ahotelinitaly.com blog

Well we’re always going to say that the best way to get around Rome is to walk, and for a number of reasons. The first is that you do NOT want to be driving around the Eternal City as it will take you, ahem, an Eternity to get from A to B … the traffic really is that bad. And, of course, the Italians may be very skilled drivers, but then they have to be to get themselves out of the sometimes terrifying corners they drive themselves into: the rule in Italy is close and fast and have quick reactions.

So forget the car, quash your romantic dreams of zipping around Roma on a Vespa, and do it on foot. Not all of us are willing or able to hoof it around a major city of course – fortunately Rome has a very good public transport system. There is a good, reliable and affordable bus service, operated by ATAC with good coverage of the city (though the buses still have to negotiate that Roman traffic of course). Rather quicker, though much more limited of course, is the tram service, with four lines. And avoiding the streets altogether, you can head for the Metro (think the London Tube or New York Subway) with services from 5.30am through to 11.30pm. Coverage isn’t as good as it could be, with the two lines aimed at commuters coming into the city, rather than getting from point to point within it, but it does its job. Both lines terminate at Termini, the main rail station, which will probably also be your point of arrival, as the air terminal is here too.

There are night buses from midnight through to around 5am, and you can buy flat fare tickets and weekly passes at newsstands, tabacchi and the ticket machines sited in larger bus stops and metro stations. Get taxis at stands (fermata dei taxi) rather than hailing them on the street London or New York style. You’ll find tourist information stands at Fiumicino airport and Termini station. And there are information kiosks at the Spanish Steps (Largo Goldoni), San Giovanni in Laterano, Via Nazionale (Palazzo delle Esposizioni), Piazza Navona (Piazza delle Cinque Lune), Castel Sant’ Angelo (Piazza Pia), the Forum (Piazza del Tempio della Pace), Trastevere’s Piazza Sonnino, and the Via del’Olmata at Santa Maria Maggiore.

Official site of the Rome tourist board

Hotels in Rome

Tickets for events in Rome

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