Compare Rome flights

The Eternal City attracts a steady stream of Italophiles, classicists, curious city breakers and even pilgrims – and as a result, there is are plenty of flights from the UK, bound for Fiumicino Airport or the smaller Ciampino.

Situated on Italy’s central eastern coast, sandwiched between the Tyrrhenian Sea and the hills of the Lazio region, Rome is the kind of city that rewards repeat trips: after you’ve explored iconic attractions such as the Colosseum and the Vatican, you’ll discover a mosaic of contrasting neighbourhoods, from fashionable Monti to villagey Trastevere.

With so many airlines offering flights to Rome, there's plenty of scope to shop around for cheap deals. There are plenty of low-cost carriers to choose from too, including Vueling, easyJet and Ryanair. They usually fly into Ciampino, which has slightly worse transport links but is still a perfectly workable gateway to the city.

Along with the usual tips for saving money, such as dodging extra fees and only taking hand luggage (perfectly possible for a journey to Rome), it’s worth travelling out of season. While Rome can be expensive all year round to visit, prices can drop from January to March. Temperatures drop too, of course, but some of the city’s best attractions are indoors anyway.

A direct flight from London to Rome should only take about two hours and 30 minutes. And if you’re flying from elsewhere in the UK, it won’t take too much longer. Most flights leaving from the UK will head to Fiumicino, the busier of Rome’s two airports, although Ryanair flies to the smaller and simpler Ciampino.

Your flight to Rome is most likely to land at Fiumicino Airport, also known as Leonardo da Vinci Airport. It’s a little further out than its counterpart to the south of the city, Ciampino Airport, but it serves more destinations and airlines.

Fiumicino has trains that run directly from the airport to the city centre, while Ciampino's local station is a short bus ride away. The cheapest option at either airport is to take one of the buses.

Rome is a city of history and art, and some of the best is in the Centro Storico, or historic centre. Here you can spend your days hopping between iconic sights such as the Colosseum, the Roman Forum and the Trevi Fountain, grabbing perfect slices of pizza on the go. The evenings, meanwhile, promise long meals in spacious piazzas, surrounded by glorious baroque buildings.

Head a little way out of the city, perhaps in a hire car, to see some of the lesser-known corners of the wider Rome area. Castelli Romani Regional Park, a hilly, villa-strewn region to the southeast, is worth a day trip, if not a whole long weekend. Alternatively, head toward the coast to find Ostia Antica, Rome’s ancient port city.