Arriving in Rome by plane

Flying into Rome Fiumicino (Leonardo da Vinci) or Ciampino airports and how to get to downtown Rome from the airport

Aeroporti di Roma
Fiumicino: tel. +39-06-65-951
Ciampino: tel. +39-06-794-941
www.adr.it

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Rome has two airports, but odds are pretty good that you'll be landing at the main one, Roma Fiumicino (more officially known as—but rarely called—"Leonardo da Vinci"). On flight itineraries, this airport is abbreviated "FCO."

(The other airport, covered below, is Roma Ciampino, which handles Italian domestic and some international and charter flights; it's code is "CIA.")

Rome's Fiumicino airport (Leonardo Da Vinci International Airport)

The dreaded Terminal 5
Most flights—national and international—land or take off from the interconnected Terminals 1, 2, or 3 (which until October 2009, were confusingly called Terminals A, AA, and B+C, respectively).

However, all flights out of Rome to the U.S. leave from the separate Terminal 5 ("T5"), which is located, roughly, in Timbuktu.

Terminal 5—a former cargo terminal that is used exclusively for flights to the U.S. and Israel—is a 15 minute ride away from everything else on a shuttle that passes by only every 20–30 minutes or so. (And yes, it's pretty much impossible to walk to it, since most of the journey is on a sidewalk-less elevated ramp.)

This, by the way, is not really Italy's fault. It has to do with the asinine extra security protocols of the TSA (and of Israel).Most international flights land at Leonardo da Vinci International Airport, usually called Fiumicino Airport, 29km (18 miles) west of the city.

How to get from Rome's airport into downtown Rome

To get to downtown Rome from Fiumicino airport, follow the treni signs for nonstop trains to the main rail station, Stazione Termini. The trains take 31 minutes and leave every half hour (6:36am–11:36pm) on the xx:06 and xx:36. Tickets are €11 ($15) from machines (if those are broken or there's a line, head into the newsstand and buy a biglietto treno from the cashier).

There's also a local train every 15 minutes (every 30 minutes on Sunday) to the Tiburtina station (45 min.) from the same tracks. (Get off at Ostiense and walk to the Piramide Metro stop to catch the B line to Termini.)

A taxi from Leonardo da VInci - Fiumicino airport to downtown Rome costs a flat fee of €40 ($56), including luggage, for up to four people.

A private transfer from Fiumicino/Leonardo da Vinci airport to your city center hotel costs just $23–$28:

TIP: If you're lucky enough to be in Terminal A for an extended period of time, find your way past the McDonald's at the upstairs food court for the airport branch of ★★★ San Crispino, one of Rome's best ice cream chains.

The train from Rome's Termini train station to the Rome airport is at the hidden Track 25 (a.k.a: Where the !@#$ is the airport train?)

A map of Rome's Termini train station showing how to get to the airport train The train from Termini station to the airport is called the Leonardo Express.

It leaves every half-hour on the xx:22 and xx:52, and the ride takes 31 minutes. Tickets cost €11, and are available at a booth alongside Track 24.

So far, so good.

The problem is that the tracks for the airport shuttle train are—in another display of sheer idiocy—located on Track 25.

The problem with this is that Track 25 is separate from the rest of the tracks, and you can get to it only by walking a quarter mile up track 24. Insane!

There's a map to the right showing you where it is (note that I spun this map to that north is to the left because this is the orientation of someone entering the tracks from the main ticketing hall), but here is a description of how to find the airport train in the Rome train station.

Track 25's location causes millions of tourists undue stress and confusion because, when you arrive at Termini and walk all the way (to the right) to the station's southern wall, you'll see that the last track appears to be Track 24.

This is where most people panic. Don't. left left and start walking up alongside Track 24 for, oh, about 300 yards until suddenly the wall on the right opens up and you see four more tracks before you: including Track 25.

Yes, hiding this important train down here and forcing folks laden with luggage and late for their flight to sprint an extra 1/3 mile is not only astoundingly stupid planning, it's downright cruel, but there you have it.

Rome's Ciampino airport

Many charter and continental flights land at the smaller Ciampino Airport, 15km (9 miles) south of the city.

The easiest but priciest way to downtown Rome from Ciampino is the Terravision shuttle bus (tel. 06-9761-0632; www.terravision.it), which has departures every 40 minutes or so (usually timed to arrivals of major flights). It arrives in downtown Rome at Via Marsala 29A, near Termini. Tickets are €6 (8.40).

The more common route downtown (at one-fourth the total price) is the public COTRAL bus (tel. 800-174-471 or 06-7204-7205; www.cotralspa.it) outside the terminal; it leaves two to four times per hour for the under-20–minute trip to Anagnina, the terminus of Metro line A, where you can grab a subway to Stazione Termini.

A taxi from Ciampino airport to downtown Rome will cost €40 ($56), including luggage.

A private transfer from Ciampino Airport to your hotel costs just $23–$28:

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This material was last updated February 2011. All information was accurate at the time.

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