Bus and other Rome, Italy Transportation Tips

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Bus
Getting TO/AROUND: We did most of our sightseeing around Rome on foot but used the buses to cover any longer journeys around the city, such as travelling with our cases between Termini Station and our hotel, which was in the area near the Vatican museums. The tickets could be bought at newsagents around the city and needed to be stamped on entering the bus to validate them.

The stops were labelled with clear details of all the stops covered by buses calling there, how long it should take to reach each one and the approximate frequency of each service.

The buses seemed quite busy but had plenty of room for standing passengers, when all the seats were full and we had no trouble finding space for our small suitcases. One very useful feature of the buses, which I would love to see in the U.K., was a screen displaying the name of the next stop, so that passengers would know in good time when they were approaching the stop they wanted. There are maps available on the ATAC website listed, which show the buses and other connecting public transport services.

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Website: http://www.atac.roma.it/

'Mode': AROUND
Category: Bus
Getting TO/AROUND: We bought tickets for the 110 open top sightseeing buses, which were valid for unlimited travel on that route on the date purchased. Along with the ticket we were provided with a set of headphones that we could plug in at any seat on the bus to hear a commentary, in our choice of language, on what could be seen from the bus and a city map showing the route the bus took through the city’s streets, where it stopped to pick up passengers and the location of places of interest.

We were told that there would be diversions on the route later that day due to road closures so we decided to travel the full route first to make sure we had seen everything before parts of the route became unavailable. This really helped us to get a feel for the layout of the city and to decide what we wanted to see later. For my tastes the commentary was a little sparse but I suppose many people prefer just to look at the view from the bus and might find constant commentary distracting.

We did the same route again on the last bus that went round that day, so we could see all the beautiful buildings lit up after dark and during the day, we used it to travel between all the places we wanted to visit, including the Castel Sant Angelo, the Coliseum and the Trevi Fountain. Although it was very cold the day we used it, there was such a good view from the top that we didn’t mind sitting outside on the top deck and from here it was lovely to be able to see some of the decorative features on the upper floors of many of Rome’s buildings and also over the river and its many interesting bridges.

Compared to the ordinary bus services, the stops are rather far apart, so you can end up with quite a walk if you want to see something which isn’t right by a stop but the map they provide at least makes the route clear. The cost for the one day ticket was 13 Euros and the full route covered eleven stops. There is a map available on the website listed, which shows the route and stops.

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Website: http://www.trambus.com/servizituristici.htm

'Mode': TO
Category: Train
Getting TO/AROUND: We used the train to travel to the centre of the city from Rome’s Fiumicino airport, buying a ticket from the counter at the airport’s station, (19 Euros for two people) which we had to validate before boarding the train by stamping it in a small machine on the platform. The station was well signposted from the airport but was a fair distance away using escalators and, I think, a moving walkway.

We found the train very smart and clean and it arrived promptly at the platform. I was surprised to discover how few people were using it, as the airport had seemed very busy. We were very comfortable on the journey, having plenty of space for our luggage in the compartment, around and between the seats. The train passed firstly through some rural areas, where we were surprised to see palm trees flourishing on such a cold January morning (it snowed around Rome, while we were there) and then around the outskirts of the city, through the southern suburbs before finally arriving in the city centre at Termini station. It took another long walk, well signposted and mainly on moving walkways, to reach the front of the station, where we found connections with metro and bus services to all areas of the city. We found a newsagent's stand at the front of the station, where we were able to buy tickets for the bus to our hotel.

On our return journey to the airport, we used the automatic ticket machines, rather than queuing at the counter, to purchase our tickets. These have several languages available and take cash or credit cards

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Website: http://www.adr.it/content.asp?SUBC=1361&L=3&IDMEN=731