Help with Rome pre cruise

[cruisemom42]

Next segment:

 

Now once we are on either bus or train and arrive at Termini,we most likely will have to either get a taxi or try the metro to get to our hotel. So, once again, will it be a long walk to either a taxi stand or the metro station, that would be best to get to our hotel? We don't mind walking, but we are both seniors and as I said once before 'schlepping' luggage around isn't our forte. If either are quite a hike with luggage, then we surely need to rethink other options.

 

And is it 'easy' to carry luggage on either the metro or bus?

 

First, can you tell us where you are staying (area)? There may be a closer train station than Termini, if you are willing to take the local trains instead of the Leonardo Express, which ONLY goes from FCO airport to Termini.

 

At any rate, if you do end up wanting to go to Termini, the Leonardo Express has a dedicated track and it’s fairly close to the main part of the station. (Unlike the regional trains to Civitavecchia, for example, which involve a long walk.) You exit the train, walk through the main area of the station where there are shops and restaurants, and exit out the front where there is a large taxi stand. There are no stairs and it’s easy, flat walking of perhaps two blocks total.

 

I generally travel with baggage I can handle and have no mobility issues, but even I find schlepping luggage via the metro or buses to be daunting. Depending on the time of day they can be quite crowded (making them a delight for pickpockets who target distracted tourists). Most metro stations require you to go down and up several levels and stations may or may not have a working elevator. I wouldn’t use the bus with more than a small suitcase or carry-on – nowhere to stow anything.

 

 

[slidergirl]

The reason I asked was we have a free night at any Hilton or Hilton associates, anywhere in the world. My thinking was maybe use that to maybe get a free shuttle into Rome for our first night and once there, we can stay at other accommodations. Again, sort of just thinking out loud about it.

I did a Google search of transportation from the airport to central Rome and a couple of shared Shuttles came up for about $35 dollars. Has anyone heard or know about this option?

Cheers

Len

 

 

If you've got the free night at ANY Hilton-family hotel, I'd definitely go for the Rome Cavalieri. It's a Waldorf=Astoria hotel. I stayed there 5 nights (I won a contest as an employee where I could stay 5 nights at any hotel). It's luxurious! First time I ever saw a "pillow menu" where I could choose from many different types of pillows!!! It is on top of the highest of Rome's hills. It has a great patio where you can sit out at night, enjoy a glass of wine and look out on the Rome cityscape. It has a very, very nice buffet breakfast, making it easy to get a filling meal before heading out to walk Rome. It provides shuttle service down the hill to Piazza Barberini where there is a Metro station, lots of HoHo busses, and also an easy walk to the Centro Storico. I did a combination of the shuttle sometimes and a taxi sometimes.

There is also the Hilton Claridge. I haven't stayed there. Go onto the flyertalker.com website, onto the Hilton forum and search for comments/reviews about it.

I've stayed out at the Hilton FCO airport and I do like it for my last night hotel if I have an early flight. There is a free shuttle into Rome, but I never used it.

[Giantfan13]

Cruisemom

I can't thank you enough for your diligence and your help. Believe me it is greatly appreciated.

As I said, I have been a regular contributor on the Northern Europe/Baltic Boards for well over 5 years. I have been a bit lax in the past few months on posting there, as this is usually a quiet time there. I see some of the changes that CC has made, but I do not understand the problem you had. Is it you cannot post long answers to questions?

I respect a lot of what CC does and brings to us travelers, but it can get frustrating every so often.

If you don't care to elaborate here, my email is Giantfanlen@msn.com, if you want to 'vent' or share some in ite.

Cheers

Len

[Giantfan13]

I have been looking at a BnB in the Vatican area. It has gotten great reviews, but it has only 1 or 2 room left, and I'd rather not say it's name now. It is a small, local place, not new but highly recommended. Personally, I would rather stay more in central Rome, so I haven't booked yet. (to get it's best rate, you have to pay now with no cancellation, so we are waiting a bit). I feel central Rome would be better, so we are still looking.

Either way, if we do the bus or the train from the airport, we will still need to take other transportation to get to the hotel. The metro sounds daunting, so we might eliminate that. If we did a train into Termini and then a taxi to the hotel, cost wise, it might be the same as maybe a shared van, which sounds like a decent option.

We just got a copy of Rick Steves Rome and are starting to venture into it, so, I'm sure we will have other questions.

You are a wealth of knowledge and, as I said in my other post, I can't thank you enough for sharing.

Cheers

Len

[judatt]

If you've got the free night at ANY Hilton-family hotel, I'd definitely go for the Rome Cavalieri. It's a Waldorf=Astoria hotel. I stayed there 5 nights (I won a contest as an employee where I could stay 5 nights at any hotel). It's luxurious! First time I ever saw a "pillow menu" where I could choose from many different types of pillows!!! It is on top of the highest of Rome's hills. It has a great patio where you can sit out at night, enjoy a glass of wine and look out on the Rome cityscape. It has a very, very nice buffet breakfast, making it easy to get a filling meal before heading out to walk Rome. It provides shuttle service down the hill to Piazza Barberini where there is a Metro station, lots of HoHo busses, and also an easy walk to the Centro Storico. I did a combination of the shuttle sometimes and a taxi sometimes.

There is also the Hilton Claridge. I haven't stayed there. Go onto the flyertalker.com website, onto the Hilton forum and search for comments/reviews about it.

I've stayed out at the Hilton FCO airport and I do like it for my last night hotel if I have an early flight. There is a free shuttle into Rome, but I never used it.

I am a very loyal Hilton guy. Retired a year ago and have LOTS of points. Im diamond and will be for one more year. Do you have any idea of where the Hilton Airport free transport goes in Rome? I was thinking since the hotel is connected to the airport I might just walk over and take their transport into town. We are going to stay at the Cavalieri. Does it go there by chance? Also, when we go to the port ( I think we are on the same cruise as Len) would it be advantageous to take hiltons transport back to the airport and book transport to go to the port or just bite the bullet and book transport from the Cavalieri to the port? Thanks for all the good info. You are a wealth of knowledge and we appreciate your sharing it. David.

[slidergirl]

I am a very loyal Hilton guy. Retired a year ago and have LOTS of points. Im diamond and will be for one more year. Do you have any idea of where the Hilton Airport free transport goes in Rome? I was thinking since the hotel is connected to the airport I might just walk over and take their transport into town. We are going to stay at the Cavalieri. Does it go there by chance? Also, when we go to the port ( I think we are on the same cruise as Len) would it be advantageous to take hiltons transport back to the airport and book transport to go to the port or just bite the bullet and book transport from the Cavalieri to the port? Thanks for all the good info. You are a wealth of knowledge and we appreciate your sharing it. David.

 

The shuttle does not go up the the Cavalieri. I did a little digging and found this from the hotel for where the Rome shuttle stop is at:

 

"Via del Teatro Marcello n. 42 (opposite "Antico Caffé del Teatro Marcello"), very near to Piazza Venezia. The service runs every 2 hours, first departure from the Hotel is at 8: 00 am and then every two hours. Last service to the City center is at 10:00 pm. From Rome to the Hotel, first departure is at 9:00 am and then every two hours with last departure from the City center at 11:00 pm."

 

Depending, you could take a cab from the Cavalieri to one of the train stations and go to Civi from there.

I bit the bullet and paid for a private car from the airport to the hotel. Not cheap, but hey, I had free nights ;) I rented a car at the hotel and drove myself out, going to Florence.

You probably already know, but go over to the flyertalk.com HHonors forum and look at the latest scoop on the Cavalieri.

[cruisemom42]

Also, when we go to the port ( I think we are on the same cruise as Len) would it be advantageous to take hiltons transport back to the airport and book transport to go to the port or just bite the bullet and book transport from the Cavalieri to the port? Thanks for all the good info. You are a wealth of knowledge and we appreciate your sharing it. David.

 

Slidergirl already answered about the shuttle, but I just wanted to clarify as well that there is not any advantage to going to the port from the airport versus going from Rome. If you look at a map of Lazio, you'll see that while FCO may be minimally closer to Civitavecchia than Rome, by the time you go from Rome to the airport to FCO, you've eaten up any advantage in time or mileage.

 

Do some research on these boards on the options for getting from Rome to the port -- train, shared shuttle, private car, taxi, etc. Then decide what works best for you.

[slidergirl]

Slidergirl already answered about the shuttle, but I just wanted to clarify as well that there is not any advantage to going to the port from the airport versus going from Rome. If you look at a map of Lazio, you'll see that while FCO may be minimally closer to Civitavecchia than Rome, by the time you go from Rome to the airport to FCO, you've eaten up any advantage in time or mileage.

 

Do some research on these boards on the options for getting from Rome to the port -- train, shared shuttle, private car, taxi, etc. Then decide what works best for you.

 

Yep. I'd take a taxi from the Cavlieri to the train station and catch a train to Civi. The Cavalieri shuttle doesn't take you to the train station - you'd have to catch a cab from Piazza Barberini to the station. To do the Hilton FCO shuttle, you'd have to take a taxi from the Cavalieri to the drop-off spot and then get on the shuttle. Not worth the few Euros' of savings.

 

Make use of the hotel's Concierges for your trip. They are a great group. They can do any transportation or restaurants for you. I had a couple of restaurants that don't do email reservations that I wanted to try - they gladly did them for me. You can email the Concierge prior to your visit. I was talking to one of them about La Pergola - no way could I afford that one! But, he arranged to take me up there off-hours so I could see it and the view! Maybe that was a "perk" of being an employee talking to an employee ;) The one negative I could give is the lack of restaurants around the hotel - it is mostly a residential area. But, not deal for me, since I did my meals down in Rome proper and always came back after dinner.

Every night I was there, after coming back up the hill, I'd grab a glass of wine and sit out on the patio. Always got some nice comp snacks - nuts, chips, olives. It was so relaxing to just sit there and look out over the lights of Rome. I also had the breakfast buffet every morning - it was a very nice offering. I heard it was not cheap (something like 30EU), but I didn't pay for it. On the nice mornings, I took my plate and sat outside on the terrace by the pool. A great way to "stock up" before heading out to walk all day!

[judatt]

The shuttle does not go up the the Cavalieri. I did a little digging and found this from the hotel for where the Rome shuttle stop is at:

 

"Via del Teatro Marcello n. 42 (opposite "Antico Caffé del Teatro Marcello"), very near to Piazza Venezia. The service runs every 2 hours, first departure from the Hotel is at 8: 00 am and then every two hours. Last service to the City center is at 10:00 pm. From Rome to the Hotel, first departure is at 9:00 am and then every two hours with last departure from the City center at 11:00 pm."

 

Depending, you could take a cab from the Cavalieri to one of the train stations and go to Civi from there.

I bit the bullet and paid for a private car from the airport to the hotel. Not cheap, but hey, I had free nights ;) I rented a car at the hotel and drove myself out, going to Florence.

You probably already know, but go over to the flyertalk.com HHonors forum and look at the latest scoop on the Cavalieri.

I took a quick look at flyertalk but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Am I missing something? Thanks.

[slidergirl]

I took a quick look at flyertalk but didn't see anything out of the ordinary. Am I missing something? Thanks.

 

No. I always visit flyertalk.com to look for information on hotels I'm going to stay at on vacation. contributors will frequently mention the good/bad/ugly of being an elite with the frequent guest program at the hotel. "Devaluations" like acknowlegement of status, no free suite, no lounge or "enhancements" like free suite, free breakfast, free champagne in room...

 

If nothing out of the ordinary pops up, that's a good thing.