Last Updated: April 2019.
Connecting in the Rome Leonardo De Vinci airport in the city of Fiumicino, near Rome? This short guide has everything you need for a pleasant short or long layover in the Fiumicino airport (Code=FCO).
If you have 5-6 hours or less, i would recommend that you stay in the airport and don’t travel to Rome.
If your layover is shorter than 2 hours, rush to your gate. Your main concern should be to make it to on time to your connecting flight. Previous experience showed that you’ll need more than 75-90 minutes to make it on time to domestic or international connecting flights in FCO. This includes queuing for passport controls, clearing customs (as needed) and going through security. Fellow travelers reported that terminal signs are not always very clear, so pay special attention when you roam through the terminal concourses.
Factor in additional 15 minutes to move between different Terminals. Note that Alitalia (and most of other SkyTeam companies) international flights typically land in Terminal 3, and domestic/short-haul typically depart from Terminal 1.
Free WIFI is readily available in FCO so you can catch up on your email and surf the web. Overall WIFI quality is pretty good.
Note that smoking is only allowed in designated cabins at the gate concourses.
You could also consider accessing one of the VIP Lounges available at the terminals.
If your connection lasts 6 hours or more and provided weather permits, you could definitely have a nice side trip into Rome.
If you carry some luggage, i would suggest to store it for 6 Euro in the left baggage storage room located at International Arrivals hall in Terminal 3.
This would be a good time to withdraw some Euros from an ATM so you can pay for food or taxi in cash if needed.
European citizens and several other nationalities (including Americans, Australians, Canadians) are able to enter Italy for 90 days for tourism purposes without issuing a Visa. That said, you should carefully assess your Visa requirements before your trip using the Italian ministry of foreign affairs website.
From FCO, you can reach Rome in several ways:
NOTE: Rome offers a huge amount of things to do so you could potentially spend a couple of weeks in the city and still not even scratch its surface. That said, here are a few essential attractions which you could cover in 3-4 hours:
NOTE: Make sure to arrive back to the airport least 2 hours before the departure of your connecting flight.
Additional activities to consider if you have more time:
If you are for an overnight stopover, then you should be adding the Vatican to your itinerary. So what should you do?
Any recommendations for a Roma layover? Feel free to let us know by leaving a comment.