Ostia Antica post cruise??

We will be staying in Rome 4 days pre cruise and will see most if not all of what we would like to see. Because we have an early morning flight out post cruise we decided one more day would be a great option instead of trying to rush and make our flight. We plan on staying at the Hilton Rome Airport.

My question is how close is Ostia Antica to FCO. Is there any other must sees close to the airport and what is the best way transportation wise? We have also thought about the town of Fuimicino. Any thoughts on that?

Ostia Antica is quite close to FCO (you can sometimes see it on the approach to landing :)).

I have read there is a COTRAL bus that you could catch at the airport, but given the short distance, you might just arrange to take a taxi from your hotel near the airport. Probably would be about a 10-minute ride.

I don't think there's much to see in Fiumicino. If you are finished at Ostia, you could get on the train just outside the site and go on to Lido di Ostia (very close), which is the beach. I haven't been but others have said it's pleasant.

Thank you cruisemom42. I just want to take advantage of another day in Italy and we don't want to spend it in the hotel. They do have a shuttle that will take us back into Rome but I am sure there has to be so much more outside of Rome.

Well.....I'm not sure there's SO much more outside Rome, without going a fair distance. (Ostia being an exception.) Like all large cities, Rome is surrounded by a lot of residential suburbs that aren't that interesting. (At least, not to me....)

And Rome has so many things to do, I think one could spend years. There are still things I haven't done after many years.

At any rate, a bit farther from Rome, Tivoli (with Villa d'Este and Hadrian's villa) is a nice daytrip but may be more than you're looking for.

Ostia Antica in the afternoon followed by a nice passeggiata and dinner at the beach is probably all you'll have time for anyway, by the time you check out of your Rome hotel and travel to the airport, check in (or just drop off your luggage if it's too early to check in), and get to Ostia.

There's always "one more thing" to see in Rome, so maybe a quick visit somewhere in the morning (to avoid traveling toward the airport during rush hour) and leaving your Rome hotel around 11 AM would work.

Ostia Antica in the afternoon followed by a nice passeggiata and dinner at the beach is probably all you'll have time for anyway, by the time you check out of your Rome hotel and travel to the airport, check in (or just drop off your luggage if it's too early to check in), and get to Ostia.

 

There's always "one more thing" to see in Rome, so maybe a quick visit somewhere in the morning (to avoid traveling toward the airport during rush hour) and leaving your Rome hotel around 11 AM would work.

That sounds a bit like what we are looking for. A relaxed day at a beach to just take in and reflect on everything we saw and experienced in the previous 10 days. We have hired RomeCabs to take us from Port to the Hotel - we can store our luggage and head out for an afternoon in Ostia. Thank you for your thoughts and ideas.

Do not discount Fiumicino completely. The little river (fiumicino) runs through the town and there are some very good restaurants there. So, if you can manage it, Ostia Antica for sightseeing and/or beach, followed by lunch or dinner in Fiumicino would make for a nice day.

Do not discount Fiumicino completely. The little river (fiumicino) runs through the town and there are some very good restaurants there. So, if you can manage it, Ostia Antica for sightseeing and/or beach, followed by lunch or dinner in Fiumicino would make for a nice day.

Thank you - sounds like another possibility:)

We have planned similar. Our cruise finishes in Civitavecchia and our flight home is late afternoon. We have seen much of Rome so have hired a car from the port with a drop off at the airport and are going to Ostia, which looks amazing, followed by the beach. This is far cheaper than a cruise transfer or excursion and we can time it to suit ourselves, avoiding a long wait at the airport.

Ostia is amazing, I went on a school trip years ago, where we covered many of the major Roman sites across Italy.

Ostia and Paestum stood out for me and I enjoyed then as much as the obvious ones (colosseum, pantheon). Wow, we were lucky to have such an amazing Latin teacher who packed in so much into 10 days!

As much as I dislike Rick Steves, his podcast audio guide was good. Just ignore the flirty banter with his partner on it.

The first time we tried to go to Ostia Antica, we were staying at FCO airport Hilton and got in a taxi and said Ostia. Well, he dropped us right smack dab in the center of Ostia, the town. We wandered around until we found the train station and took a taxi back to the hotel (turns out it was closed that day, anyway).

Last year we finally made it. We were in Rome for 4 days prior to our cruise and took the train from Piramide station and got off at Ostia Antica station. It took less than 20 minutes and the train ride was pleasant. You have about a five minute walk to the entrance. We were there at least 5 hours and didn't see it all. Our feet were tired. When you walk back to the train station, there is a little bar on the right side before you get to the station. Stop and have a beer or a soft drink.

Here is the "How to get here" page from Ostia Antica's website:

http://www.ostiaantica.beniculturali.it/en/come-arrivare.php

I see from the Web site that the excavation site and museum are closed on Mondays - and as luck would have it, the day I can visit is a Monday (November 10). Does anyone know if there's anything to see at Ostia that doesn't involve admission to the official site? I'll have most of the day in Fiumicino (early flight the next morning) and would like to make some good use of my time.

Agree with Cruisemom. We have driven (in our own rental car) from the FCO Hilton to Ostia Antica and it only took us about 10 min. As to Fiumcinio, this is our "go to" place for dinner when we are stuck at an airport hotel and have a car. Fiumcino has a beach front area that has multiple restaurants across the street. And there is one particular restaurant that DW and I enjoy because of its excellent seafood. The town itself is not very special except for the one street along the sea which, besides the restaurants, has a fair number of motels/hotels similar to a small sea resort in the USA. We would never recommend going to Fiumcino as a tourist destination, but do recommend it for dinner :).

We should add that folks should not get confused by the fact that the airport is designated "FCO" and sometimes called Fiumcino. While this is technically correct, there is also a small city called Fiumcino which is a few miles from the airport (hence the airport name) but is not connected or within walking distance of that airport.

Hank

I guess I'd better forget about seeing much of Ostia Antica, since I'll be in the area on a Monday. A good fish dinner in Fiumicino sounds OK after all.