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ARRIVAL |
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By air
Rome has two airports : Leonardo da Vinci, better known simply as
Fiumicino, which handles most scheduled flights, and Ciampino, where
you'll arrive if you're travelling on a charter, or with Go or one of
the other low-cost European airlines. Taxis in from either airport cost
around L80,000, more at night, and take 30-45 minutes; they're worth
considering if you are in a group but otherwise the public transport
connections are reasonable.
Fiumicino is connected to the centre of Rome by direct trains, which
make the thirty-minute ride to Termini for L16,000; services begin at
7.37am, and then leave hourly from 8.07am until 10.07pm. Alternatively,
there are more frequent trains to Trastevere, Ostiense and Tiburtina
stations, each on the edge of the city centre, roughly every twenty
minutes from 6.27am to 11.27pm; tickets to these stations cost L8000,
and Tiburtina and Ostiense are just a short metro ride from Termini,
making it a much cheaper (and not necessarily slower) journey; or you
can catch city bus #175 from Ostiense, or city bus #492 or #649 from
Tiburtina, to the centre of town. These cheaper alternatives do
inevitably, however, involve a certain amount more bag-hauling.
There are no direct connections between the city centre and Ciampino .
Hourly buses run from the airport to the Anagnina metro station, at the
end of line A - a thirty-minute journey (L2000), from where it's a
twenty-minute ride into the centre. Failing that, you can take a bus
from the airport to Ciampino overground train station, a ten-minute
journey, and then take a train into Termini, which is a further twenty
minutes. The BA budget offshoot, Go, incidentally, lay on their own bus
to Piazza Santa Maria Maggiore, half an hour after the arrival of each
of their flights, but it's no quicker and they charge L18,000 for it.
By train
Travelling by train from most places in Italy, or indeed from other
parts of Europe, you arrive at Stazione Termini , centrally placed for
all parts of the city and meeting-point of the two metro lines and many
city bus routes. There's a left-luggage facility here (daily 5:15am-midnight;
L5000 per piece every 12hr), but bear in mind that they won't accept
plastic bags; note that the Enjoy Rome office will also look after its
customers' luggage.
Among other rail stations in Rome, Tiburtina, is a stop for some north-south
intercity trains; selected routes around Lazio are handled by the
Regionali platforms of Stazione Termini (a further five-minute walk from
the regular platforms); and there's also the COTRAL urban train station
on Piazzale Flaminio, which runs to La Giustiniana - the so-called Roma-Nord
line.
By bus
Arriving by bus can leave you in any one of a number of places around
the city. The main stations include Ponte Mammolo (trains from Tivoli
and Subiaco); Lepanto (Cerveteri, Civitavecchia, Bracciano area); EUR
Fermi (Nettuno, Anzio, southern Lazio coast); Anagnina (Castelli Romani);
Saxa Rubra (Viterbo and around). All of these stations are on a metro
line, except Saxa Rubra, which is on the Roma-Nord line and connected by
trains every fifteen minutes with the station at Piazzale Flaminio, on
metro line A. Eurolines buses from outside Italy terminate on Piazza
della Repubblica.
By road
Coming into the city by road can be quite confusing. If you are on the
A1 highway coming from the north take the exit "Roma Nord"; from the
south, follow exit "Roma Est". Both lead you to the Grande Raccordo
Anulare, which circles the city and is connected with all of the major
arteries into the city centre - the Via Cassia from the north, Via
Salaria from the northeast, Via Tiburtina or Via Nomentana from the east,
Via Appia Nuova and the Pontina from the south, Via Prenestina and Via
Casilina or Via Cristoforo Colombo from the southeast, and Via Aurelia
from the northwest.
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