Taxi Hell at Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino (Rome) Airport

Saturday, October 7, 2023

After landing at Rome's Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino Airport at 20:20 (on a flight from Brindisi's Solento Airport), we planned to take a taxi to the nearby Fly Deco Hotel in Ostia.

At first, we had difficulty finding the airport exit, but we finally managed to exit and queue for a taxi. When we reached the head of the queue (15 minutes later), the taxi dispatcher told us we wanted to go to our hotel in Ostia, but said these taxis only served Rome and that we needed to stand in a separate local taxi line.

We found the local taxi stand, but there were no taxis there. Eventually, one local cab showed up, but the driver wanted to charge us 50.00 euros for a 20-minute ride because he would have no passengers on the return leg. He suggested that we try using local buses instead. I refused to pay 50.00 euros for such a short ride, and he would not budge from the 50.00 euros price (Inna tried to negotiate him down to 40.00 euros).

I decided to try UberX twice, but it couldn't find any taxis. UberX in Italy is utterly useless.

We returned to the local taxi stand, and a different driver said we needed to use the main taxi stand. We queued up again (waiting for 20 minutes). Luckily, we were not turned away but were told to wait. We waited until another couple needed a ride to Ostia so we could split the 50.00-euro charge.

On the way there, we saw some very run-down areas of Ostia. Even the poor areas of Naples looked better,

Thus, we arrived at our Fly Deco Hotel 90 minutes late, at 22:00, by which time the bar and everything else had closed. Inna wanted a cup of tea, but that was no longer possible.

When we checked in, we also ordered an airport shuttle for 06:00 to get back to the Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino airport by 07:30 (to allow two hours before our international ITA Flights back to the United States).

In our room, I took a shower (as I felt sweaty) and went straight to bed. We did not bother unpacking; we only stayed until early morning.

Sunday, October 8, 2023

We woke at 5:30, quickly dressed, and packed. We boarded our airport shuttle and were dropped off at Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino airport around 06:30. After checking in and getting our tickets, we went through security and passport control. Then, we headed to a lounge, where we rested before the flight.

The lounge had free croissants, cappuccinos, and small breakfast items. I worked on my blog while Inna rested.

At around 9:00, we returned to our gate and boarded our ITA Flight AZ640 for San Francisco. We had an easy 12-hour flight back home (though the flight's departure was delayed by one hour).

During the flight, I enjoyed the delicious lunch followed by dinner. I watched a couple of the following movies:

• 8-bit Christmas (2021)
  
• A tale of getting a Nintendo Entertainment System in the 1980s

We landed in San Francisco at 14:00 and waited about 10 minutes in the Global Traveler line. Alex drove in to pick us up, and we were quickly taken home.

We were happy to see Alex, but a little sad about our two-week vacation being over.

Recommendations

Next time, when traveling to Rome, we plan to stay at Leonardo da Vinci-Fiumicino airport or in the center of Rome (as there is a fast 32-minute train to Rome Central Station). Without UberX, relying on taxis in Italy can be frustrating.