Good news. The Rome Metro is easy to use.

The bad news? For a tourist city of this size, the metro network is surprisingly sparse.

If you're expecting a network like London, Barcelona or Paris, you'll be a little surprised. Rome has only 3 lines and it bypasses rather than crosses the historic centre.

In fact, most tourists mainly use the metro for longer journeys unless they have a hotel in the centre.

Within the centre, walking works best for me.

Find hotels near Termini station

Is the metro in Rome worth it?

Short answer: yes, but less than one expects.

If you live near the centre, you can often manage most of the day without it.

For example, you can walk the entire length of a popular route without using public transport:

• Colosseum -> Forum Romanum -> Vittorio Emanuele II Memorial -> Capitol -> Piazza Navona -> Vatican City

The metro starts to make more sense especially in these directions:

• Termini -> Vatican City (but you have to walk about 15 minutes)
• Termini -> Colosseum/Forum Romanum
• Colosseum -> Piramide -> St. Paul's Basilica outside the walls -> EUR
• Spanish Steps ->Termini
• more distant hotels outside the centre

Metro lines in Rome

Rome has 3 lines.

Most tourists, however, so far only realistically use two of them.

Line A 🟧

The Orange Line of the Rome Metro runs from the south-eastern part of Rome from Anagnina station through the centre and along the Vatican to the western part of the city to the terminus at Battistini station.

Most important stations:

• Ottaviano - Vatican City and St. Peter's Basilica (about 15 to 20 minutes on foot)
• Flaminio - Piazza del Popolo
• Spagna - Spanish Steps and Via Condotti
• Barberini - Fontana di Trevi (approx. 15 minutes on foot)
• Termini - main railway station for long-distance trains + trains to Fiumicino airport + express buses to both Fiumicino and Ciampino airports

Line B 🟦

The other route that is very usable for tourists is the blue line B.

It runs from the south of the city from Laurentina station through the centre to the north, where it splits into line B1 to the final station Jonio and line B2 with the final station Rebibbia.

Most important stations:

• Tiburtina - main station for long-distance buses
• Termini - main station for long-distance trains + trains to Fiumicino airport + express buses to both Fiumicino and Ciampino airports
• Colosseo - Colosseum, Forum Romanum, Trajan's Market
• Circo Massimo - Caracalla Baths, Circus Maximus
• Piramide - Cestiova Pyramida, Ostiense station, Porta San Paolo station where Roma-Lido trains run to the sea to Ostia, Aventine keyhole (about 20 minutes walk)
• Basilica San Paolo - Basilica of St. Paul outside the walls
• EUR Magliana, EUR Palasport, EUR Fermi - EUR district

Line C 🟩

The green line C serves as a connection to lines A and B from the south-eastern and eastern suburbs of Rome.

From a tourist point of view, line C is not useful in any way.

However, an extension from Colosseo station under the historic centre towards the Vatican is currently under construction.

Metro map

To find your way around the metro, all you need to remember is Termini station, which is in the centre of Rome.

You'll find a metro plan and map at each station.

The official map of the metro and the city's railways can be found on the ATAC website at atac.roma.it/en/utility/maps. The metro map can be found under the title Urban metro-rail map.

How to buy a metro ticket

There are several options:

• vending machines in stations
• Tabacchi newsagents
• TicketAppy mobile app
• contactless payment card directly at the turnstile

The last option is usually the easiest.

You attach the card. You pass. You're done. You don't have to deal with paper tickets or what kind of fare you buy.

With contactless payment, daily limits work, so you won't take more money off in a calendar day than you would for a 24-hour ticket, you won't pay more in 2 days than you would for a 48-hour ticket, etc.

Ticket prices

Most common options:

Ticket	Price	For whom
100 minutes	1,50 eur	a couple of rides
24 hours	8,50 eur	More than 5 rides per day (unrealistic)
48 hours	15 eur	more than 10 rides in 2 days (unrealistic)
72 hours	22 eur	more than 14 rides in 3 days (may make sense)
7 days	29 eur	more than 3 rides per day (may make sense)

Tickets also work for:

• Trams
• buses
• regional trains within Rome
• 👉 In detail: Transport in Rome

For more available ticket options for long-term travel, visit the transport company's website atac.roma.it/en/tickets-and-passes.

Children under 10 travel free when accompanied by a paying adult.

How turnstiles work

The station is accessed via turnstiles. Simply insert your contactless card into the reader or insert a paper ticket into the turnstile and you're done.

There are also turnstiles at the exit of stations, but you just need to go through them without using a ticket.

One small detail and a surprisingly common question.

• A single paper ticket: the turnstile will keep it.
• Multi-day paper ticket: the turnstile will give it back to you. Don't forget to take it.

How often does the metro run?

The metro runs approximately:

• Every 2-5 minutes at peak times
• around 5-8 minutes off-peak and at the weekend

Operation:

• Approximately 5:30-11:30 p.m.
• Friday and Saturday until about 1:30 a.m.

None of the Rome metro lines run 24/7.

How safe is the metro in Rome?

The metro trains are relatively modern and quite clean.

Rome's metro is generally safe, but there is an increased risk of petty pickpocketing.

Personally, I always keep my backpack where I can see it on the metro.

The worst part is around Termini station to the east, where there are a lot of homeless people, but otherwise I didn't feel particularly uncomfortable on the metro.

Toilets at stations

A very handy thing is that you can find public toilets at every metro station in Rome.

Less practical is that you can't pay for them except with coins.

You have to pay to use the toilets everywhere 0,50 eur.

In addition, you will often find vending machines with drinks and sweets, small newsagents and snack bars, or even photo ID stands at stations.

My experience

Before my first visit, I expected to use the metro significantly more.

I even bought a 48-hour ticket and ended up only taking the metro (not just the metro, but the metro + buses in total) 3 times.

I only used the metro itself 3 times:

• on the way to the modern district EUR
• going from EUR to St. Paul's Basilica outside the walls
• and then returning to the centre

On one of my visits I used the metro on the way from my hotel out of the centre, but I wouldn't make that mistake again. For me, staying out of the centre doesn't make sense - I didn't save much money and spent over an hour a day commuting.

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