boybi

I will arrive in FCO at 6:40am. I'll be buying a sim card after clearing immigrations and customs, and I'm not sure how long this would take. Should I just hail a taxi to my hotel? If I hire my transport online, can I mention that I will be doing some business in the airport after landing?

How is the queue for the taxi during the hour of my arrival?

Perche

There are plenty of taxis. Just make sure to take an official white taxi. I don't know if someone working for a car service will want to wait for you for half an hour while you set up your phone.

boybi

Is there a line like a taxi stand?

Perche

Usually not. It's unpredictable. Just make sure not to take an offer from someone offering you a taxi. Go to the official taxi stand. The cars are white. If you are going to most places in the city center, the price is fixed at 48 euros.

Stewie Mac

Heading to Italy with family this summer, arriving into FCO and then taking a train down to Naples. Flight arrives at 14:10 (ex UK), we'll have bags to collect, then planning to take the Leonardo Express to Termini.

I very seldom travel with either the family or checked bags, and while I have been to Rome a dozen or so times, it's always been for work and a taxi from the airport to EUR.

Would a 16h train from Termini seem a reasonable bet? I'd quite like to arrive with enough time to go to the Mercato, but don't need hours.

Thoughts please.

Sciamano

Yes, more or less. But for sure go directly outside the terminal building ignoring completely people inside near the doors offering you a taxi (maybe they are officials but I hate them )
I can suggest you to use an app on your smartphone.

Sciamano

It should be fine, expecially if said you know how to move in FCO and/to city centre.

Perche

You can't do it. Assuming your plane arrives on time 14:08 (not always a wise assumption), it's not certain that you can deplane, go through passport control, pick up your luggage, and walk the 10 minutes (or more, depending on the amount of luggage and ages of your family members) to the Leonardo Express, by a ticket (often long lines at booths and machines as tourists struggle with the process), and be on the 15:08 train to Rome Termini.

You probably will, but if your plane is 15 minutes late, there's a long line at passport control, or it takes 45 minutes to get your bags, you won't make the 15:08. That means you will miss the 16:00 train from Termini to Naples. If you miss your train, you can't just get on the next one. You'll have to go to the Trenitalia office and try to change it. If you bought discount tickets those are not changeable, and depending on the size of your family, you may have to throw away over 100 euros worth of train tickets and buy new ones.

In the best case scenario, you make the 15:08 which arrives at 15:40. The 16:00 train to Naples gives you 20 minutes to get of one train, walk to the track for the train to Naples, and board it. Depending on their respective tracks, that could take 10 minutes. The Mercato is a ten minute walk from the main train station area so it's not possible to squeeze eating there into the 20 minute interval.

So, even in the best case scenario it's not possible to land at 14:10, visit the Mercato and take the 16:00 train to Naples. In the worst case scenario you'll miss the 15:08, miss the 16:00, and have to do a ticket exchange, or even have to throw your tickets away and buy new ones.

By the way, you don't need hours at Mercato, but you do need about an hour. It's a 10 minute walk to and from the main area of the train station. Depending on what track you arrive and leave from, it can be longer than that. Once inside, there are dozens of separate booths. Depending on how crowded it is, it may take you 15-20 minutes to buy and eat a pizza. If you want to have a drink with it you have to go to another booth and wait on line to buy it. If you want to buy dessert you have to get on line at still another booth. Figure on 45 minutes to an hour.

By the way, if you plan on prepaying for a Leonardo Express ticket, you should be aware that the 15:08 to Rome Termini is not a Leonardo Express train. It's a regular train. The first Leonardo Express leaving after your 14:10 arrival is at 15:38 and arrives at Rome Termini at 16:10, ten minutes after your train to Naples would have already departed.

In any case, your plan is not doable, and trying to rush through a scenario like this is stressful, and possibly expensive if you miss your train connection.

rove312

I find that there is a 15.23 Leonardo Express departure: now they go every 15 minutes most of the day. This assumes the schedule will be the same in summer, since it hasn't been posted yet.

To the questioner: in terms of finding seats on the train to Naples, I generally wouldn't see a problem buying tickets on arrival at FCO, although there could be some risks on weekends in August. Even though I'd miss out on a discounted fare by not buying in advance, I'd rather not risk having it go to waste because of a delay in the flight arrival. At the kiosk at FCO station, if they offer you the first departure with a short time to connect at Termini, you can instead select a departure an hour later if you want time for the Mercato, but still take the first Leonardo Express, since it isn't reserved.

It looks like the Leonardo Express regularly uses track 24, the track in the main part of the station on the side closer to the Mercato: it would be in the direction of the tail end of the train as it arrives.

Perche

There is a 15:23 that arrives to Termini at 15:55, five minutes before the 16:00 train he wishes to take to Naples. That is why the original itinerary is not doable. If he takes the 15:23 he can take the 17:05 from Rome Termini to Naples, giving him an hour and ten minute layover. So, he'll have about 45 minutes for to see the Mercato and to have a snack.

The original itinerary, landing at 14:10, eating at Termini, and getting on a train to Naples at 16:00 was not. If he wants to see the Mercato, he's going to have to take a later train.

I agree with you about not buying tickets in advance. Sometimes, there is a good amount of money to be saved, but sometimes it is only a few euros. And if you buy a deep discount ticket and miss the train, it cannot be exchanged for a later one, and you lose everything. I would only buy in advance it if I had a lot of time at the train station, and was sure I wouldn't miss the train. i would never do it when arriving on a plane, because it's too unpredictable.

It's easy to buy a train ticket from a machine once you get to Termini. Where people get stuck is when they try to use a credit card, for which they don't have a PIN number. It's best to use your ATM card, which does have a PIN.

rove312

Why buy the ticket at Termini when you can buy the whole package at a machine at FCO, allowing for over an hour to connect if you wish? Unless you're interested in using the competing Italo Treno, which mostly uses other stations in Rome but, under the current schedule, has a 17.15 departure from Roma Termini to Naples. Still, I don't think with much difference in service or walk-up fare.

KLouis

Both the 15:38 and, particularly, the 15:23 are very iffy! Here's why with a relatively optimistic calculation, assuming no delay of the incoming plane:

10 min from landing to gate
5 min deplaning
5 min walk to terminal
5 min immigration
20-30 min collecting bags
5-10 min to station
10 min ticketing
5 min to train

total: ~70-80 min

With an arrival time of 14:10, this brings you to 15:20-15:30 for the earliest Leonardo Express. And as I wrote, this is very optimistic, especially landing on time and picking up luggage.

Stewie Mac

All,

Many thanks for comments. For some reason, I had equated the Leonardo Express with the Heathrow Express, and thought that it was a 15 minute trip, but I see that it's 32 minutes, which does indeed make my 4pm train dicey.

Against that, I'm only planning on visiting Mercato to grab some food to go, and could forsake that altogether if my timings slip.

One follow-up: how long typically does checked baggage take to be delivered at FCO? That is probably the biggest variable in my calculations [leaving aside the potential lateness of flight arrival].

rove312

Also, Stewie, since you mention going "with family," depending on how many and what ages, you can consider whether the Leonardo Express is the best way to go. I see that a rule of that train (differently from most trains in Italy) is that children under 12 go for free with an adult, so two adults and two young children at €28 can be a fair deal. But if at least one is older and pays full fare, at three adult fares for €42 you might look at a car service still available for €45 or a taxi for €48, where you'd expect a more comfortable ride. The train has the advantage of not having road traffic (although it's still known to be delayed) and delivering you to the track area so you're slightly closer to your connecting train.

Perche

What KLouis said is true. That's why I indicated that your itinerary wasn't doable, and was trying to stretch your time out. Otherwise, you and your family would likely be standing in Termini with a bunch of worthless train tickets to Naples on an already departed train. It's pretty stressful to know you are running late when traveling. It makes everybody cranky. I usually figure out how much time I need, then add a nice extra cushion.

To me, saving a few euros by buying a train ticket ahead of time is not worth it, but that thinking might change if I was traveling with a family of 5. My flight to Venice a few months ago was delayed so much they had to reroute me on another airline. If I was traveling as part of a family of five I would have arrived with 5 worthless train tickets if they were the discounted ones. Only the higher priced tickets can be exchanged for later ones and even then, there is only a window of 3 hours as I recall.

It's definitely a case of YMMV. I know you are flying out of the UK, but the weather is such that anyone flying out of huge part of the USA yesterday today who purchased train tickets in advance for travel in Italy will not be able to use them unless they purchased the higher priced ones.

The Mercato is very worth visiting, but it's not grab and go food. Pizza and pasta have to be eaten hot, not cold and gloopy. Cold suppli, trappizini, fried artichokes, or Chianina hamburger would not be any fun to eat. You could buy a chunk of cheese at the cheese store, but if you just want to grab a panino to go, you won't find it there. Just go to the nearest bar, they'll be all around you. Save the Mercato for when you can stroll around, sample the different foods, relax, and enjoy it. Trains with tight connections and grab and go food is not the best way to experience La Dolce Vita.