So here I am tackling another public transport subject. Even if known for the road warrior trips, I do have used public transports in Europe, who else! When we visited Roma with the family we tried the metro, bus, and train, and we came back as elsewhere thinking the bus was a trip! Even if some claims is delay and long waits we did not encounter any in the Bella Roma! Even in dire times there…força Italia!!!
So let me tell you briefly on the bus in Rome.
Rome has 338 day bus lines, 22 night bus lines and 8,260 stops!! So they tell me lol!! There are different types of lines, the most popular are:
Urban (U): These are most of the lines operating in Rome. They start their service between 5h and 6h30 and finish at midnight.
Nocturnes (N): These buses operate during the hours of rest of the urban lines, i.e. between 00h00 and 05h00 – 06h00.
Express (X): These buses make long journeys and make few stops.
Exact (E): These lines connect the center of Rome with the periphery. Departure times are fixed.
The bus shelters have all the necessary information on the lines served: timetables, routes, stops ,etc. Buses run daily between 5h30 and midnight. From midnight, the night buses take over!
Tickets can be purchased on bus, metro stations, newsstands and tobacconists. Remember that after entering the bus doors, you need to enter your ticket into the machine to validate the trip. The one-way BIT has a validity period of 100 minutes upon validation and allows connections between the different means of transport. However, you cannot exit and re-enter through the metro turnstiles. The price for a single ticket was1.50€ check if change. You can buy the pass or carnet of 10 depending on the days you stay and your trips habits. We used timely so one ticket at a time did the trick
I give you some of the most popular lines from a visitor point of view that I agree these are:
Line 40: Termini – Piazza Venezia – Piazza Pia (Vatican)
Line 60: Termini – Piazza Venezia – Colosseum – Cirque Maximus
Line 62: (My fav line!!) Repubblica – Piazza di Spagna (Spanish Steps) – Piazza Venezia – Vatican
Line 81: Vatican – Piazza di Spagna – Piazza Colonna (Trevi Fountain) – Piazza Venezia – Circus Maximus – Colosseum
The official Rome public transport ATAC webpage is here in English : Official ATAC Rome transports webpage
I will give you the route planner page taken from ATAC above : Route planner ATAC Rome
If you’re going to land at Fiumicino Airport (like we did/do) the bus to central Rome, the Sit Bus Shuttle will take you to the historic center of the city, where the main monuments are located . A snap!!! More info here: SIT Bus Shuttle stops in Piazza Cavour (Saint Peter’s District), then at Termini station. See timetables and reservations here: SIT bus shuttle
Terravision connects Termini to Fiumicino Airport directly. Schedules and reservations here: terravision bus
Atral-Schiaffini connects Termini to Fiumicino Airport. Timetables, information here:Atral Roma bus
The T.A.M. connect Fiumicino with Termini, making a detour to the Ostiense train and metro station. Schedules and reservations here: TAM bus Rome
The departmental company COTRAL offers various connections, including nightly between Fiumicino, Termini station, Tiburtina station and others: metro station A Cornelia, metro station B EUR Magliana ;More informations here: COTRAL bus Rome
We did try the bus from Fiumicino airport to Termini train station and was perfect on the TAM as above. The cost was 5€ one way. On the return we tried the limo taxi service.
There you go a brief tour of the bus network in Rome, the system is huge but we took some bus lines as well in the city; the most was the bus 62 and it was grand! goes thru all the major tourist attractions from our aprt in Nomentano district. We took it every day for trips into the center of Rome.
Another nice line is bus 40 as it takes you from Termini to the Vatican city. The Termini bus station is huge and many lines are shown there. There are kiosks to purchase your ticket and then you to the quays of your bus line. Very easy to do and fast waiting period too. Even if this was a one time trip.
Hope it helps your decision to use the bus in Rome, above ground you always see more and enjoy more Rome. Enjoy the bus rides!
And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all!!!
Paris1972-Versailles2003 