AeKeisling

Hello!

My husband and I are traveling to Rome, Italy later this week (!!). We have a direct flight from Philadelphia International to Rome (FCO). Our flight is scheduled to arrive 8:50a.m. Saturday morning, local time. We need to catch a train from FCO to Termini and we have to schedule a time to meet the owners of the B&B we are staying in while in Rome. We are not checking any luggage, rather bringing a carry-on for each of us. Can anyone tell me approximately how long it will take us to pass through the FCO airport (customs, emigration, etc)? I have times for the trains - that's not a problem. I just need an idea of what time to tell the owners when we will meet them!

Thanks so much for your input!

bilboburgler

there can be a longish walk, I guess from landing the plane has to get to the gate 10 mns, the walk 10 mins the queue 10 mins, find the station and time to pick up the ticket from the machines 10 mins so 40 mins. If you have to pick up lugage then add another 30 minutes. if there is a strike on then add.....

sassy_cat

Allow plenty of time.
If you just have carry on baggage you can easily find a nearby cafe and wait if you're early.

We were 15 mins late to meet our contact at our apartment rental and he left (missed the train we thought we'd catch and the taxi ride took forever because of heavy traffic). So we spent another 2 hours waiting around for him to return with the keys.

Ackislander

Add another 20 minutes if your plane has to park at a remote pad and passengers are bused to the terminal.

The train ride is about 30-40 minutes, and the platform for the Leonardo Express is about as far out of the main part of Termini station as you can be, maybe 10 minutes walk at a good clip.

Then you have to get a taxi to your rental.

As sassy_cat says, allow plenty of time.

jamikins

I would give the people you are meeting your landing time and ask them what they usually allow for time and to suggest a meeting time. They must do this on a regular basis so likely have an idea...

AeKeisling

Thanks for all of the responses! I really appreciate the suggestions! We did ask the owners to suggest a time. I don't know if it was a language barrier (I don't speak a whole lot of Italian outside of "spaghetti") but while they did respond to the email, they did not suggest a meeting time, only told me that if I wanted to change my meeting time (I suggested 10a.m. and asked if they thought that was too soon, which I now think it is) that I should email them to change it.

sassy_cat

10am is definitely too soon! I would suggest 11.30 to noon. You 'might' spend up to an hour in a cafe but I doubt it would be that long a wait.

Mimar

Immigration at Fiumicino is very slow in the non-EU citizen line. And there should be lot of planes arriving from North America around that time, so lots of fodder for the lines. I'd allow at least an hour for that.

fmpden

Personally I would schedule for noon. Having made that run through Rome a number of times and once on the same flight, there are too many points when you can get held up. Once the non-stop Leonard Express sat on the tracks and didn't move for 15 minutes. There are a number of cafes in Termini, and, as someone else suggested, a good time for a coffee and pasty. There is also a hugh TI in Termini where you can pick up maps and tours. This is one of those situations where being an hour early is far better than 15 minutes late.

AeKeisling

Thanks again! All of this information is perfect!!

nytraveler

Customs is not the problem - that takes about 2 minutes - no matter how much luggage you have.

the potential dealys are:

Late arrival of the plane
Delay in getting plane to a gate
Long distance from gate to Immigration
Long lines at immigration (if several inernational planes land at once)

I've had it take from 45 minutes up to almost 2 hours (about 30 minutes waiting for luggage) from wheels down to street.