notorious for giving long unnecessary rides to tourists, charging very expensive fares (up to three times the regular price). If you should want/need to take a public taxi anyway, please try following these precautions: only take an official taxi (you can recognize the car from the sign on top of it) and absolutely refuse the services of any of unauthorized car driver hanging out at the airport, no matter how low a fare they promise; before you leave look at a map of Rome and try getting an idea of the route you need to go, if possible suggest it to the driver as soon as you get into the car (i.e.: “Let’s go through via della Magliana”), he will get the sense that he can’t drive you to the other side of the city without you noticing it; be aware that the city has imposed a fixed fare of 40euros from Fiumicino airport to the historic center: although your apartment is technically out of it (for a couple of blocks), it is actually closer to the airport than most part of the center, so the fare shouldn’t be much higher than 40euros in any case.
By public transportation:
Once you leave the luggage area follow the signs for the train station (="stazione") that is inside the airport. You can easily walk there. At the train station you have two choices:
The easiest option is to take the direct train to Termini station; the train is called "Leonardo Express" and leaves from track #1. The train is very easily recognizable (it’s actually impossible to be mistaken), and it’s guaranteed even on a strike day. The price of the ticket is 11 euros; you can purchase the ticket at the desk in the train station, at the newspaper stand or at the automatic ticket machine. The ticket must be stamped with the date and time of the day at one of the small orange machines in the train station (failing to do so will get you a fee on the train even if you have the ticket). The train leaves every 30 minutes (every hour at .06 minutes and at .36 minutes) and takes 31 minutes to get to Termini. Once at Termini, exit the station on the side of Piazza dei Cinquecento (the main bus area is on this side) and take the bus "H" for 6 stops. Get off the bus at the stop "Sonnino/S. Gallicano" and walk backwards from the direction the bus was going to Lungotevere Raffaele Sanzio (the long street that runs along the river), make a left on the Lungotevere (so that you will have the river on your right) and follow it for five minutes until you arrive at the Piazza Trilussa on your left. Make a right on "Vicolo del Quartiere", that is the first little alley at the right corner of the square, and follow it to end, where it makes a left turn and becomes vicolo Moroni.
Total estimated time for this route is 1 hour and 15 minutes.
The fastest option is to take a local train of the line FM1 Fara Sabina-Fiumicino, towards Fara Sabina; you will have to check the electronic display for the right train/track and be sure to get off at the right station, the train is not guaranteed on a strike day. The train should leave every 15 minutes on weekdays and every 30 minutes on weekends, it should take about 35 minutes to get to Trastevere: you want to take it for 7 stops, to Trastevere station. The train ticket cost 5.50 euro. Once at Trastevere station exit on the side of Piazza Flavio Biondo and walk to the bus stop “Stazione Trastevere” on Viale Trastevere (you should actually be able to see the bus stop in front of you as soon as you leave the station) to take the tram #8, direction “Argentina”, for 6 stops to Piazza G. G. Belli. Take a left and walk along Lungotevere Raffaele Sanzio (the long street that runs along the river, so that you will have the river on your right) and follow it for five minutes until you arrive at the Piazza Trilussa on your left. Make a right on "Vicolo del Quartiere", that is the first little alley at the right corner of the square, and follow it to end, where it makes a left turn and becomes vicolo Moroni.
Total estimated time for this route is 45 minutes.
From/to Ciampino airport: By car:
If you have booked a car service from the airport to your apartment you will find the car driver at the exit of the luggage area. He will hold a sign saying "RILA" and will know your name and flight info (will wait for you if your flight is late) as well as your address in Rome. If you asked for group transportation you might have to wait for your fellow students (you will receive an e-mail with detailed information about it before you leave the US).
If you think you might prefer to take a public cab, please be aware that we don’t recommend it. Taxi drivers in Rome are notorious for giving long unnecessary rides to tourists, charging very expensive fares (up to three times the regular price). If you should want/need to take a public taxi anyway, please try following these precautions: only take an official taxi (you can recognize the car from the sign on top of it) and absolutely refuse the services of any of unauthorized car driver hanging out at the airport, no matter how low a fare they promise; before you leave look at a map of Rome and try getting an idea of the route you need to go, if possible suggest it to the driver as soon as you get into the car (i.e.: “Let’s go through via Appia”), he will get the sense that he can’t drive you to the other side of the city without you noticing it; unfortunately there is no fixed rate (like for Fiumicino) from Ciampino to the center nor any other specific fare regulation.
By public transportation:
Four different companies have buses that go from Ciampino airport to Termini station; they are "ATRAL", "COTRAL", "SITBUSSHUTTLE" and "TERRAVISION" (unfortunately there is no train station at Ciampino airport). They leave at different times and you can buy the ticket from the bus driver before the bus leaves. The easiest thing for you is to go to the bus terminal (in front of the arrivals) and check which bus is leaving first. Ciampino is a very small airport and you will easily find somebody who speaks English; just say you want to go to "Termini" train station (unfortunately no bus goes to Trastevere as far as we know).
Once at Termini, exit the station on the side of Piazza dei Cinquecento (bus terminal) and take the bus "H" for 6 stops. Get off the bus at the stop "Sonnino/S. Gallicano" and walk backward from the direction the bus was going, to Lungotevere Raffaele Sanzio (the long street that runs along the river), make a left on the Lungotevere (so that you will have the river on your right) and follow it for five minutes until you get to Piazza Trilussa on your left. Make a right on "Vicolo del Quartiere", that is the first little alley at the right corner of the square, and follow it to end, where it makes a left turn and becomes vicolo Moroni.
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· Getting around
A good way to start planning your time in Rome is getting to know the city a little bit, before you actually get there. Look at a map of Rome and try to familiarize yourself with your neighborhood and the historic center in general. Simply having an idea of the more noticeable landmarks (i.e.: some monuments like the Pantheon, or bigger squares like Piazza Venezia) will help you to feel more comfortable once you are there.
We strongly recommend that you make a plan about things you’d like to do and places you’d like to see while you are in Rome. The city is so full of monuments, churches, museums, historic buildings and archeological sites that it can actually become overwhelming. You could end up not seeing much because there is too much to see! Plan ahead and make a list of at least eight or nine place to see/things to do in Rome. To help you pick up your favorites, here are a couple of guidebooks that will give you at least a general idea of your main options:
Rome from the Ground Up, by James H.S. McGregor. A history of Rome that describes the palimpsest of art and architecture, literally from the ground up, period by period.
Ancient Rome: Oxford Archeological Guide, by Amanda Claridge, Judith Toms, Tony Cubberly. In-depth, quasi-scholarly accounts of the ancient sites.
Rome: Blue Guide, by Alta MacAdam. A tourist guide, with a focus on art. Doesn’t attempt to be interesting, but tries to identify all the major things.
Key to Rome, by Frederick Vreeland and Vanessa Vreeland. A tourist guide, well written and well focused.
In general, Rome is an extremely safe city. Crime levels are far lower in Rome than in any U.S. metropolitan area. You will probably not encounter any problems with crime in Rome. However, there are certain kinds of crime you should be especially careful of. Students, and especially female students, should be careful about coming home alone late at night, just as they would in any city. College students become targets if they drink too much and walk home alone. So, if you are staying out late, keep alert, and always plan out a way to return home with other students.
Also, one kind of crime that is bound to be more common in Rome than in the U.S. is pick-pocketing. Be careful about bags you can’t see (like back-packs), and avoid putting valuables in back-pockets. Pickpockets tend to operate in crowds and in and around buses and trains, so be especially careful when riding, or getting on/off those. Be especially careful around the train station.
We will discuss this and other issues more in depth with you at orientation when you arrive, but feel free to ask us questions if you have them. We recommend that you look over a guidebook before coming. The Blue Guide to Rome and Key to Rome are a couple of good guides to the city that specialize in information on art and architecture. Numerous other guides provide general and practical information about the city.
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· Money saving tips
Avoid Tourist Traps
Eat like locals where the locals eat! Venturing off the beaten path and choosing the simple “trattoria” in a hidden alley over the more polished place in front of the famous monument can save you dozens of euros.
Cook and Share Your Meals
If possible, cook meals and eat together with your fellow students. The proximity of all the apartments allow you to do so, it will make your meals more pleasant and cheaper.
Take Advantage of Student Discounts
Every museum offers special group fare, but even when moving by yourself you can find some student discounts for museums, cinemas, theaters and concerts. It’s always worth trying to ask. Having an international student card or other id that proves that you are a student might be helpful.
Get Skype and Research Phone Cards
Download free software for Skype and talk to your family and friends online for free, or research prepaid international phone cards (available at any tobacco shop, specify that you want to call the US); they are always cheaper than using your cell phone or any public phone to make international calls.
Plan Trips Ahead of Time
Plan ahead for trips you may take (for travel reservations, etc.) before or after RILA classes. Look into travel times at odd hours and/or for specific student travel deals (on specific trains, for example.) Dozens of low-cost air companies offer incredibly low fares to travel in Europe. Be also sure to compare special train fares for students (like the InterRail pass) to low-cost flights.
Travel $mart
Only carry small amounts of cash, so you won't spend more than you can afford. Take with you a credit card for emergencies, but leave it in your apartment (that will save you from accidental loss and pick-pocketing; using the local currency will also save you the unfavorable exchange rate and high fee for international operations applied by most credit cards).
Compare Prices
For souvenirs or anything else, wait before you buy. Remember that the historic center, especially close to the main touristic attraction, has the highest prices in town. Compare prices before buying at markets, learn local bartering customs, and ask locals where to get better deals.
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