nevertooold

We are Canadians who are staying in a hotel which is a 5-10 minute walk from the Termini.

Our early Monday morning July 4 Blu-express flight from Rome to Genoa departs at 7:15am.

What is a safe and proper time to have a taxi pick us up at the hotel?

Many thanks for any information and advice.

kybourbon

Does it depart FCO or CIA?

nevertooold

FCO.

fmpden

With a taxi you will need 45 mins so play for an hour. For a domestic flight at that time of day, an hour and half to two hours should be adequate checkin time. So leave the hotel around 4:45 but no later than 5:00 AM.

GAC

You could have taken the ES-City Frecciabianca train from Roma Termini at 6:10 a.m. with arrival in Genova at 11:08 a.m. One way fare (promotional "MINI" fare): 19 Euros, city center to city center!!

Train schedules will change mid-June, but are likely to remain nearly the same as now.

Flying from Rome to Genova is often a "bad deal".

GAC

Here is more information about the train versus air dilemma between Rome and Genova:

The classic dilemma: is it better to fly or take the train? In this particular case, the pair of cities in question are Genoa and Rome. Let's do some digging:

AIR OPTION:

Two carriers, Alitalia and Blu-Express, fly between Genoa and Rome. Alitalia has 8 flights per day, Blu-Express has 2. Flying time is 60 minutes. Alitalia's lowest fare (payment by credit card) is 45 Euros, which includes one piece of checked luggage up to 23 kilos. Blu-Express has an even better fare of merely 25 Euros, which includes one piece of check luggage up to 15 kilos.

So, Blu-Express seems to be the clear winner, right? Well...let's dig further:

Total travel time by air is at least 3.5 hours, when you consider the time to travel to and from two airports, check-in, clear security, land and deplane, retrieve luggage, and wait for surface transportation.

In addition to the air fare, you must also calculate the surface transportation costs to reach the two airports: 6 Euros for the airport bus in Genoa, and 14 Euros for the nonstop airport train in Rome. (NOTE: The airport bus, and the airport train to secondary stations in Rome, cost only 8 Euros).

Is the train better?

TRAIN OPTION:

There are three types of daylight trains between Genoa and Rome: the fastest is the one early morning Eurostar (ES), which makes the trip in four hours, stopping only at La Spezia, Pisa and Livorno (on the return, this train departs Rome in the early evening). Then there are five excellent Eurostar-City (ES-City) trains, which take five hours and make a few more stops. Finally, there are two older Intercity (IC) trains, which take five hours and 22 minutes, and make more stops.

The regular fares (second class) for these trains are: 58 Euros (ES); 52.50 Euros (ES-City) and 41.50 Euros (IC).

However, there are also advance purchase promotional "MINI" fares as low as 19 Euros for the ES and ES-City trains, and 17 Euros for the IC trains. Remember however, that the "MINI" fares are capacity-controlled and not easy to secure without reserving considerably in advance. Other "MINI" fares are higher than 17 or 19 Euros, but lower than the regular fares.

FACE-OFF:

Assuming the LOWEST fares for both the plane and the train, it's clear that the train wins on this route: 19 Euros in 4 hours by ES train, versus 45 Euros (25 Euros air fare plus 20 Euros surface transportation) in 3.5 hours, by Blu-Express.

Even without the "MINI" fares, however, the train isn't so bad, when one factors-in the hassle and stress of taking the slightly faster and cheaper plane. For example, the regular fare of 52.50 Euros for the ES-City train compares very well to 45 Euros for the plane. And if you fly Alitalia, the all-in fare of 65 Euros exceeds the cost of even the fastest train on this route.