Rome Airports

Getting to and from the main airport, Leonardo da Vinci, commonly known as Fiumicino, about 30 miles southwest of the city center is quite easy. But getting to and from Ciampino airport, 20 miles southeast of the city center of Rome is not that easy ,is time consuming and unconfortable by public transport and buses run infrequently, finish early and do not connect well with the metro trains.

Many of Italy’s major cities have international airports, but the Leonardo da Vinci of Rome is the country’s busiest and is a hub for flights linking Europe to the Middle East and Africa.

Soon after the big Fiumicino Airport opened in 1960, a new confortable motor road was built to link it with the centre of Rome across the Magliana section. Various big hotels for business travelers and conventioneers grew up nearby.

Negotiating Roman traffic by car is difficult enough, but you may be taking your life in your hands if you ride a motorcycle or moped in the city. The rule in Rome is to look straight ahead to watch the vehicles in front and hope that the vehicles behind are watching you.

Most of the historic centre of Rome is closed to normal traffic. Police controls some entrances to the centre, while other entrances have electronic gates. You are not allowed to drive to the centre of Rome from 6.30 am to 6.00 pm Monday to Friday and 2 pm to 6 pm Saturday, unless you are a resident or have special permissions. All 27 streets accessing the so called " Limited Traffic Zone " have been equipped with electronic access detection devices. To avoid a fine, customers wishing to drive to hotels in these areas, should first contact the hotel management who will fax authorities with your number plate.

Although Rome’s traffic is nowhere near as cahotic as that of Naples, some drivers, particularly motorcyclists, do not stop at the red lights. And do not expect them to stop at pedestrian crossing either.

About The Author

Stefano Sandano is native of Rome, is a copyrighter for the main attractions of the Eternal City. To be updated with the Rome airport news you can visit http://www.rome-airport.org