Our party of four adults will arrive at Rome's main airport at about 8:30 a.m. We cannot check into our apartment until 2 p.m. What suggestions do you have for the following?
Many thanks!
1). Stay outside, if possible, It's better for jet lag!
2). Email your hotel and ask if there is a luggage room you can use. I have always been able to leave my luggage with them till time to check in. Then we can start our sightseeing right away!
leave airport, train or taxi to your apartment.ask to leave luggage, walk around and check out the surroundings .. have a few glasses of wine at the local cafe
First, you will probably not have a total of 5.5 hours of lame-duck time. Assuming that the plane is on time, you will have to get off the plane, go through passport control (make sure they stamp it), walk through the luggage area, get your bags if you checked them, walk through the customs nothing to declare doors and then you will be out of the air side of the airport. All that (especially passport control) will be affected by exactly when you arrive, the number of people who are there at the same time you are, and how the repairs at FCO are progressing. It could take as much as an hour.
Once on the public side, you will need to get your transportation into Rome. That's likely to take at least a 1/2 hour travel time, plus however long it takes you to get yourselves organized and into whatever mode you choose.
If your apartment owner cannot let you check in early (be sure to ask, mine always has) or has no way for you to leave your luggage there, one fairly easy option would be to leave it at Roma Termini, however you get into town. This is the link for information about that: http://www.romatermini.com/en/service/detail/left-luggage. Of course that is not a free service, but might be well worth the money if you have no other option.
Walking around is a very good thing after the long flight. Try to eat lunch around normal eating times (usually 12:00 - 15:00). This may not be a problem for you. Rick Steves' guides will have lots of suggestions for places to eat. You can find more in the Travel Forum questions and responses for Italy.
I among others have recommended La Gallina Bianca. It's about a 10 minute walk from Roma Termini. Click on Location on the opening page (website seems to be a work in progress), then click on Locate Us for the map. You'll see how close it is to Termini. Zoom in and take the little man to in front of it so you can see what it looks like. My husband was amazed that the outside tables are actually on the street.
The time will fly by faster than you expect and by the time you finish lunch, your apartment should be ready. You can go back to Roma Termini, get your luggage and take whatever transportation you choose to your apartment. Get settled in and go grocery shopping for things you may need that you might not expect. Trust me, that will be fun.
It will be hard to resist taking a nap, but do your best, or at least limit the time. Then hit the streets in the area of your apartment and explore. You're going to have a blast.
Since it is an apartment you are staying at, they may not be able to hold your luggage ahead of time. I would just check it at Termini and enjoy the day on the town until check-in.
Thank you all for your thoughtful replies. Keep them coming! I will definitely investigate the possibility of stowing luggage at Termini. I can see how the baggage claim/customs/transport from FCO processes will easily eat into the 5.5 hours. And lingering over a good lunch with a wine or two might be a nice way to spend a chunk of the remaining time.
I don't know how jet lag affects you, but the last thing I would do on my first day in Europe is drink wine with lunch. I try to stay awake that first day for as long as I can, to more quickly adjust to local time. Wine would make me crash in the afternoon.
I like the idea of checking your bags at Termini and then checking things out nearby. The church of Santa Maria Degli Angeli e Martiri (SMDAeM) is nearby and it's very impressive. It was created out of part of the Baths of Diocletian, which you can also tour.
Three things to know:
1. The baggage deposit ("Deposito Bagagli") at Termini is way, way down a very long hall to the right of all the tracks as your facing the trains.
2. The entrance to the Baths of Diocletian is a good little ways around the corner to the right as you're facing the church of SMDAeM.
3. Rick Steves Rome book has a self-guided tour of SMDAeM which for some reason is named "Baths of Diocletian" in the book.
I also was going to pint out that the hours will dwindle down by the time you get near your apartment. I would find a nice cafe, if later, a bistro, near the apartment, park yourself with your luggage, order a good wine or coffee, maybe some lunch.
Since there will be four of you, let one couple explore the neighborhood around the apartment while the other couple watches the bags, then switch and let the other couple explore. A plus if the place has seating on a piazza.
