Time to catch a flight at ROME airport???
 

We will arrive by train at Rome Termini at 11:50. Flight is at 1:30 from Leonardo DaVinci. Can we make a train and get there in time?

How can I check schedules for this route?

The Leonardo Express runs from Termini to Leonardo DaVinci Airport (FCO) every half hour and takes 30 minutes.
http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/inde...003f16f90aRCRD

In your example, I believe the soonest you might get to the airport--only if you train arrived at Termini on time and you sprinted to the Leonardo Express departure track--would be by about 12:40.

I have found FCO to be particularly disorganized. Check-in is always chaotic. If this is a flight back to the U.S., I would want to be there at least two hours before departure time.

There is no way I would depend on a train arriving on time at Termini to connect with a flight at FCO in so short a time.

I should have said it is an Easyjet flight to Lyon, France.

I just checked the actual schedule. The Leonardo Express leaves on :22 and :52 every hour.

For your arrival time at 11:50, the next possibility would be the 12:22, which arrives at FCO at 12:53. That leaves 37 minutes to find your way out of the station and to the Easyjet departure.

What are Easyjet's check-in requirements? Will you have checked luggage.

(This would be way too tight for my peace of mind.)

The short answer is no. Take a taxi to the airport, for my money you are cutting it very close even with a taxi. Can you take an earlier train?

It cannot be done. Many airlines have a fairly rigid cut off time for check in. By that time of day, just getting through security could take 30 minutes. Later flight or earlier train.

You can't rely on the train being on time. Things happen, particularly in Italy: strikes, breakdowns, storms, etc. I always recommend being in your departure city the night before your flight. What happens if you miss your flight? Will you have to pay full fare for seats on the next non-full flight?

Yes, it looks like it won't work. I am waiting two more days T
When the train schedule into Rome is posted and can be purchased. We may have to rent a car and drive directly to the airport from Cinque Terre area.

Thank for the responses, though. Very helpful.

easyJet expects passengers to be in the departure area, not at its check-in desks, well before the published departure time. Its Internet site warns that check-in closes 40 minutes before departure and boarding closes 30 minutes before departure. http://www.easyjet.com/EN/Flying/index

Easy Jet and other budget airlines are very strict. You can't just be in line to check in, you have to complete the check in process before the stated time.

I would not attempt to travel from CT to FCO by train on flight day. I've had quite a few trains that ran late in Italy, including the fast AV trains (1 1/2 hours late).

I think it would be pushing it to attempt to rent a car that morning and drive it. Many car rentals don't open until 9. There can also be lines to return a car at the airport.

If the train presents problems of getting-you-there-on time, I shudder to think about driving. Accidents, road work, weather. You are, I think, just going to have to suck it up and leave the night before, either an overnight train or a hotel at the airport.

But it is at least a 4 hour drive to Rome and only 6 hours drive to Lyon (from La Spezia). Why are you going that far to take a plane when you can drive or possibly get a train directly between the two points?

You need to check with your airline to see when you MUST check in. For US flights it is 3 hours. For inter=euorpean it will be less - but with your plan I fear you will be trying to check in as the plane gets off the ground,

IMHO you should be AT FCO by 11:30 - which means arriving at Rome Termini by about 10 am. (And for US flights make that at least as hour earlier.)