Getting to Fiumicino (Rome) Airport-help!

You might do best to just get a car service or taxi to carry you to the airport. It takes about 45 minutes to get out there, and there's usually little traffic that early.
It's very difficult to get up extremely early to make those early a.m. flights out of FCO. I assume you'll be flying to another European gateway airport where you'll be sit around until late morning-early afternoon to catch your flight home.
I always try to schedule long flights out of Rome after 10:00 a.m. so I can arrive in the U.S. a little better rested. 10 hour flights are hard enough without having to get up at 3:00 a.m.

Thanks, David! So with that mindset, would it be best to get a hotel room near the airport? Free shuttle and an extra hour of sleep, although it does take away from a night out in Rome.

Spend the last night in Rome. Getting to the airport for an early flight is not that difficult. Consider a private car service. We can not say enough good things about Rome Cabs. It is a private car service (not a cab company) but only cost about 10 Euro more than a regular taxi. We always use them and have always been very pleased. Go to romecabs.com and see what you think. We usually send an email and they answer us with a quote within 24 hours. You do have to pay cash (Euros) and the end of the journey but not in advance.

From Trastevere, that early in the morning, you need 30 min at most with a taxi/private car.
If you stay closer to the airport, you won't save much unless you stay right at the Airport Hilton, which is at the airport across the terminal.

I would agree - stay the last night in Rome, and just live with a short night's sleep. The car service is a good idea, and with little traffic at that time of day, you'll get there quickly. There will be plenty of time to nap as you cross the Atlantic!

If you have to be at the airport at 3.45 am, an extra hour's sleep probably won't make a difference. I'd rather live it up in Rome until late and then either sleep or be cranky on the flight home. Unless, of course, you are headed to another vacation stop.

so about that extra mystery hour.

Figure 2 hours if you are flying within Europe prior to departure, maybe less at that time of the morning, at least 3 if you are straight onto the transAtlantic portion of your journey.

So where does this 6:45 flight go?

Thanks for all the replies. My 6:45 am flight will be to Paris. Then a two hour layover, then 11 hours back to the US.

We can not say enough good things about Rome Cabs.

TC, thank you for the recommendation on RomeCabs.com. I have made a note of that for my future trip to Rome. :)

And just a note about Rome Cabs, for my daughter's early flight in Rome last summer, they were already booked - but referred her to another private shuttle, who were wonderful and went beyond what might be expected from a shuttle service.

The flight to Paris is a domestic flight with standard check-in procedures. With a 6.45 departure, get to the airport by 5.30, 5.45 will give you plenty of time.

We also had an early morning flight...7 AM check-in. Rather than spend a night in a hotel and only use the room for a few hours we just checked out of our Rome hotel, had a nice dinner then took a late train (I think it was the last train) from the Termini to FMC. We found seats in the terminal, read, people watched, snacked, grabbed a nap, freshened up in the toilettes, had a leisurely breakfast and checked in at our airline...no rushing or fretting. Altho not for everyone, it worked for us. And let me tell ya...you'll sleep on that airplane! :)