Fly Out Of MXP or FCO Back to States?
 

Greetings,

Wife and I are traveling to Croatia. We will be departing from Dubrovnik (DBV). I am traveling with points business class back to states and have 2 choices: Departing from Milan (MXP) or Rome (FCO) back to states. Both flights leave around 11AM for states. There are no early morning positioning flights from DBV or Split(for that matter) that will enable us to make either 11AM departing flight from FCO or MXP. This means we will have to fly day before to FCO or MXP. DVB has direct flights from MXP or FCO. . only difference is that FCO is about $100 per ticket cheaper.

Questions are: : Which airport is easier to get in and out of since we will be there less than 24 hours? I have been to Rome and airport is in middle of nowhere so not sure we would even attempt to go into city. However, never been to Milan, How far is Airport from city center? Is it possible to stay in city of Milan? Both of these positioning flights would arrive around 3PM in MXP or FCO. If staying in Central Business District (CBD)of Rome or Milan is out of question, any airport hotels that anyone would recommend?



Thanks for time and help in advance!

FCO is closer to Rome centre than MXP is to Milan centre. MXP to centre is 50 km, FCO to Rome centre is 30km.
You could easily stay in the centre of Rome and get an early taxi to the airport. Walk around, have a lovely dinner, enjoy the atmosphere.

If you stay at Milan MXP, look at Villa Malpensa.Lovely hotel with very good dining.

You could also stay at the Sheraton MXP and just take the train underneath to Milano and back for the day. It is less than an hour each way and runs frequently.

FCO is closer to the city than MXP so that would be my choice, especially given that you say departing from FCO is cheaper for you.

No contest for me if I were in your position:


Book a night in the coastal town of Fiumicino, 5 minutes taxi ride from FCO.
NOT a hotel on the strip outside the airport with all the big chain hotels. A hotel IN FIUMICINO town.
Many Romans go out for the day on the weekends, to eat and stroll around.

There is one restaurant that has become among my favorites in Italy, and there are many, many others, offering terrific foods from pizza to seafood to burgers......a lovely little town and a delightful alternative to schlepping into Rome city for such a short time.

Last year we deliberately added two nights at the end of our trip because we like the town so much!

It straddles the mouth of the Tevere. (Tiber River) and for me is a destination in its own right.

if this is of interest I will give you our hotel recommendation, and some restaurant options.

Fly from Rome
 

Unless you are dead set to visit "sites," I suggest making a reservation at the Hotel Tiber Fiumicino and enjoying this little fishing village at the mouth of the Tiber before your flight home. The Hotel is right alongside the river, just as it enters the Mediterranian and the balconies overlook the fishing boats coming and going and some of the fisherman with poles along the dock. The hotel is modern, with a rooftop infinity pool (overlooking the sea), bar, elegant restaurant and other amenities. The breakfast was great and there are several nearby restaurants that deserve a try. We enjoyed an outdoor market, flower market, great look around a supermarket and even found a hardware store, with lots of goodies. The airport is just about 10 miles away and the hotel has shuttles. (It was a whooping 5 Euros, when we visited 10 years ago.)

I saw ekscrunchy's reply after I wrote my suggestion about staying in Flumicino. So there are two votes for this lazy little town!

Yes, two enthusiastic reviews....and not only that, one of the best seafood restaurants in Italy is within an easy walk of the hotels; we stay at the Hotel Seccy (we had two nights last September)n but I will take a look at your tip next time!!!