Uber and Lyft in Rome

As with many things in Italy, it is weird. There has been some back and forth with Uber and entities in Italy, as a result, you can find Uber in Rome and in Milan, but it operates under heavy requirements. As a result, an Uber is typically more expensive than a taxi, operating more as a private car service, with all the restrictions that implies. I imagine Lyft is in a similar situation.

Since the City of Rome controls Taxi fare from the airport to city center, it is easiest to take that flat fare. Within Rome, walking is most of what is needed, or just take a tram or bus for 1.5 euro.

Lyft operates only in Canada and the US.

We used Uber in Rome a couple years ago after waiting an hour for a bus (transit slowdowns). They only have Uber Black service there so it’s slightly more expensive. Make sure you have a credit card in your account that doesn’t incur foreign transaction fees.
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When we were in Rome in 2019 we used a taxi app - basically it’s just like Uber or Lyft, you put in your location and destination, the price is set and you can pay on your phone through the app. It was great. I think it was called mytaxi. There was no worry of the driver going out of their way to charge you more, no language barrier and there was a taxi stand right by the place we were staying. Check it out!

Nothing "weird" (those who live in a glass houses...) : there is only Uber Black in Italy, the same Uber Black you have in USA. UberPop is banned (Just like it's banned in other weird places like Denmark, Germany and Portugal to mention only EU countries).

Since you need a great number of potential customers to break-even an Uber Black service, till now the company works only in Milan and Rome. Just like all around the world, Uber Black runs are offered by professional drivers who are more expensive than metered cabs.

Thanks all for your input.

We have never had any problem with taxi service in Rome. However, you cannot hail a taxi in Rome on the street. Must use the taxi stands.

Uber does not have designated pick up areas, they will pick you up at any location. Like others have said it is Uber Black, and sometimes we indeed got a very well dressed driver and luxury car and other times it was a Fiat and with the driver looking like you would with no Air conditioning. Our experience using Uber two separate trips in Rome was reliable and no problem. As others have said you must catch a taxi at an official taxi stand, which are all over the heavy tourist areas.

Be sure you have exact street address for destinations. A taxi on our last trip in Rome picked us up at the Colosseum for a drive to the Vatican. We had reservations for the Vatican Museum, Sistine Chapel, and were worried we’d be late if taking bus. Driver dropped us off outside Vatican walls at some area that had no entrance anywhere in sight. We had the devil of a time figuring out where we were and were breathless when we arrived. Another travel lesson learned. Haha.

We used Uber in Rome 4-5 times during our last trip. There were 4 of us so we were happy to pay a bit more considering they picked us up exactly where we wanted. Great drivers and very professional.