Rome has two airports and one rule worth knowing before you land: the taxi fare into the centre is fixed by the city, so nobody can surprise you with the meter. Below is every realistic way in from Fiumicino and Ciampino, with the operators' own times and prices, and the way we would get to each of the ten hotels in our Rome edit.
The short answer
From Fiumicino, a white taxi costs a fixed €55 to anywhere inside the Aurelian Walls, which covers all ten of our hotels, and the drive is typically 30–45 minutes. The Leonardo Express is €14 and 32 minutes non-stop to Termini, the better choice for light travellers heading to Monti or the Colosseum. From Ciampino the fixed taxi fare is €40, about 31–39 minutes to our hotels.
Book a private transfer
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A driver meets you in arrivals with your name on a sign, at a fixed price agreed when you book. Booked and paid with Welcome Pickups through our partner Travelpayouts; we may earn a commission.
The simplest answer for two or more people with luggage, and for every hotel away from a Metro station. Take only the white cars with a roof sign from the official rank at arrivals.
Worth it for late or delayed flights, families who need a larger car or child seats, and hotels on pedestrian squares where a driver who knows the nearest drop-off saves a search with bags.
Quick and reliable, and the right call for Palazzo Manfredi and the Colosseum side of the city. Termini is not the historic centre, so most of our hotels still need a Metro, bus or taxi after it.
The cheaper train, and it stops at Trastevere and Ostiense rather than Termini, which suits the south and west of the centre. It calls at several stations and does not run as often on Sundays and holidays.
The budget option, and from Fiumicino the only option besides a car that runs after midnight. It ends at Termini, so you still need a taxi or the Metro to the hotel.
The cheapest way from Ciampino, with no size limit on luggage. A change with cases at Ciampino station, and the onward trip from Termini, make the €40 taxi the better answer for most of our guests.
The onward leg that makes the train work for the hotels near a station. None of the lines enters the historic centre around the Pantheon and Piazza Navona.
Colle Oppio
The Leonardo Express to Termini and Metro line B two stops to Colosseo leave you five minutes' walk from the door, for less than a third of the taxi fare.
The hotel sits on Piazza della Minerva beside the Pantheon, fifteen minutes or more from any Metro station, so the €55 fixed fare to the door beats a walk over cobbles with cases.
Campo Marzio
The hotel has valet parking, so a car pulls up at the entrance, and the fixed fare covers it; the Metro at Spagna or Flaminio is a walk with luggage you will not want.
Campo Marzio
Line A stops a short walk away, but after a change at Termini the €55 taxi straight to Via di Ripetta is the easier arrival.
Centro Storico
The hotel offers valet parking, so cars reach it, and with the nearest station fifteen to twenty minutes away the fixed fare is the clear choice.
Piazza Navona
The hotel faces Piazza Navona, a pedestrian square with no Metro nearby, so a booked driver who knows the closest drop-off is worth it; the hotel prices its own car at the same €55 as a taxi.
Velabro
Rhinoceros Roma is in the quiet Velabro, eighteen minutes on foot from Circo Massimo station, so the taxi to the door is the sensible arrival.
Cavour station is one stop from Termini but seven minutes uphill from the hotel's cul-de-sac in Monti, so with cases the €55 fare is money well spent; light travellers can take the train.
Trastevere
Trastevere has no Metro and the hotel sits below the Gianicolo, so the taxi beats the FL1 to Trastevere station plus a bus and a climb.
Aventino
The Aventine is quiet, residential and thirteen minutes uphill from Piramide, so the fixed fare to the gate is the way to arrive.
Rome sets the fare between its airports and the centre, and the airport operator publishes it. From Fiumicino the car costs €55 to any address inside the Aurelian Walls, which takes in all ten of our hotels; from Ciampino it is €40. The fare is per car, not per person, it includes all supplements, and it is the same in both directions. Outside the walls but inside the ring road, a Fiumicino fare is capped at €80.
Take a white car with a TAXI roof sign and a visible licence number, from the official rank: at Fiumicino it is on the arrivals road in front of Terminals 1 and 3, at Ciampino outside arrivals. Ignore anyone who offers a ride inside the terminal. Confirm the fixed fare as you get in and it will not change, whatever the traffic.
The Leonardo Express leaves from the station inside the Fiumicino airport area, signposted from arrivals, and runs non-stop to Termini in 32 minutes. Tap a contactless card at the gates or buy a €14 ticket; four adults travelling together pay €40 on one Minigruppi ticket. Metrebus city tickets are not valid on it.
The FL1 regional train costs €8 and runs through Trastevere, Ostiense and Tiburtina instead of Termini. It is the better train for Donna Camilla Savelli and Hotel San Anselmo if you travel light, though the last stretch to both is uphill.
Which to take comes down to the hotel. Termini to Palazzo Manfredi is two stops on line B, and The Inn at the Roman Forum is one stop to Cavour. For the Pantheon, Piazza Navona and Campo Marzio, add a taxi or bus from Termini and the €55 car from the airport starts to look like the better deal, especially for two.
The last Leonardo Express leaves Fiumicino at 23:27. After that, the official taxi rank keeps working and the €55 fixed fare still applies, so a late landing costs nothing extra by car. Airport coaches to Termini run through the night from Fiumicino, but they leave you at Termini at an hour when you would rather be at the hotel.
This is where a pre-booked transfer earns its place. The driver tracks the flight, waits in arrivals with your name, and the price was fixed when you booked, so a delayed flight changes nothing.
Do the sum before you choose the train. On the Leonardo Express, under-4s travel free and each paying adult takes one child aged 4–11 free, so two adults and two young children pay €28 to Termini, then the onward leg. The taxi is €55 to the door with no changes and no stairs.
For five or more, a lot of luggage or a pushchair, book a private transfer and ask for a larger vehicle and child seats in advance; the price is fixed when you book. The narrow streets of the centre are no place to discover the boot is too small.
Ciampino is a few minutes closer by road to most of our hotels, 31–39 minutes against 30–45 from Fiumicino, and its taxi fare is €15 lower. Fiumicino has the direct train and far more flights. Choose the airport by the flight, then use this page for the last leg.
The fixed fares work in both directions, so ask the hotel to call a taxi and the price is the same €55 to Fiumicino or €40 to Ciampino. Several of our hotels arrange their own car, and Eitch Borromini Palazzo Pamphilj charges the same €55. The first Leonardo Express leaves Termini at 04:50 for early flights. Allow more than the typical drive time on weekday mornings.
Questions people ask
€55 per car to anywhere inside the Aurelian Walls, all supplements included, fixed by the city in both directions. All ten of our hotels are inside that zone.
€40 per car to anywhere inside the Aurelian Walls, also a fixed fare with supplements included. The drive to our hotels is typically 31–39 minutes.
32 minutes non-stop, with trains every 15 minutes for most of the day. A single ticket is €14, and the last train from the airport is at 23:27.
Alone, the train is cheaper at €14. For two, €28 plus the onward leg against a €55 car to the door makes the taxi the better value for most hotels in the historic centre.
An airport coach to Termini, from €4 online with Terravision, about 45 minutes. The FL1 regional train is €8 to stations such as Trastevere and Ostiense.
The Ciampino Airlink is a 10-minute bus to Ciampino station and a train to Termini, €2.70 on one ticket. Direct coaches to Termini take about 40 minutes.
Not directly. Take the Leonardo Express to Termini, then Metro line B two stops to Colosseo on a €1.50 ticket or a contactless card.
Image credits: Rob Dammers (CC BY 2.0)