With daily Aer Lingus flights to Rome from Dublin, the Italian capital is always a popular city break destination for Irish holidaymakers. As we’ve been getting a lot of inquiries recently, we thought we’d put together a quick mini-guide to the eternal city.
Best times to visit
Rome is a perfect year-round city break. Summer is hottest but the hotels in Rome tend to be at their at their cheapest as many Romans head off on their own holidays. At Easter and other key religious festivals, hotels in Rome tend to be more expensive.
Getting to and from the Airport
There are a number of options for getting from Rome Fiumicino Airport (also known as Leonardo da Vinci Airport) to Termini Station in the centre of Rome.
Bus
The Terravision bus departs every 40 minutes and takes about 50 minutes to reach Termini station. The cost is €4 per person each way if bought online or €6 per person one way at the booth.
For more details see www.terravision.eu
Train
The Leonardo Express departs every 30 minutes. It is a non-stop train service, every day of the year and the journey time is around 30 minutes. The train departs from platforms 23/24 in Termini Station. The fare is approximately €14 per person one way.
For more details see www.trenitalia.com
Taxi
There is a fixed fare from Rome airport to the city centre (within the Aurelian Walls) of €48 per journey for up to 4 people, with a tip of about 10%.
For more details see www.comune.roma.it
Getting around Rome
The Roma Pass
The Roma Pass is Rome’s special tourist cultural card. It gives free entry to two museums and reductions on entry to all other museums and sites. It also offers free public transport until midnight of the 3rd day after purchase and discounts on other services. It is sponsored by Rome City Council and the Ministry for the Arts and Cultural activities, in collaboration with ATAC, the public transport company. It costs €34 per card per person, but can’t be used on the transport links to and from the airport.
For more details see www.romapass.it
Public bus system
A wide range of different kinds of tickets and season tickets are available with the Metrebus Roma system. These include:
- BIT (€ 1.50) – Valid for 100 minutes from the moment it has been stamped.
- BIG (€ 6.00) – Valid for the entire day for an unlimited number of journeys until midnight.
- BTI (€ 16.50) – Valid for 3 days from the date it has been first stamped, meaning until midnight of the third day including stamping, for an unlimited number of journeys.
- CIS (€24.00) – Valid for 7 days from the date it has been first stamped, meaning until midnight of the third day including the day it was stamped, for an unlimited number of journeys.
For more details see www.atac.roma.it
Top tips & things to watch out for
- Ask for the menu of the day or the pasta dish of the day – great value
- Don’t eat on the main squares and tourist centres as you will pay more
- Pickpockets especially on the buses, trams and metro
Top ten places to visit in Rome
- The Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel
- St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican
- Piazza Navona
- Trevi Fountain
- Spanish Steps and the Piazza di Spagna
- Pantheon
- Trastevere and the church of St Maria in Trastevere
- The Colosseum & The Forum
- Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore
- The Villa and Galleria Borghese
Useful Websites
- Rome’s official tourist website
- Article from the Telegraph Newspaper
- Rome on Google Maps
- City breaks to Rome with ClickandGo
Note that all prices are correct at the time of writing but are subject to change.
