We will have a half-day layover at FCO before taking a short flight to Venice (from CIA). We'd like to spend this time at Ostia Antica. Has anyone gone there directly from the airport? Is our best option to take a taxi, or is there a bus route that goes there? Also does anyone know if there are storage lockers there? If not, we'll store our luggage at FCO.
TIA, Melissa
As I recall, someone asked this not too long ago. I haven't done this, but I believe the general consensus was that in order to get to Ostia Antica by train/metro, you have to go into Rome. So in order to get from FCO to OA, you will probably need to rent a car or take a taxi. I doubt there is a bus, but there may be a shuttle?
However, I'm pretty certain there is no luggage storage at Ostia Antica, so you'll need to store it at FCO.
I know there is a bus... because I'm planning to stay at Ostia on my arrival in Italy. The website for the hostel I'm staying at says to go to the national arrivals terminal and take a public Cotral bus to Ostia Lido Centro. The bus arrives at the train station in modern Ostia. From there I think you can catch a bus or take the train to the ruins which are about two miles away. Indeed, if you're in good shape, it seems like you could just walk up there.
Here's the bus schedule:
http://www.cotralspa.it/PDF_Orari/AFC1.pdf
It looks like they run about every twenty minutes, and the cost is about a euro.
You can also get a taxi, but they cost about 25 euros from FCO to Ostia. If money is no object, that might be easier, but the bus is so much cheaper.
Actually, if you look at the bus schedule, it seems like the bus from the airport may have a stop at the ruins.
"Ostia Antica via G.Calza"
I imagine you can ask the bus driver when you get there. The ruins are so close to the airport, I can't imagine that you can't get there by bus.
Thanks to all for the suggestions. Tonya, the schedule is great. I do see where it says Ostia Antica on the schedule, so this may work. I'll look further at the Cotral website. I hadn't had much luck earlier.
I searched around the forum and didn't find an answer to this query, so maybe I missed the earlier posting. I'll look again.
As far as luggage storage, we're heading to Ciampino after we finish with OA, so we have the option of either checking the luggage at FCO and then having to go back to collect it, or just walking around with it on our backs while at OA and then going directly to Termini from OA. Since we're flying on RyanAir and are using the one-bag approach, our convertible luggage will not be too heavy. But maybe after 4 hours of carrying it around, I may have a different opinion!
Any further tips are always appreciated.
Melissa: You have a time constraint, must arrive back at the airport in time to process in for your departing flight. I'm just concerned that if you rely on the bus to get you back to the airport, you could get stuck and have a problem getting back in time. The Italian bus system is known for blindsiding tourists with unexpected things. Maybe best to plan on a taxi to get back to the airport; and taking a taxi to get to Ostia would also maximize your time at Ostia. Just a thought.
I was wondering the same thing, Kent...
We were in Ostia last May and I don't recall any place where you could store luggage. But there should be lockers at FCO for you.
"The Italian bus system is known for blindsiding tourists with unexpected things."
Like strikes? LOL
And the taxi system is known for ripping tourists off. IMHO, I'd take the bus, since it's less than a twenty minute ride (Ostia Antica is five miles by road from the airport entrance), but I'd be sure to get a number for a taxi in case the bus didn't show. Of course it depends on how much time she has. If there's not a lot of time, the taxi may be the better bet. If the layover is very long, a bus would probably be fine, I would just plan to be back earlier than necessary to leave a cushion in case things go awry.
BTW, I'd leave my bags at the airport. Lugging your stuff around with you for hours is not fun. I did that in London. It becomes a distraction and after a while the bag seems to weight five times what it did when you put it on. ;)
I don't have any info about transporation to Ostia, but I will say...it is an incredibly fascinating and cool place. You will not be disappointed if you go there! We bought a flip book with clear layovers that shows what the ruins look like now versus what they think they looked like ages ago....really neat.
I was able to find a bus route to OA via the Lido, so that should work out okay. Unfortunately, a phone call to the Supervisor's office in OA confirmed there is no place to put our bags while we tour the ruins. I really hate having to go back to FCO for our bags before heading to CIA when we could more easily just jump on the train to Termini and then CIA. I'd even consider leaving the bags at the police station or in a bank officer's office, but I doubt they'd want to do that.
((sigh))
Oh well, on the plus side, I did find a private car that could take us from OA directly to CIA for a total of 45E. I thought that was a great price. I'm going to contact them to see how much more it would cost to get us there with a stop at FCO for our luggage...
Lynn: Where did you get the flip book? It sounds very interesting.
