Rome Fiumicino Airport is about 20 miles from the city center of Rome, and there exist several different options to get from the Vatican or the Rome City Center to Rome Airport. Having been to Rome a few times, we explored several of the options and I thought I would share what we learned about the different options from Rome city center to Rome Airport. I also have a guide on the best way to get from Rome Fiumicino Airport to Rome city center, if you’re looking to make this a round trip.
Note that this is a guideline between Rome Fiumicino Airport to the city center of Rome – If you’re flying in to Rome Ciampino airport, you might want to try the best way to get from Rome city center to Ciampino Airport.
Taxi from Rome to Rome Fiumicino
Taking a taxi from the Vatican or the Rome city center to Rome Fiumicino airport is going to be your most convenient option, and as always, convenience comes with a price. Don’t you guys remember reading about the truth of the Traveler’s Triangle?
A taxi from Rome city center or the Vatican to Rome Airport (FCO) should cost 55 Euros if you are “inside the walls”.
This SHOULD be a flat fee as the Rome taxi division has set this price. It should be irrespective of the number of bags you have, if it’s late at night, if there’s lots of traffic. As far as I understand it, the only possible charge is if there are more than 4 passengers (for a vehicle that would support that).
Of course, the more people that you have, the more a flat cost like a taxi becomes advantageous when compared to the per-person costs of some of the cheaper options below
The Leonardo Express train from the city center to Rome Airport
Another option if you’re flying into Rome Fiumicino airport is to take the Leonardo Express.
The Leonardo Express is run by Trenitalia and costs 14 Euros per passenger, but it’s a high speed train that makes no stops, and will get you from Rome Airport to the city center in about 30 minutes. The Leonardo Express goes from Rome Fiumicino airport to the Termini station in the middle of Rome. If you’re traveling with a group, you can buy 4 tickets for 40 Euros, which is a nice savings.
Taking a bus from Rome or the Vatican to Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO)
The final option is taking a bus from Rome to Leonardo da Vinci Airport. Because of the distance, there is no public bus nor subway that goes from Rome Airport to Rome City Center. There are however multiple different private bus companies that make the journey from Rome Airport to the city center. Although Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO) is the largest airport in Rome (and in all of Italy), there is also Rome Ciampino airport (CIA) and these bus companies offer service from both Rome airports to the city center.
Taking a bus from Rome Fiumicino Airport to the city center
Of all the private bus companies that go from Rome Airport to the city center, Terravision seems to be the largest, and the one that we used on our trip
It costs 7 Euros for a one-way trip from Rome Airport to the city center (and vice versa), or 13 Euros for a return ticket. If you buy online, you can get a one-way ticket for only 7 Euros, which is what I did when I was in Rome back in 2017. To board the Terravision bus, you’ll go to Via Giolitti numbers 32-34-36-38, which is on the south/west side of Roma Termini station.
Taking a bus from the city center to Rome Airport
This is my report of taking the Terravision bus from Rome City Center to Rome Airport. Keep in mind that this was in 2017, so it was a few years ago (when the bus stop was on the other side of the Termini station), but I imagine that it’s a similar experience. On Wednesday afternoon after a trip to the Vatican Museum and exploring Rome, we collected our luggage and went to get our return tickets. We got there about 3:35pm, and there was no line, but it’s important to note that if you’ve bought a return ticket, even if there is a line, you don’t have to wait in it. The airport agent told me this and there are signs indicating so at Termini as well.
One downside of buying a return ticket (and therefore not having a specific train to be on) is that you only get on the next available train. In our case, there was a 4:10 bus, but it was full, so we only got boarding passes for the 4:45 bus, over an hour away. When the 4:10 bus arrived, we tried to see if we could get on the train as well, but they use different color boarding pass cards, so the bus agent denied us boarding.
Another couple and I hung around the bus door anyways, and once everyone that had tickets on the 4:10 bus had boarded, there were still 5 seats available (from no-shows I presume), and so we were able to get on anyways. It was a bit crazy but we made it back to the Bus Stop area of Terminal 3.
The Bottom Line
Those are your 3 basic options when traveling from Rome city center or the Vatican to Rome Fiumicino airport. Personally, we took a Terravision bus and although we had a few problems, I’d definitely take it again. It helped that when I was there back in 2017, there were only two of us and that our initial destination was walkable from the Termini station – had there been 4 of us (or EIGHT of us!), or if we would have had to take a taxi or other public transit from Termini to our final destination, then a taxi might have made sense
Any other good tips for traveling from Rome to Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO)? Leave your thoughts in the comments below
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I would recommend RomeCabs dot com from/to the airport. They aren’t much more than the public taxi’s and have better service. For a little bit more they will even do a short driving tour on the way to the hotel so it’s really nice for arrivals into Rome. You can use them to the cruise port but other than the potential pickpocket and baggage handler scams the train is the way to go, just don’t let anyone “help” you at the ticket machines in the main Termini station.
Rome is one of those cities where if you arrive exhausted after an overnight flight it is best to pay a bit more.
Looking at their website, they are 100 Euros for 1-2 people or 120 Euros for 3-4 people, plus a 30 Euro surcharge for a night pickup. So while they might be worth it, they are quite a bit more than the public taxis (which are 55 Euros for up to 4 people)
I would not do the bus or train because of the pickpockets!!!