First timer: advice pls on port transfer/day hotel at FCO airport

[MareeL]

Kia ora. My young adult daughter and I from New Zealand are on our first cruise, Italy/Greece on NCL that finishes at Civitavecchia at 6am on Sunday October 6. 

It's 30 years since I've been to Europe and she never has so it is a big trip for us. (We do a 10 day bus tour in Italy beforehand). 

Apologies if I am covering repeated ground (or posting in the wrong place) but I just realised transport to the airport isn't included.  

 

We arrive at Civitavecchia at 6am. Awkwardly, our flight out of Rome isn't until 7.30pm that evening. It will be a mammoth trip from Rome-Istanbul-Hong Kong-New Zealand so I am not wanting to spend nearly all day at the airport beforehand! We are in Rome (briefly) on our bus tour so I suspect we won't be wanting to squeeze in more sightseeing while managing luggage etc. (I did look to see if there are any half day tours that leave from the airport if we could deposit our bags but haven't found any). 

 

So, I am considering a day booking at a nearby hotel including: Isola Sacra, Best Western Rome Int Airport (closest), Mercure Rome. An alternative is booking an airport lounge.

 

I would appreciate any advice on this plan, and also suggestions on a reasonably stress-free but value for money way of getting from the port to the airport or airport hotel. We obviously won't be in any great hurry to get off the boat. I understand the train may be cheapest but reading through some posts it sounds a bit complicated...(now I'm showing I haven't travelled far afield for a while!).  

 

Thank you 🙂       

 

  

 

[TouchstoneFeste]

You should be able to find a half-day tour to Ostia Antica instead of trying to get a few more hours in Rome - although any hour spent in Rome is worth it :) 

 

We booked one that will carry our luggage and drop us off at our FCO hotel in the late afternoon. Tarquinia is another non-Rome tour option, but it's in the opposite direction. We opted for spending less time in a car - also why we didn't opt for a Rome tour.

 

We booked with Rome in Limo. We haven't used them before but we saw them recommended in this forum.

[euro cruiser]

I'd think that the last thing you'd want to do prior to that long, long haul strapped into an airline seat would be anything involving sitting.

 

Your cruise line will offer options, have you looked at them?  If you don't like any of the tours with airport drop-off that they offer, you could use their transfer to the airport where you could check your bags, then take the local train from the airport into Rome.  No matter how much time your bus trip allows in Rome you won't have begun to scratch the surface.

 

You could also get to Rome by yourself on the train, where you could check your luggage at the station (Rome Termini) before spending your day in the city.  Afterwards pick your things up and jump on the direct-to-the-airport train.

[MareeL]

@TouchstoneFeste and @euro cruiser thank you for your feedback. Your sentiments are correct about not wanting to sit around all day before possibly the longest journey home ever!  I did not know about Ostia Antica but am now keen to visit there. I've booked a shared shuttle from port to airport and will deposit our bags there. Haven't found a convenient tour so will probably take the bus from the airport to Ostia Antica. Entry is apparently free on the first Sunday of the month when we will be visiting. (I did enquire with the cruise line re post cruise tours but they aren't offering any).  

[cruiseaholic78]

Are you going to use a left luggage option? is one available? usually you can only check in luggage a few hours before your flight.

[VMax1700]

3 hours ago, cruiseaholic78 said:

Are you going to use a left luggage option? is one available? usually you can only check in luggage a few hours before your flight.

There is a left luggage available at FCO in T3.

https://www.adr.it/web/aeroporti-di-roma-en/pax-fco-baggage-services?p_p_id=it_txt_adr_cookiepolicy_web_portlet_AdrCookiePolicyBannerPortlet&p_p_lifecycle=0&p_p_state=normal&p_p_mode=view

[euro cruiser]

7 hours ago, MareeL said:

Haven't found a convenient tour so will probably take the bus from the airport to Ostia Antica. Entry is apparently free on the first Sunday of the month when we will be visiting.

 

I'm curious where you found a bus to Ostia Antica on a Sunday.

[Denversail]

If it were me I would take the train to Termini and store my luggage and head over to the colosseum area. Plenty to walk around and see and then grab lunch. I would then go back to Termini and take the train directly to the airport. 

[MareeL]

@Denversail, @VMax1700 thanks for your responses. @euro cruiser I found the bus on Rome2Rio but will check out if it runs on Sundays. Thanks for the link to left luggage @VMax1700, that is what I had intended to do. @Denversail, your idea sounds good too. 

[euro cruiser]

Rome2Rio is, at best, just a good start.  Their information is sometimes incomplete, sometimes just wrong.

 

I'll dig around some more but I didn't find any buses on Sundays.

[euro cruiser]

Okay, I found the route they are recommending, it's a Cotral bus and it does run on Sundays.  From the bus stop to the ruins requires a walk of about 2 km/one and a quarter miles.

 

It's hard to beat the price (1,10 euro each way) but with that walk I'd seriously consider a taxi from the airport.

 

For the bus you'd go to the bus station at Terminal 1.  I believe there is a kiosk selling tickets there but it's been a few years and that may have changed.

 

To see the bus schedule, use this page on the Cotral site:  Percorso e tariffe (cotralspa.it)

 

In the "from" box enter Aeroporto di Fiumicino.

 

In the "to" box enter Viale dei Romagnoli Roma 717

 

Put in the date and time, leave max changes at 0, and hit "search routes".  

 

It should bring up a map that looks like this:

 

 

More info on Ostia Antica:  Ostia Antica archaeological Park - Ostia Antica: Getting here - Getting here - Archaeological Park of Ostia antica (beniculturali.it)

 

 

[euro cruiser]

You could eliminate the walk by staying on the bus one or two more stops to Via Azzorre (Lido Nord) and getting the Roma-Lido train line from there to Ostia Antica (one stop).

[MareeL]

@euro cruiser thanks very much for the extra info re the bus. If it's a hot day a taxi may be the winning option! (The map I saw looked like the bus went right to Ostia Antica, not 2kms away).... You earlier mentioned cruise line debarkation day tours via Rome/airport, which I hadn't seen on the cruise's shore excursions. When I contacted NCL online chat to ask, I was told there were none. Having another look through cruise excursions today, I did see two options including Rome sightseeing and an afternoon airport drop off. That's twice now I've contacted NCL direct and been given the wrong advice! That's why these forums are so useful 🙂  

[euro cruiser]

This is the map that Rome2Rio gives you:

 

 

Note where the route color changes from brown to gray, and the little icon of someone walking?  That's the walk part.

[euro cruiser]

The Cotral website is acting up at the moment (a somewhat common event, in my experience) so I can't show you the full map but to all but eliminate any walking you'd take the same bus from the airport, the Cotral bus to Lido di Osita/Piazzale della Stazione.  To make this as easy as possible, I would recommend taking the bus to the end of the line at the Lido Centro train station (it's possible to get off a few minutes earlier and walk across the street to the Lido Nord station, but it's harder if you don't know the area).

 

From Lido Centro you'd take the Roma-Lido line for two stops (direction Porta San Paolo) to Ostia Antica.

 

Roma-Lido line map:  mappa ferrovia Roma-Lido (atac.roma.it)

 

On Sunday mornings the bus leaves from the Terminal 1 bus depot at the airport at 7:30, 9:10, 10:10 and 11:10.  As you can see, not very frequently.

 

 

 

[euro cruiser]

Cotral's website is so frustrating!  They finally have it up so I can show you their map of the bus to the Roma-Lido train to Ostia Antica, but they only have the schedules loaded until August 22nd so I can't show you the Sunday schedule.

 

 

Purple is the bus, light blue is the Roma-Lido train.