First time to Italy 9/25-9/29

As far as your day trips, one all day trip to Florence I think works.
Amalfi Coast and Venice I do not think are good options as day trips from Rome.

Not that you have time for a 2nd option anyway given your time in Rome you should explore the city but Pompeii is a good option, although very hot at this time of year.

I have only taken a taxi from Rome airport to Rome, surely not the most cost effective solution but have never stayed within a close distance to Termini nor packed as light as I would like so was worth the added cost.

For the Vatican, see if still possible to buy your tickets in advance; since you are on this site you have probably done so already but mentioning just in case. That is one long avoidable line if you buy tickets ahead of time for a time slot.

You will be spending all your previous time on trains. You are only there 3.5 days. There is so much to see and do in Rome itself. My strong suggestion to you is to just stay in Rome and do some tours. You will barely scratch the surface in that time.

Have you made your reservations yet? Hopefully not because if you haven't and you are bound and determined to do something else, you could fly into Venice Sunday and leave early Tuesday morning for Rome for 2 nights. My strong suggestion is just stay in Rome.

Sacvillegas,

First the transportation question. You can take a fixed-price taxi for around 48 euro or the Leonardo Express train (non-stop to Rome Termini) for about 14 euro per person or the FL1 train to the Trastevere train station for about 8 euro per person. Going to Termini means a bus or taxi back to Trastevere while your accommodations may be within walking distance from the Trastevere station. Things to remember if taking the train from the airport - make sure you're on the correct train and always validate your train tickets.

Now, for the side trip. With only 3 full days in Rome, you will not even scratch the surface of this amazing city. I would recommend staying put and leaving Florence, Venice and/or the Amalfi for another trip.

As a point of reference, Florence is about 1.5 hours by express train; Venice is about 4+ hours by express train and the Amalfi coast requires changes in travel modes so it would not be a very convenient day trip (or you could sit on a coach for the entire day and see the scenery roll by).

If you really want to get out of the city, you can take an escorted trip to Tivoli Gardens/Hadrian's Villa.

Just suggestions...

You should count nights on the ground, not days. A night is always a night, a day could be anywhere from 2-16 hours of sightseeing availability, minus travel time to specific locations.

You will have four nights. You could overnight in Firenze and be at the FCO airport the next morning for your flight out, or stay in Roma (which is what I would do). Firenze would be at least 4 hours for roundtrip travel, not terrible but you would only scratch the surface while you are there. Most museums close either Monday or Tuesday, so your wish list (assuming you have one) could be affected.

You could daytrip to Ostia Antica or to Orvieto, but I think going to Venezia (8+ hours roundtrip) or the Amalfi Coast (7+ hours roundtrip not counting connection times, which could be 5 minutes each or one hour each) is a lot of travel in one day.

I'll throw my vote in with some of the others: you only have 3 full days; spend them all in Rome. You'll barely get to know it in that short amount of time. Partial Day 1 will be spent just getting acclimated, and all but a small bit of Partial Day 5 in the leaving process. The Amalfi and Venice will take up far too much time in transport, and while Florence is a possibility, it deserves more than a day plus there's plenty of ground in Rome to cover.

At the very most I'd maybe take 1/2 day for Ostia Antica but that's personally more than I'd try to squeeze in. All told, I probably have close to two weeks of Rome under my belt and the must-do list is still as long as my arm! Really, save those other locations for future adventures.

Sunday afternoon - Trastevere
Monday - Colosseum, Forum, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, Pantheon, Piazza Navona
Tuesday - Florence
Wednesday - St Peters & the Vatican

I don't see a problem with a day trip to Florence, if it's what you want to do. Seek out trains from Trastevere, with a connection at Tiburtina, rather than trekking to Termini.

RE 22015
Dep 08:24 ROMA TRASTEVERE (Italy)
Arr 08:45 ROMA TIBURTINA (Italy)
FR 9410
Dep 09:00 ROMA TIBURTINA (Italy)
Arr 10:22 FIRENZE S.M.N. (Italy)

FR 9573
Dep 17:24 FIRENZE S.M.N. (Italy)
Arr 18:43 ROMA TIBURTINA (Italy)
RE 7458
Dep 18:53 ROMA TIBURTINA (Italy)
Arr 19:10 ROMA TRASTEVERE (Italy)

You don't have 5 days. You have three days.

Truthfully I think you should forget any side trips. You just don't have the time. Where are you coming from on Sunday? If it is the US, Monday will be a margin day just because of jet lag no matter how well you manage jet lag. If you insist on a day trip then Florence would be the best option. It is hard to get to the amalfi coast because of train changes. Over the years we have spent about three weeks total in Rome and still haven't seen everything we want to see.

Take the local train (NOT the Leonard Express) to Trastavere and a taxi to you hotel if it is not walkable. The fare is 8E or maybe now if increased recently, VALIDATE (time stamp) the ticket prior to boarding. Ticket booth and ticket machines are at the airport station.

Thank you all so much for the info!