Rome Termini to FCO on the Leonardo Express

There are no reserved seats on the LExpress so you can buy the ticket anytime. No seat -- you stand. It has been a couple years but I remember the last time they were selling tickets on the platform just prior to the train. Remember it is an open ticket so it must be validated prior to boarding the train. If not, the fine is substantial. Personally, if it is convenient I would buy it anytime I was near Termini.

The transport police do check for the validation stamped in the yellow boxes. And they will col!ect from someone in cash on virtually every train running the route. They have vending machines that take cards and cash.

Wonderful, thank you.

Also hang on to your ticket, last time we took this train we never saw a conductor but you had to scan your ticket at a turnstile to leave the platform.

I rode the Leonardo Express to FCO on 12/22/17.

Because I changed Metro trains in Termini on Dec. 21, it worked very well for me to go ahead and buy my ticket 1 day in advance. I tried to use one of the automated ticket machines, but it only accepted credit cards (and I doubted my chip and sign card would work). A helpful man showed me a specific machine that would accept Euros. If I hadn't figured this out, I would just have bought a ticket from the staffed ticket window.

In purchasing my ticket from the machine, I needed to select a specific Leonardo Express train. However, on the 22nd, I arrived at Termini early enough to take the train 30 minutes before my scheduled departure. This was not a problem/I rode the earlier train. I had to scan my ticket both before boarding and after arriving at FCO.

My train departed Termini around 7:00 a.m. and had many empty seats. In contrast, my train from FCO to Termini was packed.

Although you didn't ask, I will share this about Immigration/Passport control at FCO:
In contrast to the long lines at Immigration I have encountered upon arrival at Heathrow and Charles de Gaulle, my wait at FCO immigration following Dec. 15 my arrival in Rome was 5 minutes. HOWEVER, I encountered a 45 minute line at FCO, Terminal 1 (as I recall, my gate was in E) upon leaving FCO on Dec. 22. Hard to say how much the line's length was impacted by holiday travel crowds.

Tania,

I’d suggest taking a taxi to the airport, especially since there are 4 in you party.

There’s a flat taxi rate of €48 from the center of Rome to Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci Airport.

The Leonardo Express train costs €14/pp.

Last time I was in Rome, I bought my Leonardo a at tabacchi in Termini - in the front of the station - when I got to Rome, along with a weekly transportation pass for my 5.5 days in the city. I think he asked me the date I was going to use it, I got the impression there's a two-week window.