Rome Guide

The Rome Travel information below is by no means exhaustive nor is it a guarantee. We kept it as updated as we can. We have split the travel page into various sections, each of which includes links to the best source of information. We add our own comments here and there but if you have any you wish to add, please feel free by contacting us.

Some general notes and warnings about Rome airport taxis for example and how to get from Airport to the centre of town.
Airport links such as Fiumicino and Ciampino - Rome, Florence and Pisa - useful for general airport info. Airport travel connections. Some car rental info. Flight delays. Airport shopping. Before checking it out I never thought one could get so much travel aid and information out of an airport web site.
Some Airlines and On-line tickets Some such as Go and Easyjet can give you cheaper fares if you purchase the ticket online. If you subscribe they can even keep you updated about special cheap airfares and deals.
Farefinder services such as farebeaters.com - clever search engines which help you find cheap tickets
Car Rentals companies such as Hertz, Avis and Maggiore - get on line quotes and get an idea for price. Book on line or call them up by phone.
Trains and Eurostar - London to Paris and Benelux. You can even get fares and train timetables.
Inside Rome - General Tourism Links

Rome Travel : Some General Notes

Italy (Rome, Florence, Pisa).

Rome has two airports: The main one is "Fiumicino" (pronounced "Fewmeecheeno"), also known as "Leonardo da Vinci". The second airport is "Ciampino" (pronounced "Champeeno").

To get to central Rome from Rome Fiumicino airport you may choose between:

Train - every half hour. There are two possible destinations: Rome outskirts or Rome central station ("Stazione Termini"). Cost is approximately 9 Euro = 6 pounds sterling. Very approximately. Linking in to the Rome Rome Fiumicino site will give you up to date information including train timetables into the centre of town.
Taxi. Beware! As you come out of arrivals into the airport hall you will be confronted by several "touts" offering "Taxi" services - Do NOT get one of these taxis as they are not official. They will not have a meter and will almost always overcharge. Official Taxis are white in colour and may be found in a queue on the street outside the airport. Ensure they turn the meter on and when you pay at destination be careful not to get confused with the bank notes. Depending on where you are going, the fee should be in the region of 70,000Lire = 35 Euro = 25 pounds sterling = 35 US dollars. The meter should tell, although there can also be extra charges for luggage and night time travel.
Rental Car - Fiumicino airport has all the major car rental companies within it. Herz, Europe Car, Sixt amongst others. It is unclear whether you get better fairs booking from abroad or actually on site. If you have already booked and warn them of your arrival time they will tend to wait up for you if your plane is delayed.
Bus - ?

To get to central Rome from Ciampino you may choose between:

Taxi. Beware! As you come out of arrivals into the airport hall you will be confronted by several "touts" offering "Taxi" services - Do NOT get one of these taxis as they are not official. They will not have a meter and will almost always overcharge. Official Taxis are white in colour and may be found in a queue on the street outside the airport. Ensure they turn the meter on and when you pay at destination be careful not to get confused with the bank notes. Depending on where you are going, the fee should be in the region of 70,000Lire = 35 Euro = 25 pounds sterling = 35 US dollars. The meter should tell, although there can also be extra charges for luggage and night time travel.
Rental Car - All the major car rental companies within it. Herz, Europe Car, Sixt amongst others. It is unclear whether you get better fairs booking from abroad or actually on site. If you have already booked and warn them of your arrival time they will tend to wait up for you if your plane is delayed.
Bus - There is a bus into central Rome.

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Flights: try airlines such as Easyjet and Ryanair. Being cheaper carriers these will tend to fly to Rome's secondary airport Ciampino rather than the main airport Fiumicino (aka Leonardo da Vinci airport). Rome's main airport tends to be serviced by the main carriers such as British Airways or Alitalia.
Car Rental.
Ferry, Train & Car. Travelling down by car can be a long trip or it can be part of the fun. It is also possible to get a train to take you and the car all the way down to Florence.
Eurostar - Simple and effective way of getting your car and family across the channel.
Using the Motorways. Italian motorways have a 120km per hour speed limit. There are regular toll booths which can be paid by cash, cc or "ViaCard". ViaCard may be purchased on the motorway itself and is worth it if you intend to do a lot of road travel: it is fast to get through the toll booths. Beware - do not go into the ViaCard toll lanes if you only have cash and vice versa.

Malaga Airport Car Hire: Car Hire at Malaga Airport . Don’t wait for courtesy bus or long queues. We rent a car from: Costa del Sol, Malaga, Marbella, Benalmadena, Estepona. Luxury ca

Mariamilani's Travel Aid: Airport Web Site Links

The following links are relatively useful and I suggest you check the appropriate one out. You can get all sorts of information such as for example the train timetable into the city centre. Ticket prices. Airport to city travel information. Airport shopping info. Hosts of telephone numbers and so on. Oh yes, you can even check out whether flights are on time or delayed.

Rome Fiumicino - Good general info but terrible for getting to the car rental sites. Good job we include them below for you. Good for the train times into central Rome if you choose to go by train.
Rome Ciampino - Similar comment to Fiumicino except there is no train from Ciampino into Rome centre. Again, little info re the car hire cos at the airport other than their telephone numbers which we have reproduced in the Car Hire section of this page.
Florence Good info and good access to the car rental cos.
Pisa ditto.

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Mariamilani's Travel Aid: Airlines and On-line tickets

The links below lead to some of the more popular airlines but not all. I think the merits of the different companies are relatively well known: large national carriers tends to mean expensive. But watch out: you can get exceptions to this rule!

Another interesting point is that the price of the same ticket can vary even within the same day. Generally speaking they will tend to get increasingly expensive as the date of travel gets closer. All this suggests that you should know a bargain when you know one and be flexible enough to go for it. Some people buy the plane ticket and then worry about finding somewhere to stay....

And so for some airlines:

Ryanair. A well known cheap ticket carrier like GO.
British Airways. Not my favourite but most people will swear by it.
Alitalia. Prone to strikes at times but I have always found the food and service good. At the time of writing it's about to get privatised so perhaps that bodes well for the future!
Easyjet. Very cheap usually.

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Mariamilani's Travel Aid: Farefinder and farebeater Services

I have never really used this sort of service "farefinder sites" but I am told it works....so here they are, in alphabetical order. If you have any comments to make about any of them it will be gladly received and probably introduced onto this web page (with your permission).

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Mariamilani's Travel Aid: Car Rental Companies

Email for a direct car rental quote from a best value broker.

You may check out the offer made by our friendly car rental broker or alternatively do a little of your own investigative work. Or both!

Click on the name to link to their web site and get online quotes. Alternatively you might try ringing one of the phone numbers I have collected so far.

Hertz. UK Tel no 01132 429495. Ciampino-Rome: 0039-06-79340095
Maggiore Budget: Ciampino-Rome: 0039-06-79340368
Italy by Car: Ciampino-Rome: 0039-06-79340317
Avis: Fiumicino-Rome: 0039-06-65011531 Ciampino-Rome: 0039-06-79340195 The AVIS web site seemed particularly easy and fast at giving me a quote.
Europcar: Ciampino-Rome: 0039-06-79340387
Sixt: Fiumicino-Rome: 0039-06-65953547 Ciampino-Rome: 0039-06-79340838

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Mariamilani's Travel Aid: Trains and Eurostar

Italian Railways "Ferrovie Statali" ("FS" for short)

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