Allow me to recount for you a miracle of miracles: Once upon a time, I paid the correct price for a taxi from Rome to the airport.
You see, whenever people ask me if I speak Italian, I say I speak enough. If they push, I clarify that I speak enough to argue… with taxi drivers. I am always arguing with taxi drivers.
There are plenty of “rules” that “regulate” taxis in “Rome.” These rules and regulations set the starting fare and rates within Rome. Outside of the center of Rome, the rates change depending on the zone in which you are driving.
Finally, rates to and from Rome and the two Rome airports (Fiumicino and Ciampino) are set. But the definition of “Rome” matters. In this case, it is defined by the Aurelian walls- the ancient city limits.
From the center of Rome, the price for a taxi to go to or from Fiumicino Airport is 48 euro. (Fiumicino is the main international airport, and is sometimes called Fiumicino Leonardo da Vinci airport).
From the center of Rome to or from Ciampino airport is 30 euro. 30. Not negotiable. For the past couple of years, I have had a lot of trouble with taxis at Ciampino (where most of the low-cost flights like RyanAir depart from). The drivers there seem to have agreed to up the price, cartel style, trying to say they will only take you to the center for 35 or 40 euro, even when the set price is clearly marked on the taxi door.
If you want to be sure of the price, you can pre-book a car transfer from the airports with a company like Welcome Pickups. It is the exact same price as a taxi from Rome’s main airport (€48 from Fiumicino), with the added bonus that there will be a driver waiting for you with your name on a placard.
However, one morning, not so long ago, we paid even less, because we were technically about 30 meters outside of the Aurelian walls, at Piramide metro station. The kind-hearted driver used the meter, as he should. He even gave us a receipt for the trip to Ciampino airport:
Taxi: €26.40
Not having to argue with a Roman cab driver for once in my life: priceless.
Tip: when you want to take a taxi within Rome’s city center (centro storico), always insist on the meter. Do not take the taxi driver’s kind offer to take you from Termini to the Spanish Steps for the low low cost of 15 euro. Use the meter, or find another taxi. An official white taxi, of course.
Remember that it can be hard to flag down a taxi on the street. Cabs are only really allowed to stop for a pickup when you call and order one, or if you walk to an official taxi stand. Taxi stands are easy enough to find… but most cabs will pull over if you indicate that you need a lift.
My wife and I are planning a trip to Rome, and we want to make sure we understand exactly what everything is going to cost. Even the taxis to and from the airport. You said that it would cost around 26.40 euros, which is perfect for my wife and I’s budget. Thanks a ton for this information, it was a big help.
Hi Brandon! Sorry for any confusion, but that price is not the set price– it was a deal because we were outside of Rome. If you fly into Ciampino, you will pay 30 euro flat rate.
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Do the citizen’s offers lift? Ah! Just kidding their rules are so strict that if I argue with taxi driver for the charges he might drop me in the middle of nowhere. But it was good to know about countries rules and regulations.
I just had a nightmare at Ciampino yesterday. I took my wife back to Fiumincino to fly home. But I was flying out of Ciampino first thing the following morning so I decided to find a hotel close by. I meet another American and she was doing the same thing, she says, we just found a room for $50, nearby and it is nice. Great! I booked one there as well. I google map the hotel, it’s a bit farther than I want to walk in the heat with bags, I go let’s split a cab. Me, her and her 7 year old daughter walk to the cab stand. “We need a ride to Park One Motel”, “huh”? No speak English”! Several of the drivers flat refuse to go the 4 km. In Italian I tell him where, show him a map on my phone, in plain English he tells us, we must use the cabs on the other side of parking lot. We walk 1/4 mile, find a few cabs, they all refuse to roll down window or talk to us. Finally one gets really irate and tells us to go to the cab line- right where we already were. We walk back, new group of aggressive men. We show the guy the map, several times, he knows exactly where we need to go. Finally he loads us up. We are off. At first google maps was not getting good location, but my sense was we were headed in the wrong direction. The lady sensed it too. She says so to me. We finally get a gps signal, headed north. So I stay calm, I figure maybe there’s one ways he can’t go through. Then he jumps on freeway and begandriving way too fast. The girl is getting scared. I said, you are going the wrong way! South! We need south! You are headed to Rome. He ignores us, I tell him in Italian to turn around. He starts arguing with me fast in Italian knowing I can not understand- very mean and aggressive. Then I realize the scam, I said stop now! Stop! He slams on the breaks, drives off the route, on a lonely industrial road, turns around in English tells us “get the F$&k out”, the woman is about to cry. I am not afraid for myself, but this is a bad situation with this lady and child. I tell him 3 times, we will get out after you unload our bags, as I fully felt he would drive off with them. No, no, no! GET OUT! The lady screams I’m calling the Police. So I tell him, look, I have GPS, you need to just turn around, go south. So I call the hotel, get on phone with manager, I give the driver the phone, he rants and raves in the phone the whole way to the hotel as if the hotel was giving him bad directions. We arrive, he hands me my phone- the call lasted 1 minute, he had been pretending to be on the phone for 15 minutes. The woman is in tears, the kid is terrified, he’s unloading our bags then tells me it’s 50 Euro!! €50 for a 4 km ride, what am I going to do, the people I was with were terrified, I felt responsible for them. Since this happened, I googled Ciampino taxi nightmares and there are so many! DO NOT TAKE A RIDE FROM THESE GUYS. It is unsafe, at the least it is illegal! Single women especially, call Uber, walk to the train station, anything is better than that nightmare.
Hi Ryan – super sorry that happened to you! It sounds terrible!
I have had the taxi drivers in Ciampino tell me that they will take me to Rome for 50 euro, even though the price of 30 is clearly displayed on their doors.
If you have a problem with a taxi driver, the legal white taxis always display the driver’s identification number on a small placard in the backseat (rear left door). This number is also displayed next to the rear license plate. You should record this number and fill out this form.
You can contact Rome’s Taxi Authority here:
Via Capitan Bavastro 94 accesso disabili da Via Pietro Felter, 26
Fax: 06/5740033
E-mail : [email protected]
Again – so sorry to hear about such a bad experience!
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My husband and I flew into Ciampino a few days ago (Oct 16), my first visit to Rome. Being aware of some bad ‘taxi’ reviews from this airport we approached the taxi stand/driver and confirmed €30 to Trastevere as indicated on his door label (a white cab at stand and Trastevere is inside the walls). We had written our accommodation address down and presented it to the driver before getting into the car. Driver smiled, agreed “yes”. However once loads and we’ve taken off he tells us to “metro”, as our first time in Rome we were confused but long story short, he dumped us at the nearest Underground Railroad (Anagnina metro station) and charged us €15 for the privilege. To top it off, in the shock and confusion I got out of the taxi and accidentally left my carry on bag in the vehicle. A check with the airport and even a follow up by our accommodation manager to the expected taxi company confirmed the driver didn’t hand it into airport lost property (not that we really expected him too). Sorry to the honest taxi drivers out there but these guys are giving you and your city a bad name. My advice, AVOID TAXI’s from Ciampino airport. I’d suggest either booking a transfer (and take a photo of the taxi and driver details found inside back left? door – I learnt the hard way). In hindsight for what it cost me I could have book a personal stretch limo! A better and much cheaper option, catch the airport express bus to Rome Termini (such as Terravision, they leave from the car park straight out from the ‘arrivals’ door and costs around €4). That said, I think it’s only fair to say, during our ordeal after we got off the train in the city of Rome we still had to get a taxi to our accommodation. This driver spoke near no English but delivered us to our door without issue. Rome is amazing, don’t let the shady characters put you off – beat them by not giving them the opportunity to shaft you!
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Hey Natali, I was wondering, me and my boyfriend is going to Rome for the first time pretty soon, and we are going to stay at Corso Vittorio Emanuele II (we are flying with Ryan air). Would that mean that this price should be 30€ for us or can they charge more? I have a problem to understand the rules with the zoones 🙂
Hi Lina! Most Ryanair flights arrive at CIA (Ciampino) so that is the 30 euro fare. A few land at FCO so you can check your ticket to confirm. The taxi drivers at Ciampino airport sometimes try to charge more so you can use the app to call one if needed.
Nice blog, glad you’re enjoying Rome. Thank you for the information about taxis.
In a couple of days, my wife and I will be taking a cab from LdV airport to central Rome — at midnight. Anything special regarding cabs to consider at that time ? I’ll definitely be looking for the official white cabs.
Cheers
Hello! The flat rate should still be exactly the same!
Hi Natalie,
Are there any bus/train options for transfer between CIA and FCO? (other than Terravision to Termini, then train to FCO). How much would a cab cost between the airports? Is Uber/Lyft available in Rome?
Cheers,
First, I’d like to say that before our trip to Italy last month I read your blog like crazy and it was a huge help! We stayed just outside the wall in the San Giovanni (off of Via Sannio) neighborhood and our ride from Fiumicino was perfect and only 43 euros…..super nice driver. Ditto on our return as we arrived at Termini from Venice and hopped a cab to our hotel in town near the airport in anticipation of our flight the following morning (Hotel Tiber was fantastic, btw). We only took two other cab rides during our stay…..these were around town and one was great and the second our driver was a bit grumpy, however we were never overcharged. I took pains prior to our departure to learn Italian and I think that helped. A lot. The six months of Rosetta Stone was totally not expensive and completely worth the time and effort. Ciao!