Help! Flight cancelled out of Rome. One Day in Rome1

I would book a hotel at airport
Check in drop your bags then head to Rome for the day/evening

Just a man an easy walking tour
RS Heart of Rome walk is perfect

You will need to get tested on this day so keep that in mind
Can do in Rome or at airport

Airport Hilton would be my choice as you can walk to terminal

Accommodations are up to you and your comfort level. I would never suggest it, but maybe airport hotel is the best choice right now. I’m sure you’re a bit stressed out so I wouldn’t add to that by trying to navigate Rome with your luggage for a one night stay. Get your stuff settled and taxi into town for the afternoon/evening. Wander the center of Rome: Piazza Navona, Campo de Fiori, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps and walk by the Forum which is lit at night. Grab something from a focacciaria and a gelato as you go. Not a bad way to kill time in Rome.

A couple of years ago, in a trip that didn't happen, we booked our last night in Italy in a hotel in Fiumicino itself, and reserved dinner at a nice restaurant. The hotels have free or cheap shuttles to the airport. We were surprised at how reasonably priced the hotel was.

Perhaps consider a day tour with walks of Italy or the Roman Guys.

I'm so sorry for your airline headaches! What a mess. Glad you are making the most of it :)

Now that we travel with a five year old, we always spend our night before our flight at an airport hotel. Some may consider it a "wasted" vacation day, but we're ok with the tradeoff because it greatly reduces our stress the morning of our flight.

We stayed at the Fiumicino Hilton in December 2019 at the end of our Italy trip, and found it very comfortable. We were also impressed with the quality of food available to us in the airport - not nearly as good as in Rome, of course, but far better than what we're used to with US airports.

Thank you all!! So gracious of you all to take the time to help us😊
As suggested...we booked a room inside the Fiumicino Airport... "Air Rooms by Hello Sky". We can return our car in the morning, drop off our bags at the hotel and head into Rome!🤗. We will make the best of a day trip into Rome. Thank you for all the great advice! It's all good! Blessed to travel! I will look at RS Rome and the other great suggestions. Thank you also for the Covid testing tip! That would be great to get it done at the airport. Blessings on your future travels!

Thankful and happy travels,
Monica

Another suggestion-you could visit Ostia Antica, close to FCO

But since you have never been to Rome I’d still say go to Rome for the day

Just thought I’d throw that out there

Rick has a slew of walking tours/audio guides for Rome available through his free Rick Steves Europe app. I recommend downloading the app and any tours you think might be interesting. Some of them are keyed to going inside sights you probably will not enter for lack of time (or possibly lack of ticket availability), so I think the useful choices in Rome come down to these:

Heart of Rome (probably the #1 choice for a spur-of-the-moment, one-day visit)
Jewish Ghetto
Trastevere

The Pantheon audio tour also might work for you; you might be very lucky and happen to pass by the Pantheon when the line is short. There is no entry fee.

You can easily see the outside of the Colosseum without buying a ticket, so you might be interested in that audio guide as well.

Rick's TV shows can be watched on this website. Go here: https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/video/tv-show and choose Italy. There are four shows on Rome.

Thank you, thank you! You're all very kind to help me.

Our flight mess has turned into a blessing! We have installed the RS app!!!! Thank you!
Please share your thoughts if you have the time. This is the "plan" so far.

• Drop off rental car at Rome Airport by 10 am
• Drop off bags at the hotel located inside the airport (booked with Air Rooms -Rome Airport by Hello Sky)
• Take a Covid Test at the Airport
• Take Leonardo Da Vinci Express Train to Rome (Termini)
• Then tour Rome with RS app or Book with Rome Guys or ???
• How to get around Rome???? Not sure about that at this point.

Thank you kindly😊
Monica and Dennis

How to get around Rome?
Walk
It’s very compact

You could take a taxi to and from airport
50 euros fixed rate and you can be dropped right at start of your RS Walk rather than Termini

I agree with Christine. If you take the Leonardo Express to Termini, it's still a ways to get to the "main" attractions. It would be faster, more efficient and not too costly to take a taxi that drops you off at a more centralized location. I'm not a big taxi-taker but it would be a good solution in this case.

Thank you all once again! So helpful!!

I looked at the RS Walking Tours in Rome and yes!!!..... a taxis is a much better choice. Long walk from train station to the start of some of RS walks. Thank you for the great travel advice. Is a taxi preferred over an Uber?

More advice needed if you are wiling...we need to take a covid test to return to the USA.

We will return our rental car to the airport by 10:00am. We arranged an early drop off of our bags at the in-airport hotel, so we can get going into Rome. Our Flight leaves the next day at 12:05pm. We registered for a covid test in the airport, but they did not give us a time. Given our flight time (hopefully it doesn't change again) what time should we take our tests? Directions say the day before....is that a literal 24 hours or just the day before? Should we take it before we head into Rome? Any help would be appreciated.

With much gratitude,
Monica and Dennis

No actual Uber in Rome
Taxi is easy, fixed rate 50 euros
Just get in the official line in front of terminal (Don’t go with anyone offering a cab)
We have the address printed on a card and hand that along with 50 euros to driver
No tip needed

For return you can’t just flag down a cab, you have to get at a taxi stand or call for one
I’m sure there is one near P Popolo and near P Venezia-don’t know which direction you’ll do the walk?
Also near Campo deiFiori, near Trevi etc
I thought I had a link to taxi map
but can’t find it
If you google “taxi stands in Rome” you’ll find something;)

Test must be done within ONE day before, no hour req
So if you are flying out on Saturday get the test anytime on Friday and even Sat am ( though I wouldn’t wait til last minute)

ETA:
Here you go, taxi stands are basically at/near every major tourist attraction
https://www.archeoroma.org/taxi/stands/

What a very kind and helpful group of traveler! Thank you kindly for your help!

We seem to be set! Thanks to all the great advice and links you all have provided! Very grateful to each one of you!

Thank you for the airport hotel advice!
Thank you for the Rome Guys info!
Thank you for the suggestions for using the RS walking tours. We have downloaded the RS audio and maps! Awesome!
Thank you for the taxi suggestion and the link too!

Thank you for the instructions about covid testing! We will be watching out for any changes to those rules as we go along.

We are excited to make the best of this change in plans.... thanks to your help! Praying that TAP Airlines does't change the flight again! If so, it's another day in Rome! That's not so bad! 🤗LOL

With much gratitude,
Monica and Dennis