Calling on the Rome experts - I can't work out how to get from Fiumicino to our accommodation - help please!!

On arrival I would first check the shuttle bus / van kind of kiosk and see if they handle that outskirt location. When I used it they were fast and cheap even though they are dropping other folks off along the way. The airport train line has a special very high fare, and will land you on the wrong side of town with awkward transfers I think.

Your convent is far off the beaten track so public transportation would be an involved trip. You are not located near any metro stops so you would have to take a bus, more than likely two or three different buses to reach this remote location and that's afer you take the airport train to Termini. The convent is located closer to the train station at Trastevere, but you would still need to take public transportation from there. Maybe take the train to Trastevere (it doesn't run as frequently from FCO as does the Leonardo Express to Termini) then a taxi from the Trastevere station to your convent. But after a long flight from Australia, I would not want to be on various modes of public transportation and the price of a taxi or private shuttle would be well worth it. I'm not sure what happened with your last taxi trip, but I suspect you took a non licensed cab and got the run around. Licensed taxis have a fixed rate from the airport to central Rome, 40 or 50 Euro. When taking a taxi, it is important to ignore the taxi shills inside the airport or on the curb trying to pull you into one of their cabs. Go out to the official taxi stand and get in line.

Actually the local train from the airport to Trastevere runs more often (about 4 per hour 5.5€)than the Leonardo Express which goes to Termini(2 per hour 11.5€). I would ask the convent about connections from the airport or you can use www.atac.roma.it to plot your route.

www.romeshuttlelimousine.com is 35€ for up to 3 passengers.

kybourbon is correct: the FR1 train is more frequent and cheaper than the Leonardo Express. It does stop en route, but is still a convenient means of accessing Fiumicino airport. You catch it at the same place you'd catch the Express, on a parallel track. You can buy your ticket from the window right next to the track (validate it in the yellow machine at the head of the track before boarding).

As per the ATAC website, you'll take the FR1 for six stops, getting off at Villa Bonelli. You'll transfer to bus #44 (headed towards Piazza Venezia) and travel 8 stops, disembarking at Colli Portuensi/Newton. Your final address is not far from this stop: via del Casaletto is right off of of via Portuense (plug your address into google maps and you'll see it).

The transfer to the bus will require that you buy a ticket (and were I you I'd go ahead and get a pass, as your location means that you'll be taking lots of buses; the weekly pass is called a CIS and requires that you validate only once, the first time you board a bus or tram). This is easily done at any small shop that sells tobacco and newspapers (there will be one in the station when you come up) and you'll be able to ask for precise directions to the bus stop at the same time. It will be nearby, but it can be a bit disorienting to try and find it when you first emerge from the station, so don't hesitate to ask.

The bus driver will be happy to let you know when your stop is approaching if you ask him to do so, and can also point you in the right direction for your street.

This trip is neither difficult nor complicated.

www.airportshuttle.it

Okay, I just checked the map at http://www.atac.roma.it/ to see precisely where your stop is relative to your street address as per google maps, and you will want to look carefully at the map to see the orientation of the roads there. The satellite version is also helpful, I think.

The establishment's web site suggests this alternate routing, which requires another transfer but drops you right in front:

"Dall'Aereoporto : Trenino metropolitano delle F.S. fino alla Staz.Trastevere, quindi prendere il tram 8 fino al capolinea e poi l'870 fino all'ingresso della Casa di Accoglienza"

So, the same train as I mentioned above, but to Trastevere station (one stop farther along). Transfer to the tram (ask the person at the shop selling tickets precisely where the stop is---the trams are light green) to its end (not the Largo Argentina end, but the other one) and then transfer to bus 870. This bus runs all the way down via del Casaletto, and I have the feeling you're going to be riding it quite a bit.

When you're ready to do some sight seeing you'll find that tram 8 up to Largo Argentina (the other end)is very convenient, dropping you an easy walk from Campo dei Fiori and Piazza Navona.

More info for the venue at: http://www.alcasaletto.com/index.htm

Ditto with www.romeshuttlelimousine.com .

I highly recommend taking one of the shuttle/limo services as suggested by several of the posters here.

After a negative taxi experience our first time to Rome, we arranged for a car service the second time and what a difference it made! Our plane was delayed several hours but our driver patiently waited for us. On top of that, there was a taxi strike that day so I don't know how we would have managed otherwise. (I have also been in Italy when there were train strikes so would be reluctant to count on the train.)

bite the bullet take the rome shuttle it should run about 35-50e

Thank you everyone, especially Therese for such detail. I hope we haven't made a mistake with the location of the convent. Is it going to be a lengthy trip into the centre of Rome for sightseeing? Cathie

If you could, I'd get a place nearer the center. Basically it sounds like you will have to take the 870 bus and then the tram to Largo Argentina (as described previously) in order to be in the main sightseeing area. How long is this going to take every day? I think going back to your room during the day will be very time-consuming.

If you look at a map of Rome, Largo Argentina is sort of the tourist epicenter for convenience and sightseeing.

This is not necessarily a bad location, IMO, as it's quiet and surrounded by what looks to be a lovely park, so possibly a very nice respite from crowds depending on the time of year.

The tram ride to Largo Argentina is not prohibitively long by any means, and will take you through Trastevere (which you should definitely visit) and across the Tiber before ending at Largo Argentina, from where you can either walk to sites, or catch another bus to farther sites.

cathies, how did you find this lodging? Is there a curfew? I would guess that the rates are quite good, and it looks to have very good services.

Hi Therese, I'm so pleased you feel that the location is ok. I googled convents in Rome and amongst others I got monasterystays.com. It is quite inexpensive (breakfast included) and I did like the pretty gardens etc. I don't have the paperwork in front of me, but from memory there maybe an 11pm curfew, however, I don't think it will be a problem for us. We like to get up and out the door early when we are on hols, so by about 10pm we are absolutely exhausted and happy to be back at our base. We will be there in mid May for 5 nights. It's not long now and we are very excited!!

Romeshuttlelimousine~~ worked perfectly for us. Our flight arrived one hour early...and the driver met us soon after we walked in to the arrivals lobby! 35€ for two w/two pieces of luggage. Took us to the door of our accommodation, helped w/luggage. We used the service on 21 Feb. After a long trip we were happy to have car service instead of dealing wluggage, train etc. At departure we took the Leonardo Express. Both options worked well for us.

We Loved Stefano from Romecabs. He is such a nice gentleman and speaks great english. He was on time (when we were delayed we just called him from CDG)We also used him for tours in Rome. We had 8 family members and some left early while other's stayed on, so he made 2 more trips to the airport with us.

Check him out...

I am planning to use Rome Shuttle Limousine from Flumichino. When should I pay: at the booking or to the driver? Thank you.

I also used Stefano with Rome Cabs for airport transfers and a couple tours (since my mother had mobility issues) and was very, very pleased.

I used rome shuttle limousine based on Fodor recommendations and they were great. www.romeshuttlelimousine.com

This post is to thank everyone who helped with this question. We are home now (sob!!) and I wanted to thank Kybourbon and Therese in particular. We landed in Rome as planned, whipped through customs etc in no time at all. We found the FR1 very easily (a train was ready to depart) and hopped off at Villa Bonelli. By this point our brains were a bit scrambled from the travelling (23 hours from Sydney) and after a few failed attempts to figure out where the buses were we caught a cab to our monastery. It was easy and we were VERY grateful as it would have been a nightmare without such precise instructions.

In case anyone is wondering the monastery was fabulous, but the location was a pain in the neck. If traffic was heavy (most of the time) it could take the best part of an hour to get into Rome centre.

Anyway, thanks again, you will never now how grateful we were. Cathie

Glad to hear that your trip went well, and that the monastery was nice. How did you travel from the monastery to central Rome? Did you take a bus all the way or the tram? It seemed like traffic wouldn't have as big an impact on the tram.

If you get a chance you should post about the accomodations, as it's a question that comes up here with some frequency.

Hi Therese, sometimes we caught a bus and then the No 8 tram, other times we caught a bus to Euro Magliana and caught a train from there.

That's a good idea re accommodation. I will post a report on our accommodation as most of it was great and we booked a mix of hotels, apartments & B&B's.

Hi cathies, great to hear you had a wonderful trip looking forward to hearing your tales. Us Aussies head off in Sept so keen to know any suggestions you may have of your travels.

The easiest way from Termini rail station is:

Take the underground - "A" line towards Battistini - for 8 stops

Get off at Valle Aurelia, get out the station and walk for about 50 metres to the bus stop VALLE AURELIA.

Take the bus 31 - towards Laurentina - for 18 stops (the bus comes every 12 minutes)

Get off at the stop NEWTON/USSANI and walk for 450 metres to Via del Casaletto,538.

Hope it helps!

I am going to be using Rome Shuttle Limousine based on many of your recommendations. Can you tell me what an appropriate tip would be? We will be just two of us so the cost will be 35 euro. We are from New York and always tend to over tip when traveling and it adds up. At the same time, I sure don't want to be stingy. What do you suggest?

Don't overtip as Europeans in general tip less. From the Santa Susanna web page (although this is talking about taxis):

An average fare from the Airport to the center of Rome is around 35.00 to 40.00 Euro. An appropriate tip is just a few Euro for a long trip and a 50 Euro cent tip for a trip across the city.

http://www.santasusanna.org/visitorInfo/tips.html#money

cathies - What made you decide to stay so far out? Were the closer convents booked? Did you book directly with the convent or with Monastery Stays(Monastery Stays marks up the convent/monastery prices about 10-15€ per night)?

Hi kybourbon, I'll preface this by admitting that it was my one and only stuff up as far as accommodation for this trip. Also, I didn't know about Fodor's at that point!! On the maps I looked at it didn't seem too far our of the city and we did like the idea of somewhere quiet to stay at the end of our busy days. I don't mind the markup, it was still pretty inexpensive (about 80€ per night and spotlessly clean and very spacious). By the time I realised I had chosen poorly, the Monastery Stays Co wanted to charge quite severe penalties for us to cancel this booking and rebook closer to the city which made it prohibitive. It was a nuisance but probably not the worst mistake I could have made, as it was a lovely place and we had good supermarkets, bars etc nearby. thanks, Cathie

I just returned from a Rome vacation and spent over $1,000 on Rome Shuttle Limousine's services. I do NOT recommend them. Stay away. All over the site they advertise a Mercedes Benz fleet. Two of our rides were in dirty old cars, a Chrylser mini-van and Lancia. The latter vehicle had no air conditioning. I complained but they don't care.