Roma Pass and Airport Transportation questions
 

Hi all, done some searching but still have some questions
and just want to make sure I have everything right.

Gonna be in Rome for a couple days soon.

1st I was wondering about Airport Transportation to city center/termini

Seems like there are 3 options?

1. Taxi , fixed at 40 euro, correct?

2. Leonardo express train? 15 euro ? 1 way ?

3. Bus , I believe I read 8 euro for round trip ??


Is that about it? Any cheaper or free options?
For example if you get the roma pass is there any bus
or slower train that you can use to get to and from the airport for free ?


2nd, these are the things I can think of that I want to see in Rome:

1. Coliseum
2. Forum
3. Pantheon
4. the various fountains and stuff, but I know no cost for this.
5. Vatican, I guess the basilica and museum ?

Is the Roma pass right for me ??

Its my understanding that you get a line skip at the coliseum.
And you get transportation for 3 days on the buses and metro
which I would probably ride those at least a few times I would guess.

I am confused on, I guess the forum used to be free but now is not, correct?
So if I got a Roma Pass are the Coliseum and Forum 2 separate things or
are they together? Then the Vatican is all separate, yes? not included on the pass ? Do I need to reserve Vatican in advance? I am hearing no as long as I avoid mornings? it clears out after about 11am ???

thanks for any helpful info and tips!

Hey! I just got back from 12 days in Italy (Rome, Florence, Siena, Naples, Pompeii, a few other cities). I cannot answer all your questions, but I will take a stab at a few.

As far as transportation.. there are trains that run directly from FCO to Termini. Dont bother with cabs, they are expensive. Train tickets/routings very easy. One thing I would suggest if you are going to be there awhile is buying a week pass for the metro. This is your absolute best/cheapest way of getting around they city. There are 2 lines (red and blue) that cross at termini and bring you withing feet of many of the places you want to see (coliseum, vatican, treve fountain, spanish steps, etc). Instead, you would be paying 1euro per time you use the train. It adds up quickly if you are a tourist who will be jumping on and off around town. You can also buy a 24 hour pass...but I would go with the week. Whichever you chose, you can buy it at the self service machines (which can be put in English)

As far as the Coliseum and Vatican, I did the guided tours. While they are a bit more expensive (I paid 20euro for Coliseum and 40euro for the Vatican City), you get a tour in English and get to skip the lines to get in, which will save you time. Seeing as I was at the Vatican the week after Easter, when the line was over 3hours long by 9am..it worked out quite well). Essentially they let groups (who make reservations) go first before everyone else in the lines. All of the prices included admission.

Pantheon is free and no line. People just walk in and out..not a problem.

Also, you are correct, the forum USED to be free. It is no longer.

You can PM with any other questions. Have fun!

14 euros OW.

There's 2 trains: the Leo Express to Termini, which is a non-stop service to the current main Station, plus a cheaper overground service called FR1/FM1, which is 8 euros, or less for shorter journeys. It does stop in many stations but Termini.

FR1 and FM1 share the same route in the city, but the FM (M=Metropolitano) trains stop at Tiburtina and then go back to FCO airport, while the FR1 trains get the north of the Region (R=Regionale).

Here you can see a simplified PDF map of the train routes - overground & underground - in the city:
http://www.atac.roma.it/files/doc.asp?r=4

Roma Pass
 

The Roma pass is well worth the 25 euro investment. Directly from their web site http://www.romapass.it/p.aspx?t=columns&c=2&l=en&tid=2 , here is an overview:

Price per unit: € 25,00

Roma Pass, which is sponsored by Rome City Council and the Ministry for the Arts and Cultural activities, in collaboration with ATAC, the public transport company, is the capital's special tourist-cultural card that enables both tourists and interested local residents, the opportunity to benefit from various discounts and services that make it easier and cheaper to enjoy the splendours of Rome.

Free entry to the first 2 visited museums and / or archaeological sites of your choice
Reduced ticket prices to all other museums and / or archaeological sites visited thereafter
Free use of the city's public transport network (urban buses and trains, Underground lines A and B, Met.Ro trains: Roma - Lido, Roma - Viterbo for the Roma - Sacrofano section, Roma - Pantano railways lines within the urban territory of the City of Rome) Trenitalia trains and Cotral buses are not included.
Discounted tickets to exhibitions, events and other collaborating operators and businesses.
Reduced charges for use of the On-call Multi-lingual Medical Service for Tourists (MET Travel Health)
Tourist cultural service Roma Informa.
At the Colosseum a reserved turnstile is available for Roma Pass holders to get direct access to the monument

In the kit::

The Roma Pass card: the card used to visit museums / archaeological sites and on the public transport system as described above.
Roma MAP: A map featuring all the Tourist Information Points, Metro stations, museums and other sites of interest (complete with addresses, tel. no?s opening times and nearest bus stops and metro stations);
Roma Pass Guide: The guide to all participating museums and sites;
Roma News: a programme detailing all the events and services for tourists offering discounts, divided by type: art, dance, music, theatre, reviews, exhibitions, panoramic tours, as well as tourist services at the Lido in Ostia and MET Travel Health
Roma Informa: the card that provides details of how to access information on events and other useful services via internet

Roma pass looks to be a no brainer. Thanks!!

Question, with two people and 2-3 bags would the taxi charge be the same, 40 euro?

I ask becuase it would seem that might be an better option than getting the train, subway, bus (all three needed) to our hotel (CP St. Peters) from FCO with luggage.

http://www.comune.roma.it/was/wps/po..._the_airports/

The fare includes everything but it's FCO - all destinations within the Aurelian Walls, rather than FCO-everywhere in Rome. I can't read the map very well but I'm afraid the CP is slightly outside this area - it's a matter of a very few meters! - so the taxi should not apply the flat fare, but I see that both the CP website and some taxi company website reports the 40-euro fare for that address.

There's a kiosk ran by the municipality of Rome at T3 arrivals. They provide info about taxi services in Rome (though with limited business hours: 10-18...)
You can see a pic here
http://www.adr.it/portal/content/Fil...y/taxibox2.jpg

The OP seems to be in Rome only for 2 days.. IMHO, the Roma pass is expensive..
My reasoning is ..
Normally we will be going in metro/ bus from our hotel to the 1st point of interest and then walk around.. I mean for eg. we go to colloseum , then we walk around the forum, circus maximus, vittoria emmaneul monument, travi fountain, spanish steps, pantheon etc.. these are all walkable distances though it would take the whole day for u to cover these.. but thts the fun, to walk around rome and get a feel of it..then at night u return back to hotel in public transport..
the next day u again take public transport to say vatican mueseum .. its huge and if u r lucky u can manage st peters dome also , and then a walk on the tibre river on one of the beautiful bridges..IIRC the colleseum costs max Eur 11 (depending on if some temp exhibition is there) and forum is free with it and this is valid for the next day also..vatican museum or dome is not included in the roma pass..
So , we max use the transport for say 6 times, and save entry fees to colloseo which is 11 eur, so its 17 eur.. if we hv only 2 or 3 days, I would not go to more museums, since vatican itself is amazing.. and u hv so many beautiful chuches..
I was thr for 3 days in December and did not buy the roma pass.. and can say I did not regret .. but these´r my thoughts only :)..

Thanks. We will have 3 full days to explore in Rome, Arrive Monday AM (go through customs, etc.) and will depart Friday AM. That would leave 3 days for, but I didn't consider one will probably be spent in the Vatican. Have been told to make sure we make it to the dome, that it is very cool going up to the top and the view.

Thanks again!

ok.. so u hv 3 full days... U would ofcourse go to Colloseum and Roman forum (Forum is free with colleoseom ticket and valid for the day after also) + u will go to vatican museum and maybe the dome..in the roma pass, colleoseo + forum gets covered, but vatican museum + dome is separate and needs to be paid.. so Unless u r planning to visit another of the museums, the roma pass is not a good deal, primarily because u will want to walk arnd much more and thts the fun.. I hv been there twice and never taken more than 3 transport rides a day (mostly only 2) since in the centre of rome evryplace u walk, there is history and I dont wanna take a metro or something..

Have fun..

I always use the Roma Pass ,and sometimes the PIU with it, and find it a great bargain.

Hi Alice11, thanks for all your very helpful posts.

I'm confused about the FR1 and FM1 and whether you can use a BIT, BIG, BTI or CIS ticket for it.

I'd like to take the train from FCO to Ostiense Station and I see here that the fare would be €8.

But I also see that for the Metrebus System in Rome that the 4 different tickets are valid
- on Met.Ro regional trains: Rome-Lido, Rome-Viterbo, Rome-Pantano
- on Trenitalia regional trains (travelling second class)
[I can't seem to link the English page directly, but you can maneuver this page to show the English]

So firstly, is the FCO-Ostiense train the FM1 or the FR1? And is it considered a "Trenitalia regional train" that would be eligible for a BIT, BIG, BTI, CIS ticket?

Grazie in anticipo.

Hello SK3,
FCO-Ostiense train or, generally speaking, FCO-Rome train is both the FM1 and the FR1 service. For a traveller at FCO, that means every train but the Leonardo Express.

Actually, FM1 is simply the name of initial set of stations of the FR1 service.
As per Trenitalia timetable, all those trains are 'regional' and coded with a 'R', so if you look at the Trenitalia timetable, or hear some announcement, you would notice something like 'Trenitalia Treno Regionale R????".

Now, about fares:

FCO to Rome area* is a special fare and it's 8 euros. That's because the airport involves a - shameful:mad: - surcharge. You can't use the 4 tickets you mentioned.
But if you're travelling within the Rome area, for example from Ostiense to Tuscolana, you can use the 4 tickets you mentioned. In this case, a journey on a overground Trenitalia train is equal to a journey on a underground service, and same policies apply.

*A cheaper fare is available in case you're travelling from FCO to the first 2 stations:

• "Parco Leonardo", a mall + residential&commercial area which lays just outside the airport;
• "Fiera di Roma", the main exhibition center.

Alice11 thanks for the super speedy helpful reply!

I figured there'd have to be some catch re the "Regional Trenitalia" wording, too good to be true otherwise.

So is the surcharge applicable for the return? (Ostiense to FCO) I'd bet it would be..... but being optimistic I'm asking anyway!

And regarding this regional train, I have a couple of other questions, hope you don't mind. Do these trains (the FM1/FR1 departing from FCO) have a tendency to be packed like the Leonardo Express can be? And regarding luggage - I'll just have one rolling carry-on size bag. Would I be able to keep it with me by my feet, or would I have to stow it overhead or elsewhere?

Thanks again for taking the mystery out of the equation! :)

You won :p
It's applicable to the return. If there's the airport in the itin, then the surcharge is applicable.
So, 8 + 8 euros


I take the Regional to/from FCO very often and based on what I see at FCO, the LE is more crowded. It looks like most of the (foreign) travellers take the LE disregarding costs and destinations, so the Regionale is more used at FCO by staff, Italian travellers or people that are more aware of the service.

anyway, the regional is a mass transit service, so when it's get closer to Rome center, especially from Fiera di Roma if there's some main exhibition or from Muratella where a lot of big offices lay, it can get crowded during rush-hours.
BTW, at FCO you can have easily your seat, so that's not a problem.

Usually you keep by your feet. Based on the equipment, the coach will look like this one

or - unfortunaltely, more often - like this one

PS: it's only my impression, but I'd say that the lower floor is usually better air-conditioned, the upper floor has some design problem re the heat insulation; and it's reaaally hot in Rome now!

You're terrific Alice! I really appreciate all your help.

I hate to ask yet another question.... but.... I'm being greedy. Regarding your comment above - do I need a specific seat reservation? Or did you mean that since I'll be boarding at FCO that there should be available places to sit?

And good luck in that heat!