Marathon Man

Thanks bdemaria.

We will get out of the airport straight away and get to cabs.

MM

LowlyDLsilver

In addition to the cost factor washing out, other factors also make the train undesirable under the circumstances.

Termini is a MAJOR train station. It's laid out as well as can be under the circumstances, but not the easiest to navigate with small children plus luggage in tow. Bottom line, I wouldn't do it unless connecting to another train. The Leonardo (airport express train) arrives on a track that's almost the end of the station, involving a not unsubstantial walk to get to either a connecting train or car, with stuff and kids in tow.

The airport train station doesn't have great amenities, and it's not like the train runs every 5 minutes. If your timing through customs doesn't work out, you could end up in a pretty stark facility for a half hour waiting for the next train, with little ones asking "are we there yet?" We watched the Leonardo depart, knowing about the wait for the next one, because the credit card processing link was down at the precise time we got to the airport train station. Not fun.

I doubt you will get a car service for much less than the flat rate into Rome, and you will introduce another level of difficulty into the equation by trying it.

Bottom line, just catch a LEGIT cab in, get settled, get some chow, and enjoy!

Marathon Man

LowlyDLsilver, my 6 year old --when he was 4--was sitting in his seat on an A330 in business class on a trip from AMS-BOS and they had just closed the door. He turned to Mommy and asked, "Are we there yet?"

Needless to say, this was a long long trip back home.

yah I think the train is out. And getting out of the airport to the hotel by reliable means will be the way of it.

thanks. MM

PWMTrav

All good, glad to help. You said something about DL status, which led me to believe you were flying Delta - their only route that I know of was ATL-FCO so I figured you booked an award or something. I haven't yet flown the AZ BOS-FCO route because it doesn't exist during the cold winter months that I like to escape Maine and go to Italy. Please come back and let us know how it was - we flew AF J - BOS-CDG-FLR with our 18 month old and it went really well. That airline does very well with kids, on the ground and in the air. The next trip will likely be in coach, though, because all of the "old" business products that actually let 3 of you sit together are going away!

Anyhow, you'll know what I mean when I tell you to just get the hell out of FCO and to the hotel. The lounges, which you can't access from the sterile arrivals area anyway, are about as nice as that arrival hall itself. Our last time through, I just hit the first ATM I saw for some cash, then got us in a cab. With luggage and more than one person, taking the train stops making sense.

Depending on what you like to eat, there's a place that I enjoyed a couple years ago fairly close to your hotel - maybe 5-10 min walk - Ristorante Tullio. The location draws a fair share of tourists, but I wouldn't describe it as tourist food. They do a nice job.

Marathon Man

Yes I had mentioned DL status --mostly to indicate I had none and that therefore, there'd be no automatic lounge options or anything. And then of course, everyone is saying to just forget the lounge thing anyway. So now I know.

I will report back on my own findings in this trip... our experience in traveling to Europe and then around it is decent but I find I really only ever go via AMS. Main reason being: Wife is Dutch and so everything starts and ends there for us. (In most of our trips we would all go to family there or we would leave the kiddos with family and my wife and I would take off to see the world for a week).

Plus, from BOS flying DL is non stop to AMS and that is essential especially with kiddos. When they were 18 months it made the challenging excursion a bit more bearable to say the least. This is why I amass miles to fly DL and I honestly do like the A330 product as they have 4 across in econ when we fly as a family. We mainly do fly that way because hey, the kids are little and can cuddle with mommy more easily than in C.

The ipad mini is your best friend when traveling with kiddos that are the ages ours are, but on this trip things may work out differently. Whereas our trips to AMS often leave BOS at say 5pm and arrive in AMS at 6-7am, the kiddos can play on their devices and then fall asleep. We arrive and either we drive to family or they pick us up. Then we can adjust there.

On this Rome trip however, we leave at 10:40pm from BOS... well past their bed times and even though we would obviously be wanting them to stay up it's gonna be an interesting one. the tired kids on the way to and in the airport... followed by the initial elation of pending travel, then the try to get comfy thing, and then you are woken by EU daylight and the smell off coffee or something. We wondered what, if anything, would be available for snacks or food on this flight the morning of the 9th. Instead of getting to AMS which I think is like the best airport in the western hemisphere for a million reasons, where you can eat anything and go anywhere and get anything, we will now need to find a way to just get out of FCO fast--in the July heat and get to our destination where I will take your advice on Ristorante Tullio or something like it.

We had on one trip with the kids flown into Paris and bopped around before getting to our hotel there, but that was a morning arrival too. This, again, is mid day. So it's different.

We are going to try to travel rather light on this trip but snacks will be brought with us. Kids will do almost anything if they are holding a small bag of potato chips or something.

Where in Maine are you at? My wife and I drove up the coat to north of Kennebunkport and back on Sat. We flirted with staying at one of those quintessential olde houses with the Adirondack chairs out front over looking the water and were willing to spend up to $400 for the night to do this, because we could pay it off with Cap One or Arrival points later, but nothing was available so we headed home. We kinda figured though... we had not made any advance plans so we were good with it. But my wife and I now joke: What started out as our romantic driving up the coast (kiddos at grandmas house for the night) and a date night together by the sea ended up with us stopping at the Portsmouth, NH Wmt to grab some pool filters and more money orders

PWMTrav

Pool filters and money orders. A true MSer Nice work. I live, well, just north of where you were - Portland area. Drop me a PM the next time you head up.

If it's any consolation, I've been told that Alitalia's onboard food is as good as airline food gets - even the coach meal is decent.

There is also a snack stand on the T3 arrivals side, according to the FCO website - Chef Express.

Marathon Man

Indeed I shall. My friend was thru there last week and had Bissell Brothers double IPA --I think he said he went to The King's Head pub.

We used to all go up there to get on a friend's lobstah boat and camp on Long Island and do a bake til they kicked us off lol. Everything started and ended with Becky's Diner.

Ahhh those were the days when we had no kiddos and didnt have to travel all over Europe to enjoy the summer.

Marathon Man

And yes, sounds like the food on AZ will be like Delta's Not bad in fact!

rove312

I've used http://romeshuttlelimousine.com/ . The driver meets you at arrivals with a sign with your name, and the flat fare in a nice car is €45 vs. the €48 of a taxi, which may find excuses to charge more. It may be more with the size of your party. They don't ask for a credit card number in advance.

Marathon Man

this could be cool
Thank you!!

Amarone

We're arriving next week at FCO (Terminal 3) on BA0550 at 23.30. Looking for help as to how best to get to Termini Central. (There will be two of us with one bag between us and hand luggage.)

We'll miss the last express train and Terravision bus though it looks as if it might be possible to get a SITBusShuttle at 00.30.

Having searched this Forum it seems other posters have used Rome Shuttle Limousine and Roma Shuttle but not recently.

I'm thinking of the Limo/shuttle but would welcome an update from someone who has used this service recently.

What do people recommend?

Thanks

lost*in*cyberspace

Why not just walk over to the taxi line and grab a cab? It's a set fee of 48 Euros.

mromalley

I always use Rome Cabs. Last time was in May. It's usually 50 euro, I think there is an extra charge for late night arrivals.

www.romecabs.com

Perche

A taxi in Rome is simple. You don't have to worry about whether or not a driver will be there with a sign waiting for you as you exit because if your flight is late a limo service driver may wait a certain amount of time, and then will usually just leave the airport. Don't expect a driver to still be there waiting for you patiently while you are on a three hour flight delay if you have not been able to call and advise them ahead of time.

The only exception might be a limo service arranged by your hotel where they are depending on the hotel to send them repeat business, and you pay them a premium fee.

As said by lost*in*cyberspace, unlike in most USA cities, roman taxis have a set fee so they have no incentive to drive you around. Just take a taxi from an official stand at the airport. They can't add to the 48E fee, except for adding any nominal night fee. Roman cabs tend to be much newer than the cabs in most major U.S. cities so they are usually very comfortable and clean.

It is not typical to tip in Italy. Maybe a few euros in a restaurant if the service was great. In a cab, tipping is much more unheard of than at a restaurant. If you get a good ride give 50E and say keep the change, and the driver will be very appreciative of that. It's not being cheap, things are just structured differently e.g., a living wage, health care insurance, etc, without relying on tips.

Amarone

Many thanks all for the replies - the advice is much appreciated. ^^

Will give the taxi a try.