Rome Fiumicino Airport

FCO terminal 1 not a good experience : on arrival from NCE it took 40 minutes to get our luggage. On departure the check-in area was a total mess - Alitalia ground staff was insisting that passengers use the check-in machines and denied access to desks but automats were not working ending in a total confusion and rebellion among passengers. Security check not worse than elsewhere tax-free area okay.

I flew into Fiumicino terminal 3 from London. On arrival aircraft parked at G gates and monorail to main building took ages as only 1 was working. The walkways to passport control and baggage reclaim are really dark and dirty a very run down place. No signage (unbelievable!) to the airport hotel - Hilton and airport staff although friendly gave wrong directions. The "Skybridge" leading to the car rentals parking and Hilton is again very dark very hot and filthy - a horrible first impression to a beautiful city!

Departures from Terminal 5 terminal for US and Israeli airlines and the main terminal T1/2/3. Departures to the US are done through check-ins in a large hall with minimal passenger facilities available. As the previous passenger noted anyone not agile will have a tough time reaching the gate. Security screening and check-in will take a long time. I usually arrive 3 hours before departure. The bus tour to the final departure terminal is primitive at best with numerous non-functioning escalators. Once you arrive at the terminal you have many overpriced signature stores. The limited restaurants offer your typical choice of sandwiches and pizzas and fairly decent salads. Restrooms are frequently broken and dirty. Arriving from the US to FCO is no better. There are even more stairs to negotiate and delivery of bags take an eternity. Other terminals for departures within Europe say France and Germany are not any better. It is indeed a disappointment.

John Oram's airport review below is somewhat misleading. His ticket purchase took place in the Trenitalia railway station attached to Leonardo da Vinci airport. The ticket booth described is run by a private agency which amongst other things deals with car-hire; hence the hard sell of coach tickets. The official railway ticket office is just opposite across the concourse is glass-fronted with several positions and generally has long queues.

I just travelled through FCO with my wife who is handicapped. There are no wheelchairs or luggage carts to be found at Terminal 5 just lots of Carbinieri. To board a UAL B747 takes 3different buses numerous escalators and finally the old steps to board. Best advise is to avoid FCO and UAL at all cost!

I have never had any real problems here and find the facilities pretty good. Arriving and leaving the airport can be quite a challenge so be prepared and allow a bit of time. The Leonardo Express is as others describe but gets you there at some cost. Three or more people should just get a taxi and save their legs.

Security check starts with a single queue but then inexplicably the single queue is divided into several separate queues for the different security stations. Not enough restaurants and chaotic. Train connection: Too expensive. (40 euro for 2 adults / 3 children) bus is cheaper. Train arrives about 1000 m away from the central terminal building (specially funny when you are leaving Rome and need to make a run to catch your train).

Terminal 1 for SkyTeam flights is modern but fairly average with lot of walking both upon arrival and departure. Toilets are dirty some cubicles downright disgusting. Finding the train station is a challenge in itself: confusing signage uninviting walkways quite a lengthy walk - at least 10mins. Leonardo Express train connects the airport to Roma Termini every 30 mins - travel time around half an hour but hopelessly overcrowded and rip-off prices of 14EUR one-way! Departure a much better experience. Check-in was hassle-free using self- service machines. No queue at security friendly staff with good command of English. Poor air conditioning in the terminal. Quite limited seating areas at the boarding gates. Alitalia Business lounge is clean and fairly comfortable - however it is located in Pier D while most Alitalia flights depart from Pier B!

I did not find it too bad at all. Arriving was ok - passport control fine even a bit friendly then about a 10 minute wait for the baggage carousel to give us our case. The surroundings seemed no worse than many other airports. We went for the Leonardo Da Vinci Express train to Termini which was quite a trek to reach let's say a 10 minute walk with suitcases at most but the FCO train station itself was well sign-posted with a train symbol. Departure from Terminal 3 was quite good. The Jet2 baggage drop desk was brisk and efficient and we were treated with a smile. Security was also brisk. There was an above-average choice of shopping staff were friendly and the concourses were brightly lit. Food options were nothing special but perfectly ok and in comparison to some British airports much better in terms of fresh food even if most of it was pizza. The toilets we used were perfectly ok - I accidentally used the gents and even that was clean! At passport control the guard did not even take our passports from us to look at the just waved us through. The gates were well sign posted with walking times to each one clearly displayed. The gate we left from (H9) was spacious with plenty of seating and toilets. So overall my experience of FCO was not bad at all.

The nightmare started at the check in counter. The staff were rude (Alitalia handling agents) unhelpful and not professional at all. One of the unfriendliest airport I have come across. At the duty free they even scolded us for looking through the duty free items. Left the shops and refused to buy anything. One of the most stressful experience I have ever come across.