FCO - How Long After Plane Lands Until...

[SOXBOY911]

I've never flown into FCO before, so I have no idea what to expect. My flight is scheduled to arrive at 7:30 AM. Assuming the flight arrives on time, how long should it take to go through Customs and get out the door? From there, how long would it take (say, by train) to get to the Vatican City area? My group wants to tour the Vatican Museums--incl. Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's Basilica. Is it totally unrealistic to think we could get out of the airport and over to the Vatican for a 10 AM tour? We could do the 2:30 PM tour, but I've heard it doesn't leave time at the end to climb the dome.

[CruiserBruce]

I think you can make the tour, if your plane is on time. FCO is slow with baggage- I can see it taking 45 minutes comfortably. But the train, or taxi ride, is relatively short.

[euro cruiser]

What will you do with your luggage? If you plan to drop luggage at the left luggage office at Termini you will need to factor that into your time line.

 

I would assume an hour from plane to street or train station because you may have a shuttle bus from your plane to the terminal, then passport control and then baggag claim.

 

Depending on the time you arrive at the airport train station, it may be faster to take the local train to Trastevere and switch there for a train to the Vatican.

 

Finally, you might consider the dome climb before the museums if you go for the later entry.

[cruisemom42]

Yes, you could make it -- but what will you do with your luggage? :confused:

 

It usually takes about an hour, give or take from landing, to navigate the airport, get through passport control/customs and collect your luggage.

 

From the airport into town it is anywhere from 30 minutes (fast train to Termini) up to 45 minutes by taxi or bus.

 

I usually plan to get to my hotel around 2 hours after landing. Sometimes I am earlier.

 

 

At any rate, if you don't want to chance the timing (and still not clear where you will stash your luggage), you could go to your hotel, leave your luggage, get to the Vatican, and climb the dome BEFORE taking the later tour.

[paul929207]

What are the consequences of missing your tour? Are you prepaying a non-refundable amount?

[rebeccalouiseagain]

If you are talking about three-four people, a taxi is going to be almost as cheap as the train/metro transfer or train/ taxi method to get to the Vatican.

 

A taxi ride to your hotel if near the Vatican to drop off the bags and then another taxi to the Vatican will be about 1 hr.

 

If you arrive at 7:30- you will be out of baggage between 8:30-9:00. It takes 30 minutes to get to the Vatican from the airport.

[D4]

Have you considered how exhausted people in your group might be after flying overnight from Ohio? I personally would never consider touring the Vatican Museums without a good night of sleep. YMMV!

[CupKayke]

I would recommend a taxi to your hotel over the train. If you take the train from the airport there is a chance you will miss your 10am tour. We regretted taking the train from the airport to our hotel's area and would not do so again ~ especially after a long flight. A taxi would be faster and probably get you to your tour by 10am.

 

As for the airport, in general... we arrived at a very busy time (around 8am/9am), plus we had to sit on our plane an additional 30-or-so minutes waiting for an ambulance to take an ill lady from our flight off first, then our luggage took forever to finally arrive at the carousel, customs took a long time, etc... the entire process was quite slow IMHO. Even with a taxi, you may be cutting it close.

[Keith1010]

I've never flown into FCO before, so I have no idea what to expect. My flight is scheduled to arrive at 7:30 AM. Assuming the flight arrives on time, how long should it take to go through Customs and get out the door? From there, how long would it take (say, by train) to get to the Vatican City area? My group wants to tour the Vatican Museums--incl. Sistine Chapel & St. Peter's Basilica. Is it totally unrealistic to think we could get out of the airport and over to the Vatican for a 10 AM tour? We could do the 2:30 PM tour, but I've heard it doesn't leave time at the end to climb the dome.

 

I would allow one hour from the time you land to getting your luggage and getting out the door.

 

There is a big if. Does the plane arrive on time?

 

And do you catch a train right away and have to wait for another.

 

Keith