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Rome Airport Guide (FCO)
Pauline Kenny and Andrew McGarrell Page Contents
Airport Map | Airport Layout | Disability Assistance | C ar Rentals | Public Transportation | Meeting Place
Maps of the Rome Airport FCO
Slow Travel Google Map - Rome Airport (FCO): Airport terminals, parking garages, train station and the walking route from Terminal C (international arrivals) to the Car Rental offices. Slow Travel Google Map - Rome City: Train stations and other Rome information www.adr.it: Rome Airport web site - Map of Rome Airport Map of Parking Garages: Photo of the parking garage map at Rome Airport (FCO)
Layout of the Rome Airport FCO
There are three levels at the airport: ground floor - arrivals first floor - departures second floor - stores, restaurants, and walkway to parking garage There are stores, restaurants, restrooms on the ground level where you arrive and on the mezzanine above the departures level. The terminals at the airport (renamed and reassigned in fall 2009) are: Terminal 1 (formerly A): Alitalia, Air France, and KLM arrivals and departures within the Schengen zone (most of continental Europe) Terminal 2 (formerly AA): EasyJet departures only Terminal 3 (formerly B and C together): the main terminal, with arrivals and departures, domestic and international, for all airlines not listed as using other terminals. Includes EasyJet and U.S. carrier arrivals, and Alitalia flights outside the Schengen zone, including London and North America Terminal 5: Departures only for U.S. carriers and El Al.
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A view of Terminal 3
All Terminal 3 arriving passengers exit baggage claim at the northeast (towards Terminals 1 and 2) end of the terminal. The cafe tables at Chef Express near there are a good place to wait for arriving passengers.
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Terminal 3 baggage claim
Note: All arrivals from North America go to Terminal 3, but departures on U.S. carriers and El Al are from the new Terminal 5. Taxis and car services can go directly there; if arriving by train or returning a rental car, you need to take a shuttle bus (reportedly not well-equipped for going with luggage) from the front of Terminal 3. Note: The terminal is determined by the airline operating the flight. For example, if you're ticketed on Delta, but the last segment is a flight from Paris operated by Air France, the flight arrives at Terminal 1, not 3. A departure for the U.S., with a Delta flight number but operated by Alitalia, would leave from Terminal 3, not 5. In case of doubt, as you're preparing for the flight, on the home page in English, click on Search your flight, then enter your flight information for a date in the next few days, and your terminal will be shown. Most transatlantic departures are from the G satellite, which can be accessed from the appropriate terminal where you checked in, either T3 or T5. It has 14 gates, and the signs when you arrive at the satellite advise you to go clockwise around it whatever the gate. In fact, you arrive with G1 just to your left, and G14 just to your right. If you have one of the higher gate numbers, you can turn right to go there instead of taking the full circle. If flying from North America and connecting in a Schengen country, you clear passport control in the connecting country and claim luggage on arrival in Rome. Your luggage is subject to customs inspection, but you would usually go down the green line and not be challenged.
Disability Assistance on Departure
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My friend asked for disability assistance on departure from Terminal 5. At the check-in counter, they said to wait and an attendant and wheelchair would come in a few minutes. We waited a while and asked again before someone came. With a wait that long, it would have been better to have breakfast at the bar at Terminal 5, rather than the crowded one in the G satellite. When an attendant came, he said that the passengers getting assistance would be on a special bus to the satellite, and the able-bodied companion could not ride on the same bus.
Picking Up/Returning Your Rental Car at Rome Airport
Read our page about picking up and returning your rental car at Rome Airport.
Public Transportation to Rome and Beyond
Many people find that, after a long flight, a taxi or car service to Rome for around €48 (the fixed taxi fare to the city center). However, there are good public transportation options for getting into Rome and connecting to other places that cost less. Leonardo Express to Termini Some visitors think that the only train they should consider is the Leonardo Express, which leaves the airport at 8 and 38 minutes past the hour and has a fare of €14. This would be the train to take if you're staying close to Termini station in the center of Rome, or are connecting to trains to Florence or Naples. Ferrovia Metropolitana 1 Train to Other Rome Stations In many cases, however, it's preferable to take the Ferrovia Metropolitana 1 train (FM1), which runs at 13, 28, 43, and 58 minutes past the hour on weekdays (28 and 58 minutes past the hour only on Sundays, holidays, and August). The fare is €8 and it is a comfortable double-decker train. The departure board now shows both Roma and the final destination for this train, for example Roma Orte and Roma Fara S., to make clearer that it goes to Rome. It doesn't go to Termini, the main train station in Rome, but it stops at several Rome stations. Of most interest to visitors would be the Trastevere, Ostiense, and Tiburtina stations. Trastevere is convenient to the Trastevere and Navona/Pantheon/Campo de' Fiori areas. Ostiense is convenient to the Colosseum area. From these stations to your lodging it's a short taxi ride, or you can look up public transport options at www.atac.roma.it. Across from Tiburtina is the main bus station, which gives good access to Siena and parts of Umbria. Trains to Beyond Rome If you're connecting beyond Rome, you can look up your options from the airport in advance on the Trenitalia site, in English. The airport station is officially listed as Fiumicino Aeroporto, but Roma Aeroporto works just as well and is less prone to typos. A search for an itinerary from Roma Aeroporto to Perugia, for example, shows several options connecting at RO TIB, meaning Tiburtina; other codes are ROMA TE for Termini and RO OST for Ostiense. A connection that lets you take the FM1 rather than the Leonardo Express saves you €6 and some backtracking. From the Trenitalia website print the options starting with the first train you can make; you'll have the other options with you in case you can't make the first possible train. (It's usually fine not to reserve in advance, since you don't know which train you can make.)
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Trenitalia ticket office
Getting From the Plane to the Train After you've claimed your bags, cleared customs, and are in the main arrival hall for Terminal 3, turn right to get to the entrance to an underpass to the train station. At the far end, there's an escalator up to the station. When you've taken this entrance to the airport train station, the tracks are just to the left. Also to the left are some orange-framed ticket windows for a travel agency; they sell train tickets at the same price as the machines or the official office. You can use them for tickets to Rome if you prefer to pay cash, or for tickets beyond, including reservations if needed. Some tourist information booths and the newsstand also sell tickets into Rome. To the right are the official ticket office and self-service kiosks. (There are also ATMs in the station if you had problems using them in the terminal or wanted to rush to the station.) The kiosks are more user-friendly than the Trenitalia site and will sell you tickets with seat assignments for upcoming trains.
Self-service ticket machines at the airport train station.
Tip: If you are going to Florence, they usually give you 22 minutes to connect at Termini. The Leonardo Express arrives at Track 24, at one end of the main tracks, set back from the main part of Termini; the walk from there to your connecting track will take a good part of that time. If you get to the airport station at 9.15am and the first option they give you is: Lv Fiumicino Aeroporto 09:37, Ar Roma Termini 10:08 Lv Roma Termini 10:30, Ar Firenze S. M. Novella 12:06 You can say that you want the next option, leaving the airport at 10.07, where all the
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times are 30 minutes later, still take the 9.37 Leonardo Express (since it isn't reserved) and have a more leisurely connection of 52 minutes at Termini to your reserved train leaving at 11:00am. You'll most likely get separate ticket coupons for the train into Rome and the connecting train; be aware that you need to hold onto both of them. Remember to stamp your tickets in the devices as you approach the tracks. You don't need to do this for Eurostar tickets, where the seat assignments are printed on the tickets, but there's no harm in doing so. Read more about using trains in Italy. Bus into Rome COTRAL buses stop across from Terminal 2 on the arrivals level. They have a line to the town of Fiumicino and Lido di Ostia, a bus to Termini and Tiburtina in Rome at odd hours, mostly in the middle of the night when the trains do not run, and lines that go to stations on both metro lines. All tickets bought on board are €7; they are cheaper (for example €1.20 to Lido di Ostia) if bought in advance at newsstands in the terminal: www.cotralspa.it/Collegamenti_Aeroporti_area1.asp. Alitalia has a bus service that's currently only offered to passengers when they book flights on the airline site; when passengers book, the site says what places in Rome are served by buses that meet that flight. Fare is €7. Other buses stop at the new bus station area past the right-hand end of Terminal 3 as you exit: map at www.sitbusshuttle.it/images/stories/maps/fiumicino_apt_big.gif. These lines use designated bus bays: SITBus, departing bus bay 1, at www.sitbusshuttle.it, to the Termini area and Piazza Cavour, for €8. Autonoleggio Tirreno: from bay 2, a bus to Ostiense station for €6, not that frequent: www.autonoleggiotirreno.it. Terravision, starting service July 15, 2011: from bay 3, going to the Termini area for €6: www.terravision.eu/rome_fiumicino.html. Buy tickets before boarding, whether online or at the counter in the terminal. Check the fares: there are often temporary promotions bringing the fare down. Intercity Buses Intercity buses also use the new bus station area. SULGA buses to Umbria are listed at www.sulga.it. While they only list Fiumicino for buses to Perugia and Assisi, if the segment between the airport and Roma Tiburtina coordinates with a schedule from Rome to someplace else, you can make the connection. For example, if you take the bus from the airport at 14.30, you can connect to the bus leaving Tiburtina for Gubbio at 16.00.
Meeting Place at Rome Airport
If your group is arriving on different flights, Chef Express, with cafe tables, is a good place to wait for people leaving the baggage claim of Terminal 3. Terminal 1 has two possible exits for arriving passengers; the one to the left (if you're the one waiting) is the exit for passengers without checked luggage; those coming from baggage claim take the right-hand exit. From this Rome Airport page you can select Terminal 3 to get a map of the terminal. Drag it to find the Arrivals area (it starts with the shops at the Departures area). See the photos below from June 2006.