Which airport are you landing at
Rome has two airports. Fiumicino (FCO, Leonardo da Vinci) is 30 km south-west of the centre, handles almost all long-haul and legacy carriers, and has its own railway station. Ciampino (CIA) is 15 km south-east, used by Ryanair and other low-cost airlines, and has no train: the choice is bus, taxi or private car. Both connect to Termini, the central station, which is why most of this page keeps coming back to it.
Prices below are at our last check. Where a figure could not be re-verified on the official site it carries a tag.
Fiumicino airport transfers compared
| Option | Price | Time to centre | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Leonardo Express train | €14 | 32 min to Termini | Hotels near Termini, Monti, Esquilino |
| FL1 regional train | €8 | 30–45 min to Trastevere, Ostiense, Tiburtina | Trastevere, Aventine, Prati (change at Ostiense/Trastevere) |
| Shuttle bus (SIT, Terravision, Cotral, TAM) | €7–9 | 45–70 min to Termini or Vatican | Budget, groups, Vatican-area hotels |
| Taxi, fixed fare | €55 | 40–60 min door to door | 2–4 people, luggage, evening arrivals |
| Private transfer | from €50 | 40–60 min | Families with child seats, non-central hotels |
| Shared minivan | from €28 | 60–90 min | Solo travellers to hotels away from Termini |
Leonardo Express
Trenitalia’s non-stop airport train runs every 15 minutes from about 6:00 to 23:30 in both directions, takes 32 minutes, and costs €14 one way; children under 12 travel free with a paying adult. The airport station is reached on foot from Terminal 3 via a covered walkway (10 minutes with luggage). At Termini it arrives at the far platforms (23–24) at the Via Giolitti side, a 10-minute walk to the metro and taxi rank.
Buy at the machines, on the Trenitalia app or in advance on Tiqets from €17.90, where the extra covers a mobile ticket you show without validating; the Tiqets version is rated 4.0 from about 7,600 reviews. Paper tickets must be validated in the green machines before boarding or you risk a fine. Note that the Leonardo Express does not accept ATAC passes.
FL1 regional train
The FL1 leaves from the same airport station every 15 minutes on weekdays (30 on Sundays) and stops at Roma Trastevere, Ostiense, Tuscolana and Tiburtina, continuing to Orte. It does not stop at Termini. At €8 it is the cheapest train, and for hotels in Trastevere, Testaccio or near Piramide it is also the most direct: Ostiense station connects to Metro B at Piramide. Validate paper tickets.
Buses
Coaches leave from the bus bays outside Terminal 3 (arrivals level) to Termini, with some companies serving the Vatican area. Journey time depends on the motorway and the ring road: 45 minutes at dawn, 70 or more at rush hour. The SIT bus and Terravision shuttle cost €7 one way when booked on Tiqets, both rated 4.4–4.5 from thousands of reviews; walk-up fares are a euro or two more. Cotral’s public bus is the cheapest but slowest and runs to Termini and Tiburtina. Buses are the right call for budget travellers and anyone staying near the Vatican, where the SIT bus stops at Via Crescenzio.
Taxi
Rome’s fixed taxi fares from Fiumicino are set by the city and displayed at the rank: €55 to any address inside the Aurelian Walls (the historic centre, Termini, Trastevere, Prati, Testaccio), €60 to Tiburtina station, €50 to Ostiense, €130 to Civitavecchia. The fare includes luggage and up to four passengers. Destinations inside the ring road (GRA) but outside the walls are metered, capped at €80. Only take white taxis with the Comune di Roma crest and a meter from the official rank outside arrivals; drivers who approach you inside the terminal are not licensed and charge double. Pay by card; all licensed taxis must accept it.
Private and shared transfers
A booked private car costs about the same as a taxi at €50–70, adds meet-and-greet in arrivals, a fixed price agreed in advance, child seats on request and a driver who knows where your hotel’s pedestrian-zone permit ends. It is the sensible choice for a family arriving at 23:00 or for a villa outside the walls. Shared minivans from about €28 per person on Tiqets are cheaper for one person but wait for other passengers. Browse airport transfers on GetYourGuide or the wider transfers category for hotel-to-hotel and port options.
Ciampino airport transfers
Ciampino is small, close and badly connected. The options, at our last check:
- Shuttle bus to Termini. SIT, Terravision and Schiaffini coaches leave from outside arrivals every 20–40 minutes and take about 40 minutes to Via Marsala or Via Giolitti at Termini. From €6 one way booked on Tiqets, rated 4.4–4.5; walk-up €7–9. Buy the return at the same time and check the last departure, which is tied to the last flights.
- Bus plus metro. An ATAC bus (line 720) or a Cotral bus to Anagnina, the southern terminus of Metro A, then the metro to Termini or Spagna: €1.50 each leg, about 50 minutes, and the cheapest route into town. Fine with a small bag, tedious with two suitcases.
- Taxi. Flat fare of €40 to addresses inside the Aurelian Walls, luggage and up to four passengers included, 30–40 minutes. Same rules: white cars, official rank, card accepted.
- Private transfer. From about €45 on GetYourGuide, useful for late Ryanair arrivals when buses are full.
Termini: the hub
Roma Termini is where the airport trains, both metro lines A and B, most bus routes and the FL suburban lines meet, and where Trenitalia’s Frecciarossa and Italo high-speed trains leave for Florence (1h30), Naples (1h10) and Milan (3h). Things to know:
- Layout. Platforms 1–24 are at ground level; the Leonardo Express uses 23–24 at the far east end. Metro A and B are downstairs via the main hall. Buses leave from Piazza dei Cinquecento in front; the official taxi rank is there too.
- Tickets. Trenitalia and Italo machines take cards; ATAC tickets are sold at the tabacchi shops, ATAC machines by the metro gates and in the ATAC app. Do not accept help at the machines from strangers.
- Left luggage. The official deposit is on the lower level at the Via Giolitti side; prices, hours and alternatives are in the luggage storage guide.
- Rome to Pompeii or Naples. High-speed trains from Termini to Napoli Centrale take 70 minutes from about €20 booked ahead, then the Circumvesuviana or Campania Express to Pompei Scavi. See the Pompeii day trip page. There is no train to Positano; see Amalfi Coast.
Getting around Rome: metro, bus and tram
Rome’s centre is compact enough that most days are walked, but the metro and a handful of bus and tram lines save the long hops.
Metro lines A, B and C
- Line A (orange) runs from Battistini in the west to Anagnina in the south-east via Ottaviano (Vatican Museums), Lepanto, Flaminio (Piazza del Popolo), Spagna (Spanish Steps), Barberini (Trevi, 8 minutes’ walk), Termini and San Giovanni.
- Line B (blue) runs from Rebibbia/Jonio in the north-east to Laurentina in the south via Tiburtina, Termini, Cavour (Monti), Colosseo, Circo Massimo and Piramide (Ostia trains, Testaccio). A and B cross only at Termini.
- Line C (green) runs from the eastern suburbs to San Giovanni, where it meets Line A. The extension to Colosseo–Fori Imperiali, connecting with Line B, is scheduled to open.
Trains run about 5:30 to 23:30, until 1:30 on Fridays and Saturdays, every 3–8 minutes. Stations Spagna and Barberini have lifts that fail often; see accessible Rome.
Buses and trams
Useful lines: 64 and 40 (Termini to the Vatican via Piazza Venezia, and the two most pickpocketed routes in the city), tram 8 (Piazza Venezia to Trastevere), tram 3 and 19 (Colosseum area to Villa Borghese and the Bioparco), 118 (Circo Massimo to the Appian Way and catacombs), 75 (Termini to Trastevere via the Colosseum). Board any door, validate a paper ticket at the yellow machine, or tap. Night buses (N lines) replace the metro after closing; the routes are in the nightlife guide.
ATAC tickets, passes and tap-and-go
All ATAC tickets are valid on metro, bus, tram, the Metromare to Ostia and the FL trains within the city. At our last check, from atac.roma.it:
- BIT €1.50: 100 minutes, unlimited bus and tram changes, one metro journey.
- Roma 24H €8.50, 48H €15, 72H €22: unlimited travel from first validation.
- CIS weekly €29: seven days.
- Tap&Go: hold a contactless card, phone or watch at the metro gate or the validator on buses and trams. You are charged the BIT fare per journey and the system caps at the day-pass rate; always tap with the same card. This is the simplest option for anyone without a pass.
Children under 10 travel free with an adult. The Roma Pass includes 48 or 72 hours of the same network plus museum entries; the maths for that is on the city passes page. Transport passes and hop-on hop-off bundles are also sold through public transport tickets on GetYourGuide, useful when you want a mobile ticket before you land.
Taxis in the city
Meter start is about €3 by day and €7 at night; a typical central ride is €10–15, Termini to the Vatican about €15. Book through the itTaxi or FreeNow apps, call 06 3570 or 06 6645, or use a rank; hailing on the street rarely works. Ride-hailing exists only as Uber Black at premium rates.
Civitavecchia cruise port
Civitavecchia is 70 km north-west of Rome and the port for almost all cruise calls advertised as “Rome”. Getting to the city and back takes about four hours of the day, so a ship in port from 7:00 to 19:00 gives roughly seven hours in Rome.
- Train. A free port shuttle takes you from the pier to the Largo della Pace terminal; from there the station is a 15-minute walk or a short local bus ride. Regional trains run roughly every 30 minutes to Roma San Pietro (about 60 minutes, five minutes’ walk from St Peter’s Square), Roma Trastevere, Ostiense and Termini (about 80 minutes), from about €5.10 at our last check. The Tiqets-listed Civitavecchia express train product (from €5.10) times a morning departure and afternoon return to ship schedules. Buy a return before you board and validate paper tickets.
- Transfers and tours. Shared shuttles from about €25 per person and private cars from about €150 per vehicle each way are listed under Civitavecchia port on GetYourGuide, along with shore-excursion tours that include Colosseum or Vatican entry and guarantee a return in time for the ship.
- Taxi. €130 fixed to Fiumicino airport; to central Rome expect €150–180, only worth it for four people.
What to book
- Fiumicino arrival: Leonardo Express or SIT bus on Tiqets for Termini hotels; a private transfer on GetYourGuide for families and late flights.
- Ciampino arrival: bus to Termini on Tiqets from €6.
- Cruise day: a Civitavecchia transfer or shore tour.
- In the city: a 72-hour ATAC pass if you will use the metro more than five times, otherwise tap-and-go; and the luggage storage guide for the last day.
Rome airport transfers are the one part of a trip where paying €10 more buys real time: take the train or a fixed-fare taxi from Fiumicino, the bus from Ciampino, and spend the difference on a coffee at the counter when you arrive.
