The Leonardo Express is the way into Rome: non-stop from the airport's own station to Roma Termini in 32 minutes, for €14 paid by tapping a contactless card at the gates. First, though, you clear the border, unless you've flown in from another Schengen country.
What's the best way from Rome airport into the city?
For most layovers, take the Leonardo Express: non-stop to Roma Termini in 32 minutes for €14, with a train every 15 to 30 minutes. Tap a contactless card at the gates. Allow about an hour from landing to the train, and be back at Termini 2 hours 45 minutes before your flight.
Getting through the border
Flying in from outside the Schengen area, you meet passport control before you reach the station; from a Schengen country there’s no check at all. Rome Fiumicino Airport (FCO) gives no queue times, so plan on about an hour from landing to the train.
- E-gates. EU citizens aged 12 and over, and holders of electronic passports from the US, the UK, Canada, Australia and about 30 other countries, can use the e-gates, which take about 20 seconds a person.
- At the desks. Other passports queue for an officer, who records non-EU visitors’ fingerprints and photo for the EU’s Entry/Exit System. Self-service kiosks ahead of the desks, where you see them, let you register first and save time.
- Bags. Booked through on one ticket, they travel on without you. On separate tickets you pick them up after passport control; leave them at left luggage in Terminal 3 international arrivals, by the bus station: €10 a bag for up to 24 hours, open 7am to 11pm.
- A slow queue only shortens your time in Rome: the time to start back stays where it was.
Who needs a visa to leave: visa and transit rules.
The options at a glance
| Leonardo Express | FL1 regional train | Bus | Taxi | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| To | Roma Termini, non-stop | Trastevere, Ostiense, Tuscolana and Tiburtina | Roma Termini | Anywhere |
| Time | 32 minutes | 48 minutes to Tiburtina | About 45 minutes | About 45 minutes to an hour |
| Single fare | €14 | €8 | From €4 | €55 fixed within the Aurelian Walls |
| Pay with | Contactless at the gates, the machines or the ticket office | Trenitalia machines or ticket office | The bus company | The driver |
The taxi’s time is our estimate.
Leonardo Express: the best option for most layovers
- Finding it. From arrivals in either terminal, follow the signs for trains to the airport’s station, Fiumicino Aeroporto. Check the departure board for the Leonardo Express to Roma Termini: the slower FL1 regional trains leave from the same station.
- The ride. Non-stop to Roma Termini, the main station, in 32 minutes. Metro lines A and B cross at Termini, and every plan in our itineraries starts there.
- How often. Every 15 minutes for most of the day, but only every 30 at some hours, so our times allow for a 30-minute wait.
- Tickets. €14. Tap a contactless card, phone or smartwatch on the gates, one card for each traveller. Or buy a ticket from the machines or the ticket office, open 6:45am to 10:12pm; a paper ticket is valid for 90 minutes once validated at the gates. Four tickets bought together cost €40 instead of €56. Children under 4 travel free, and one child aged 4 to 11 travels free with each paying adult.
- At Termini. The Leonardo Express uses platform 24, at the far side of the station from the Metro, by Via Giovanni Giolitti. Allow about 10 minutes to walk between the platform and the Metro, both ways.
- First and last trains. The same timetable runs every day of the week:
| Every day | |
|---|---|
| First train from the airport | 5:38am, reaching Termini at 6:10am |
| Last train from the airport | 11:27pm, reaching Termini at 11:59pm |
| First train back from Termini | 4:50am, reaching the airport at 5:22am |
| Last train back from Termini | 11:05pm, reaching the airport at 11:37pm |
Few layovers need the last train back: on a same-day return you’ll leave Termini 2 hours 45 minutes before your flight, long before it. It matters if you spend the evening in town and sleep at the airport before a morning flight; if you miss it, take a taxi. Landing late, if you’re through the border after 11:27pm there’s no train until 5:38am, so take a taxi or the night bus, or sleep by the terminals.
No separate holiday timetable is published, and rail strikes can delay or cancel trains. ADR posts strikes on its news page, so check it, and your train on Trenitalia’s website or app, on the day.
FL1 regional train: cheaper, with stops
The FL1 regional trains leave the same station for €8 and stop at Trastevere, Ostiense (for Metro line B at Piramide), Tuscolana and Tiburtina, which they reach in 48 minutes. They run every 15 minutes on working days and every 30 on Sundays and holidays, and children under 12 travel free with a paying adult. The FL1 suits a budget traveller whose plan starts in Trastevere. Our plans all use the Leonardo Express, which runs straight to Termini where both Metro lines meet; if you take the FL1, check your train back in Trenitalia’s app.
Buses: the cheapest, and the night option
- Terravision runs non-stop to Termini in about 45 minutes, from €4, every 20 minutes, from stop 18 at the airport.
- SIT Bus Shuttle runs from stop 16 at Terminal 3 to Termini for €7, with departures from the airport until 1:15am.
- Cotral’s night buses run between Terminal 3 and Termini after the trains stop, for €5, or €7 bought on board. On weeknights they leave Termini from 12:34am to 5:04am, and the airport from 1:45am to 6:15am, about every 30 minutes.
A bus is slower than the train and can be held up in traffic, so our plans don’t use one. Check the company’s timetable for your day.
Taxis
- The fixed fare. Licensed taxis charge a fixed €55 from the airport to anywhere within the Aurelian Walls, the old walls round the historic centre. Take one from the official ranks in front of Terminals 1 and 3, or in front of the train station.
- The time. About 45 minutes to an hour into the centre, on our estimate, and longer in rush-hour traffic.
- When a taxi is worth it. Shared by three or four, it costs about the same as the train. It’s also the way back after the last Leonardo Express, or the way in on a strike day. On your own by day, the train is quicker and cheaper.
Pre-booked cars
Cars with a driver, called NCC in Italy, have to be booked in advance and don’t wait at the taxi rank. Transfer companies sell them at a price fixed before you fly, with the driver waiting in arrivals and your flight tracked, which helps most after a late landing or with a family.
Storing bags
- At the airport. Left luggage is in Terminal 3 international arrivals, by the bus station, before you get on the train: €10 a bag for up to 24 hours, open 7am to 11pm, paid when you collect. No booking is needed.
- At Termini. ADR’s Airport in the City desk at Via Giovanni Giolitti 16, by platform 24, is open every day from 8am to 2pm. Flying ITA Airways later that day, but not to the US or Israel, you can check in your bags there for free: by 11am for flights from 2:30pm, and by 2pm for flights from 5:30pm. On other airlines, leave them there and collect them at Fiumicino’s left luggage, for €10 per 24 hours. It helps most after a night in Rome.
Timing your return
Be back at Rome Fiumicino Airport 90 minutes before departure, with your onward boarding pass. Holding that pass, with no bag to check, you only need to clear security and, for a flight outside Schengen, the passport desks before Area E. If you still need to check in or drop a bag, allow longer.
In practice, be at Termini 2 hours 45 minutes before your flight: about 10 minutes to platform 24, up to 30 minutes’ wait for a train, 32 minutes on it and a few to spare.
| Layover | Time in town |
|---|---|
| 6 hours | About 1 hour |
| 7 hours | About 2 hours |
| 8 hours | About 3 hours |
| 10 hours | About 5 hours |
| 12 hours | About 7 hours |
These times assume about an hour from landing to the train, about an hour into Termini with the wait for a train, 75 minutes back to the terminal and 90 minutes at the airport, as in the itineraries. When the trains are running every 15 minutes, you’ll have up to half an hour more.