Meeting Others in Rome - Help!

You mention concern about getting confused. In that case, a taxi is not a bad idea. Regarding other options…

The Leonardo express is a train that will take you from the airport to the main rail station (Termini) in about 30 minutes. You then could either transfer to the metro, or take a taxi. You mention that your hotel is very close to the Vatican. You will have a several block walk from the closest Metro station to the Vatican. If I were jetlagged and carrying luggage, I would take a taxi from Termini to my hotel.

I would guess they are also shared airport shuttles, which will cost less than a taxi, but I've never used anything like that in Rome.

I would suggest googling airport transportation for Rome. There's undoubtedly an airport website that summarizes transit information.

Regarding attractions that you should reserve ahead of time – Minimally, I would definitely make reservations for the Vatican museums. If you want to visit the excavations under St. Peter's, the Scavi,, you need to make reservations for that well ahead of time. You should also make reservations if you want to visit the Borghese. You are arriving at what will be a busy time of year. Easter is the first Sunday in April of this year, so you are arriving right before Palm Sunday and Holy Week. Rome will be very crowded and busy.

bert,

A few comments on your questions......

1. IMO, it's not necessary to buy tickets online in advance. You can easily purchase when you arrive there.
2. At that time of year, I don't think so. Which attractions are you planning to visit?
3. The reason the guidebook doesn't mention the Metro is that the Metro doesn't run to the airport. I'll provide information on travel from the airport in the next paragraph.

This is the method I'd suggest for travel from the airport to your hotel.....

• When you've collected your luggage, walk to the airport rail station and buy tickets for the Leonardo Express, either from a staffed ticket office or from one of the automated Kiosks. The fare is €14 PP as I recall.
• NOTE that two trains service the airport, the Leonardo Express and the FM/FR1. Be sure you board the correct train!
• Before boarding the Leonardo Express, you MUST validate (time & date stamp) your tickets in the track side machines. Failure to do so may result in hefty fines which will be collected on the spot!!!
• The trip to Roma Termini is about 32 minutes. When you arrive at Termini, walk straight out the front doors (the tracks will be behind you), where you'll find the Taxi rank.
• Take the next Taxi in line to your hotel. It would probably be a good idea to have the address (in Italian) written down to show the driver.

NOTE that you must also validate tickets for Metro and Buses in Rome, or again hefty fines. You may find it helpful to have a look at the excellent Ron In Rome website and the section covering travel from the airport.

Buon Viaggio!

Hi bertehling -
In answer to your questions…

1} and 2): Galleria Borghese requires advance booking, and personally I would recommend reserving skip-the-line tickets for the Vatican Museums as well, just to be safe. To ensure that all of you have reservations for the same time slots, I'd either make the reservations for all of you at the same time, or agree on a time slot and both of you book from home on the same day.

For the Borghese:
http://www.galleriaborghese.it/borghese/en/einfo.htm

For the Vatican Museums:
http://mv.vatican.va/3_EN/pages/MV_Home.html

I would do this whether you intend to purchase Roma passes or not. Do be aware that the pass isn't valid for the Vatican Museums, and that the reservation procedure is different for the Borghese if you'll be using a pass: must be made by phone instead of online.

"For reservations to the Borghese Gallery and/or Domus Romane/Palazzo Valentini, please call +39 06 32810 (open Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 6:00 pm – Saturdays, 9:00 am to 1:00 pm). Bookings can be made directly from the visitor’s home country, even before purchasing the card. Please note: it is not possible to make an online reservation without prepaying the ticket. If you intend to visit the museum / site with your Roma Pass or Roma Pass 48 hours, you must make your reservation on the phone, by calling +39 0632810."

If you don't purchase Roma passes, buy your combo tickets for the Colosseum/Forum/Palatine at the Palatine (or maybe Forum) kiosks where lines are always shorter than at the Colosseum - although you will still have to pass through security checks at all three. Tickets may also be ordered in advance, if you wish:

http://www.coopculture.it/en/colosseo-e-shop.cfm

3) Another option for getting to Termini from Fiumicino is by shuttle bus; either Terravision or SIT:

https://www.adr.it/web/aeroporti-di-roma-en-/pax-fco-bus

SIT has a 2nd stop much nearer to the Vatican (at Via Crescenzio, 2) but depending on exact location of your hotel, how much luggage you have and how far you're willing/able to walk, you may want to take a cab or metro from Termini.

The Leonardo Express is faster but the buses are clean, comfortable, air-conditioned and safe, and a nice option if on a budget (between 4-6 euro). Tickets are very easily purchased from kiosks at the exit from the luggage carousels.

1) There is never a reason to buy a romapass in advance. It is not discounted for doing so and you must still pick it up in Rome so don't bother booking that online.

2) This really depends on what you want to see and do. You don't say how long the trip is nor what you want to see and do while on the trip. There are only a few sites that require booking ahead of time but other than that, you can certainly just show up to the sites. You can buy entry tickets to the colosseum and Vatican museums which will allow you to bypass the lines. The tickets for the colosseum are not date specific so you can go when ever you wish. If you want to take a tour of any of the sites you should book those before leaving home.

3) There is no metro from the airport to the city center. There is an express train and a regular train, but no metro. The express train will take you to the termini station and from there you can take a metro to near the Vatican. You can also take the regular train from the airport to Roma san pietro, changing trains at Roma trastevere. It will depend on where you hotel is as to which would be the better solution. The first solution will put you close to the entrance of the Vatican museums and the other will put you closer to the basilica.

Donna

You can see the location of Roma San Pietro train station (and others) on Google maps, for instance. You might also find the general direction of it indicated on the Vatican-area hotels map in your RS Rome book (but it is off the map). The 2015 edition is for sale now.

You are getting some all over the place information on transportation. There are times when paying a little extra for convenience makes sense. You have two options for getting to your hotel. Taxi at a fixed price of 48E (I think) or the local train Fm1 (8E) and getting off at San Pietro which just north of the Vatican and maybe a taxi from there to your hotel if it is not walkable. Personally I take the taxi as it is door to door. It doesn't make a lot of sense to take the Leonard Express to Termini and then back across the city to the Vatican. That is not saving much. You can 28E for the train tickets and another 10 to 15E for taxi from Termini with the hassle of getting from the train to the taxi. The local train to San Pietro with a short taxi ride would be much cheaper.

LEAST PAINFUL: Take a Taxi! Collect your luggage at the airport and take a taxi door to door to your hotel. OR have the Hotel send a car to pick you up! It's NOT worth the money to take the train which for two people will be eu30 when the taxi is only 48! After the 8 hour plane ride, the 30 minute train ride, you'll still be at the train station and need to make ANOTHER connection by bus or taxi to get to the hotel! That makes it almost EVEN MONEY! You'll be jet lagged, even if you're lucky enough to fly on business class, and coach.....I need to say no more.

Have your hotel get you the Roma Pass! Make a reservation in advance for the Borghese Museum, and make sure you're there 30 minutes before your appointed time. Expect them to take the purses and lock them in a locker. Relax about that, it will be perfectly safe. One of the above posters gave you the link to reserve this museum.

If your hotel is one of the Alimandi Hotels - which is what I'm guessing by the location -- they will be Very Helpful! I'm also a senior and I almost always stay at one of their hotels. Sometimes I travel with my senior lady friends, sometimes with my husband and I trust these people tremendously! They also coordinated a 'group tour' for us to the Vatican Museum/Sistine Chapel and it was wonderful.

This website offers a lot of money saving options -- and I respect that -- but sometimes saving a few dollars at my age is just not worth feeling vulnerable, lost, confused, tired..........and even Rick Steves uses taxis in Rome because they're relatively inexpensive!
Seniors can be an easy target when they're looking lost, or even looking like tourists -- be it in NY, Boston, Chicago.........etc. There's no Violent crime in Rome, but pickpockets are another matter.

Make sure you have dinner at least ONCE at Piacere Molise which is only two blocks walking distance from the hotel. They don't speak much English, but the food is outstanding, and they are also lovely people.

Feel free to PM me, but seriously, either take a taxi for just a very few dollars more from the airport or hate the hotel send a car.
You're going to LOVE Rome!

Thanks to all of you who took the time to offer your advice. We sincerely appreciate it!

It makes little sense to take the expensive Leonard express train to Termini, as it is on the opposite side of central Rome from the Vatican, and then take a taxi or metro from there to your hotel.

There is no good way to make the metro system work for you in this trip.

The 48 euro taxi ride is probably worth the convenience.

Taking the commuter rail to from FCO to San Pietro (transfer req) puts you SOUTH of the Vatican, and then a half mile walk or short taxi ride to your hotel.

Another option is airport bus straight to a half mile east of the Vatican at Piazza Cavour http://www.sitbusshuttle.com/en/timetable/ and then either walk or take a taxi from there.

Piazza Cavour = Via Crescenzio n.2, Vaticano
on the SIT bus schedule.

Right, as I posted above, "SIT has a 2nd stop much nearer to the Vatican (at Via Crescenzio, 2)" The link to the Fiumicino webpage for shuttles was provided.