Hi all -
We are flying out of Fiumicino at 9:45 am on June 12 after visiting friends in Umbria. We've heard that we need to be at the airport 3 hours early for our flight, so we will leave Umbria on the 11th and head to Rome.
We are wondering if it makes more sense to stay near Fiumicino the night before our flight, or to stay near Roma Termini, and to take the train in the morning.
Also, would it be practical, if we stay near the airport, to try to go to Ostia Antica?
Thanks!
Last year I stayed close (but not close enough) to Fiumicino - I stayed at the beach. The traffic for my 9 o'clock flight was very crowded - it took almost a full hour to get to the airport. Made me just a bit nervous. Maybe taking the train from Termini makes some sense. Several years ago I decided to just arrive at the airport around midnight and get comfortable on a couple of chairs. Remember the old Trix cereal commercial? Silly rabbit, Trix are for kids. Well, so is spending the night at FCO.
Assuming it’s a flight to the US, 2.5 hours prior to departure is enough.
It’s up to you if you want to stay near the station or at the airport Hilton (across the terminals).
The ride on the train, or on a taxi, is about 30-35 min.
Stayed here when we had early flight to US from FCO. Happily use them again in that circumstance
http://www.hotelrivierafiumicino.com/en/home-page.aspx
Couple blocks to beach--- had nice sunset on beach our last night in Italy.
Ostia Antica is about 5 miles away
We are staying in Rome the night before departure and taking the train to the airport. I just checked on our departure day (7/24), and trains leave every 15 minutes. Question: Is it fairly easy to navigate the airport once we depart the train?
Beth
To answer the question re is it fairly easy to navigate FCO airport after you arrive: I'd say yes with one caveat. A year ago when I flew out of Rome to the US a week before Christmas, I arrived at FCO 3 hours before my flight and finished security quickly. The overhead monitors listed the departure terminal for my flight but not the departure gate. Having flown out of London Heathrow many times, I assumed I should wait for the actual gate to be displayed on the FCO monitor before I proceeded to that terminal, so I hung around the shops/eating area. Big mistake!!! Once my terminal AND gate were displayed on the overhead monitor, I proceeded to my terminal to find that THEN I needed to go through passport control, and the line was around 45 minutes long (perhaps due to the full planes at Christmas?). My point: after checking in and going through security at FCO, go ahead and proceed directly to your terminal so that you can get passport control done, EVEN if you don't know your gate # yet.
