Rome Ciampino Airport

Have Just returned from a weekend in Rome. As the flight arrival was the late evening Ryan air flight and we were staying near the Termini decided to book the Terravission bus which I did across the web. Worked out £9 pp for a return trip. There were two busses waiting in arrival so no problem leaving from Ciampino. Coming back at 7.00AM a few days later was a bit more fun. Got to the termini station at 1/4 to 7 just to see a full bus leave. A big crowd then began to form which the Teravission ticket staff buzzed around taking tickets and money from. Then a single decker bus turned up which obviously could not take all the people present. Therefore a scrum to try to get on which the Teravission staff failed miserably to manage. Then a second bus turned up meaning that there was no problem to take every one back to Ciampino. It's a shame the local staff didn't communicate this. And yes you do have to load and unload your own luggage so be prepared for this. The actual bus service was good - the issue was the complete lack of organisation and communication of the local staff. Ciampino is a small airport with minimal facilities (and seats) but I have been in a lot worse. Our experience was that baggage control was quick and passport control was not a problem in either direction.

Very pleased I read this forum before arriving at Ciampino Owen Dawson's comments particularly useful. I followed his suggestion and used the cheap option to get in to Rome and found it no problem at all. I would just add a couple of extra points which people may find useful. The COTRAL buses did charge 1 euro per person but it was also an additional euro if you had a suitcase. The jorney to Anagnina took about 15 minutes. On the return journey the bus departs from Platform 1 at the bus station and is in a different area from where the buses arrive. The buses seem to run approximately every half hour so plan accordingly. This travel option was particularly useful for me as I was staying in a hotel near an underground station. If I'd used the Terravision bus I still would have needed to use the underground from Terminii anyway .

My experiences of Ciampino are a mix of all the comments below. My biggest complaint was not about Ryanair staff or indeed the airport staff our biggest disappointment was with the staff at the Hertz car hire desk we waited for nearly 2 hours to get our pre-booked hire car. No one was there to tell us where to find the car in one of the 2 large car parks (it was dark by the time we landed making it more difficult to find the car). The airport itself? No better or worse than any other provincial airport (ever flown Ryanair to Treviso)? I would use Cia airport again but I wouldn't use Hertz!! Hope your looking and listening Ryanair!! As far as passport control we were unfortunate enough to be in a queue for a very busy flight and a couple of "jobsworths" who examined in great detail all passports and boarding passes to the point where the gate was closing and half the passengers were still queuing to get through the control!! At this point "jobsworths" gave up and it was a free for all!

Got back very early this morning from Ciampino. Although the arrival at the airport was notable only for the slowness of the baggage reclaim we hadn't read comments about the airport so were unprepared for the appalling departure 'experience'. The facilities (what facilities?) are a joke. The queuing and general lack of organisation was breathtaking. The place itself is more like a bus station. The Italians should be ashamed of themselves - a fantastic city and a shockingly bad airport. Whether you are paying £20.00 or £200.00 for your ticket you deserve better than this. The budget airlines have a responsibility to get this sorted - we deserve to be treated better than cattle!

I visited Rome on a 3 day break and both inbound and outbound was pleasantly pleased with the service throughout though I can appreciate that things could/would quickly degenerate if there were flight delays - but there again so did Terminal 4 Heathrow in September'05. The transfer service to Termini Roma was excellent but ensure you know how to reach your hotel once at Termini the undersigned made the classic mistake of getting in a taxi before agreeing the fare - an expensive mistake!

Having read all the negative comments about Rome Ciampino airport I went there with my family last weekend expecting the worst. I was surprised to find the place was in fact quite pleasant and efficient. We left the aircraft first and on entering the building met the two passport control officers sitting near a doorway having a fag. They reluctantly headed in to their booth and after a fleeting glimpse at our passports a grunt was uttered accompanied by the frantic waving of hands We walked straight through to baggage reclaim collected bags and were outside in less than 10 mins. We found the (very long) bus queue but no Terravision bus. The queue was growing minute by minute and still no bus. Eventually after waiting for well over an hour the last bus of the day rolled up and we all squeezed on although it was standing room only. Curiously we had to load our own luggage in the large lockers underneath and as these had doors on either side of the vehicle as one case went in on one side it tended to push one out the other side. This didn't seem to bother the driver nor the rep. The return journey was very efficent. The coach left on time and struggled through the evening traffic taking just over the hour. I have to admit the check-in was bit slow. The girl seemed to be carefully reading each passport cover to cover and was clearly in no hurry despite a very long queue. I found the facilities there were fine for a small airport. We ate landside and had time for a look round the over priced gift shop. The Ryanair policy to allow disabled/elderly/ young families to board first seemed a good idea but all that guaranteed was first place on the bus. Unfortunately for them when the bus arrived at the aircraft the back and front doors were opened simultaneously and the race to the plane began in earnest. and as might be expected the last on the plane were the priority passengers. This airport would certainly benefit from a rail link to Terminii but considering the size of the place we found it very good . None of the family had reason to use the toilets so I cannot comment there but if anyone thinks this airport is bad they clearly have not experienced Oostende.

Completely surrounded by cheap housing estates I wonder what passengers must think after they've landed at this small tatty airport which looks and feels like a third world one. Even though it is closer to the city centre than Fiumicino it takes longer to get there as traffic is a nightmare especially during rush hours and public transport limited. Facilities and shops are almost non- existent so if you're stuck there's nothing to do. Some years ago there were talks of pulling it down altogether and building a shopping centre. Hope they go ahead with it.