Cab/Uber to Vatican City early morning

If you’re staying in a hotel, have the concierge or front desk arrange for a taxi.

I'll be staying in an Airbnb.

Uber in Rome is like Uber Black here, basically a private car, arranged ahead.

You can use some taxi apps, FreeNow (was MyTaxi) is a popular one, it basically uses the existing taxis, just at a set price, including the reservation fee.

Otherwise, you would need to find a taxi rank near where you are staying, you can't hail a cab on the street.

Would the Metro be helpful? Line A goes to the Vatican, and the Metro starts running at 5:30 a.m.

http://johomaps.com/eu/italy/rome/romametro.html

Month and Year of travel? Of course you have to be on time for a Vatican visit. But we enjoyed the long walk from Piazza Navona to our morning visit to Vatican City. Crossing the That's why we like visiting cities. Crossing the pedestrian-only Ponte Sant' Angelo, with the Castel in front of us was an experience! I wonder if your taxi/Uber needs trump the lower cost (?) of a remote sleep location. (And why would I want a pod coffee machine while in Italy?) Uber is subject to surge pricing, which you can't control. If I were a planner, I would not rely on FIve-Guys-Named-Tyler in Silicon Valley to arrange my transport! Just one opinion.

Thanks for the advice from each of you, always greatly appreciated.

Initially, when planning a skip the line ticket option to the Vatican Museums/Sistine Chapel at opening time I was going to use my preferred mode of transportation...my own two feet. The Airbnb is on Via del Governo Vecchio, which is a 27 minute walk. Once I considered the Key Master Tour, needing to be at the meeting place promptly at 5:45am, I figured cab or Uber would be the best option. I wasn't sure how safe the walk would be at that hour and the fact that my vision isn't the greatest when it's dark.
The metro would not work if the start time is 5:30am.

Tim, my trip will be in October of this year. I am confused by "I wonder if your taxi/Uber needs trump the lower cost (?) of a remote sleep location. (And why would I want a pod coffee machine while in Italy?)". ;)

(Edited once, 3:42 PM)

That was simply an allusion to my opposition to AirBnB. You're lucky I didn't go into detail. They're not marketable without a pod machine, are they?

I simply assumed that you had chosen a distant location when you asked about Uber in the morning. Google Maps gives 30 minutes for the walk we took for our 10:00AM Gardens and Museums Vatican tour. Are you aware how much less street crime there is in Europe than in the US? I am not much interested in nightlife, but (poor comparison, admittedly) when I had a business trip to BIlbao Spain [No Guggenheim yet, and NOT Madrid!], it was IMPOSSIBLE to flag down a taxi (because they were all taken!) when I got off work at 2:00 AM. I had to walk back to the hotel, with jammed sidewalks half the way.

(I am not impartial on this subject, because I grew up in Manhattan, and have been taking the subway after midnight since 1965.) I am not entitled to give street advice to a single female traveler (which you left out ... ), but I'd add that street safety is today, as much a matter of perception as reality. For example, do you know that New York City is among the SAFEST large cities in the US? No, that's not the "... sense of Social Media posts", but that's not the same thing as reality, is it? I'd point out that a hotel is probably safer for a single female than an AirBnb. And that famous photo by Ruth Orkin is pretty out-of-date. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_Orkin#/media/File:Orkin.AmericanGirl_kpf.jpg

Maybe you will have a chance to look around, or meet other tourists in the area for an opinion, before you commit to a car service? Your walk looks very similar to ours, but in fairness, we did not do it at 5:00AM. I'd point out to you that most big cities are more than half-awake at 5AM. Street cleaners, food delivery, gutter flushing, busboys and waiters going to work ... it's all underway. This is perhaps not like your rural (?) home territory? Just guessing.

June 18, nautical twilight (whatever that is ... ) ENDS at 5:00, and becomes civil twilight (whatever that is) until Dawn at 5:34AM.

https://www.timeanddate.com/sun/italy/rome?month=6&year=2024

The point about having to walk in the dark is a good one. I don't remember seeing major problems with sidewalks in that part of Rome, but I had to pick my way along some chopped-up surfaces as I walked to and from my Monti hotel last winter. I fell twice on blocks with no lighting. That's what I'd be concerned about, rather than crime--though the usual crime-avoidance advice is to walk with purpose, as if you know where you're going, and that is not a good idea on broken-up sidewalks, especially in the dark.

My experience has been that there are lots of cabs on the streets at 5 am because many flights back to the U.S. have early morning departures. Of course they would love to take you to the airport for the larger fare, but will surely take you to the Vatican at that time. I have personally been outside at that hour looking for taxis and results were that there were plenty available.

However! You cannot hail cabs driving by. You need to find a taxi stand (well marked with white signs that say - duh - TAXI) or prebook one to pick you up at your location. I suggest locating a nearby taxi stand the day before and heading to it at 5 am.

For pre-booking, I also use the FreeNow taxi app with regular success. An American friend had the Uber app (I don’t have an account), and in Rome it can be used to call the regular taxi companies. That also worked well for us 3 times running. Might be more convenient since you can type your location instead of trying to speak Italian. Once the day gets busy, it can take a little longer than you’d like to call a cab that way, but it will work. At 5 am it shouldn’t be an issue.

Ok, once in a while a cab will stop for you if you’re waving your arm wildly but they are not supposed to. Good luck! I think your chances are pretty good at 5 am.

Assuming this isn't your first day in Rome, why not give FreeNow a test drive a day or two in advance? It does work in a similar manner to Lyft or Uber. If the driver speaks English well - and the drivers that we encountered in Rome did - he may have some tips for you, give you the phone number of his English-speaking dispatcher, etc.

Since you are a planner, you will of course scope out taxi stands near your apt - and since an early riser, you could go to the taxi stand at the anticipated hour the day before to check availability. Note that there is considerable demand for taxis in Rome at that hour due to people needing to get to FCO for early morning flights.

Finally, you might want to scope out the meeting place of the tour in advance if it isn't the regular entrance to the Museums - the Vatican is a massive place. You could also time the walk, which would be your backstop if other methods don't work out.