Hotels

Pat, With such an early flight, your best bet is to probably to splurge for a room in the Rome Airport Hilton. You can walk to the Terminals from the Hotel, so there's no need for any Shuttles or Taxis (which may be hard to find at that time of the morning even if you stay at other Hotels near the airport). The walk from the Hotel is very easy. When you leave the front entrance of the Hotel, keep to the left and walk to the small elevator tower (100 feet?). Take the Elevator up to the Skybridge and then just keep walking towards the Terminals. There are some "moving sidewalks" in that area, but they're not always working. Which Terminal does your flight depart from? Happy travels!

You did not say if you are staying elsewhere in Rome. If you happen to already have a hotel in Rome, there may be no point moving to a nearby/more expensive hotel the evening before (you will have to vacate your previous hotel by noon, store luggage, pick up luggage and move to another hotel - all involving time and expense). Your Rome hotel could arrange a reliable taxi pickup at 3:30am. We did that May 2012 - cost 48 euro including night charge. We were at the airport before it opened - in less than 30 minutes. Fiumicino airport does not even open till after 4am. Our flight was at 6:20am. Not even a coffee shop was open when we were boarding.

Ken is absolutely right about staying in the airport. There are a number of hotels close by, but getting a cab over to the airport that early is quite a hassle. I suggest you read RonInRome for tips on getting around the airport. U.S. passengers have to go thru a causeway, downstairs to a bus, and out to a terminal on the airport grounds where security check in is located. And signage is not very good. FCO is one of those airports that is best flown out of around noon. It's not exactly the height of efficiency. But on the very early flights, there won't be as many people around.

Here is Ron In Rome's wonderful post on the subject, which others mentioned above. Read it carefully before making any hotel decisions. Note that if you have a 6 AM flight, it may be "international" but it is not intercontinental (i.e., not to North America). Therefore, you do not need to get to the airport quite as early as you are thinking.

Thanks Harold and Dave! Pat, After years of living in Rome... and TOO OFTEN flying out of FCO around 06:00-07:00 because these were the cheapest flights... we got used to using shuttles and taxis to ride out the airport early in the morning. There are a lot of advantages to staying downtown, foremost being you get to spend a last night in Rome (and why pass that up). But there's also NO traffic at 04:00 so you get to the airport quite quickly. As mentioned, not much is open at the airport that time of the AM (Really - NOTHING is open, not even your check-in counter probably) so NO need to get there at 03:00 AM - three hours before your flight. Because you're living at 06:00, you're probably on a connecting flight through FRA, CDG, or AMS. We've been on all those AF, AZ, and KLM flights TOO often. The lines will start to form early - probably before the counters open - but you don't need to arrive 3 hours early because, as mentioned, your first flight is considered a "domestic" flight. The Airport Hilton is a viable option - perhaps the best if you choose to stay "out at the airport," but there are plenty of shuttles and taxis that can get you there... and you're really only talking about an additional 20 minutes in time-difference (the contrast between the car ride to FCO and walking/shuttling from the Hilton). So given the options, I'd stay in Rome... Of course, it's all about YOUR comfort level, but do know you have plenty of options. If you like, for more FCO hotel choices, Click here - Good Luck!

BTW, if you do have an Italian SIM card in your phone... and thus a "local number"... most of the TAXI services in town will SMS you when they are headed to pick you up. That was always reassuring to us. In our many early-morning trips - perhaps 25-30 times - we were never left standing at the curb by any taxi or private shuttle service in Rome. For us, they have always been reliable.

This is why I always look for flights that leave a little later in the day. We'll be catching a flight out of Rome that departs at 10:30 a.m. So much more civilized, if you can swing it.

Thanks to all for your responses re FCO Hotels, and early morning flights. Valuable info from all! Thanks again Pat

We stayed in Rome and hotel booked a car service for us, he was waiting at curb at 3:30 am, I think was forty euro. Was incredible, didn't stop for red lights, etc. Anyway, don't remember what other poster said about going downstairs, etc. We were dropped off at curb, walked right in and about hour later were booked on flight, only because counter was not open about maybe 5 am, can't remember but was very easy,

I would opt to stay in Rome & use Romecabs (www.romecabs.com) to get to the airport. They are highly recommended and deservedly so. We used them on our last trip and they are very reliable and cost about the same amount as a taxi. You can book with them online and you will immediately get a confirmation. I would definitely want to spend my last night in historic Rome itself. It's not worth packing up & changing hotels when you can use a car service or taxi to get you to the hotel and as Ron pointed out, there won't be any traffic that time of the morning and you'll quickly get to the airport!

We have always spent the last night in Rome. We have always asked the hotel to call a day or 2 ahead for a taxi to pick us up at whatever time we decide we need to leave. They confirm the price for us and we have never been left waiting. Much more fun to spend the last night walking around our favorite areas in Rome! Have a great trip