Rome: stay in historic center or Monti?

if you have never been to Rome, the historic center is pretty wonderful. But in a way, you answer your own question… Your first priority is to be near the train. It’s all doable and you will walk and walk and walk and walk no matter what. There are real fantastic things to see in every neighborhood. Enjoy your trip!

We prefer the historic center near Pantheon, P Navonna, Campo de' Fiori. You can walk most everywhere from there- even the Vatican.
Taxi from that area to Termini is less than 10 euros

My only concern is having an early morning flight, so I need to plan
for a reliable way to reach the airport on time.

Flat rate taxi from either location to/from FCO is 55 euros (up to 4 people)

Stay inthe historic center. I highly recommend Hotel Portoghesi. I think it was from the RS italy book in 2024. Super staff.

You can have a taxi to the airport. The hotel will arrange 1 for you.

We stayed our last night in a hotel closer to the airport and they had a shuttle. We taxid to the hotel and took uber to the site. There is a bus to the site as well and a train as well. But with luggage it was easier to taxi.10 min from the hotel is a wonderful archeological site called Ostia Antica. RS writes about it in his Italy guide. It's like having a private Pompeii. It's huge, the city was only recently discovered so they are still in the process of uncovering the whole place. The hotel we stayed at is the Isola Sacra Hotel Rome Airport.

Best wishes

I'll be a contrarian. I think the glory of Rome is its neighborhoods. I didn't stay in Monti, but I walked there (I walked everywhere in Rome), and it's got such a nice feel. It's just a 20 minute walk to Trevi Fountain or a half hour to the Pantheon. And the other thing about Rome is while you're walking from one sight to the next, you'll pass three or four other sights, or you can visit them with a slight detour. If you plan your time well and study the map, you can be very efficient in your sightseeing and not have to do much backtracking.

And the other thing about Rome is while you're walking from one sight
to the next, you'll pass three or four other sights, or you can visit
them with a slight detour. If you plan your time well and study the
map, you can be very efficient in your sightseeing and not have to do
much backtracking.

This^^
Rome should be seen on foot.

We prefer the historic center near Pantheon, P Navonna, Campo de'
Fiori. You can walk most everywhere from there- even the Vatican. Taxi
from that area to Termini is less than 10 euros

Yes, Christine. It is why that area, for my wife & I the Campo de' Fiori/Farnese spot, is where we go. Stayed there a few days in April, will be back March 2027 for 2-3 weeks, which will be our 4th visit there. Cannot wait. I want to go there, set up shop in an AirBnB to specs--1st floor or higher w/lift, washer, high ceilings, large windows, galley kitchen. A firm queen or larger bed would be nice. They exist, not that cheaply, but as long as I have my creature comforts, I'm OK.

Get up each morning, brisk walk by the Tiber, stop for a caffe, shop at the CdF market for fruit, walk to the Forno bakery for a pastry or two to bring back to the apartment. Plus, Forno has cheap and great pizza slices on focaccia for 3 Euro--perfect 'take-away' for lunch. Tastes great hot or cold--trust me. Then back up to the apartment to decide what we want to do that day--museums, markets, new neighborhoods. Early March isn't even shoulder season yet--still late winter--so crowds are down, which is what I want. And weather's surprisingly temperate--45-60 day, 35-50 at night.

Everything is walking distance, and when we walked the mile or so to Prati, it was awesome--neighborhood after neighborhood, all with different vibes. Many of my favorite restaurants are in Trastevere, which is about a 10-minute walk. And the bus, Metro or the FreeNow Uber-like car service will take you anywhere in the city--we utilized that to Termini station and back numerous times--otherwise we walked everywhere. And we're earlybirds at our age (~70), so at night we sit with the windows open, listening to young people out and about enjoying themselves.

Not a bad way to spend a couple weeks, and I can see working that up to a month or more. I'm thinking this as an alternative to Florida or Phoenix in the winter, and it's probably cheaper as well.

Enjoy your planning!

Getting a taxi from Termini after coming in from Florence and returning from Naples should be easy. Although I did get scammed by an "official" taxi in Paris once, that probably colored my view of taxis in general.

I will need to leave early (7am) for both the Naples day-trip and again for the the airport. I heard FreeNow is the official app for Rome's taxi. How reliable is the pre-booking? I don't want to scramble in case the guy doesn't show up. Any experience?

Yep. In April, we reserved a ride the night before with FreeNow (get the app on your phone just like Uber) from Campo de' Fiori to the Vatican. He was on time and I think the ride for the 4 of us was about 15 Euro.

But you're in Italy---have a backup plan as well!

Is booking with the official radio taxi number +39 06 3570 the night before more reliable than FreeNow or do they ultimately go to the same pool?