How do I get around Rome?

Your feet and Metro Lines A and B will handle about 90% of a first visit. Rome's centro storico is small — Piazza Navona to the Pantheon is a seven-minute walk, and the Pantheon to the Trevi Fountain is another eight — but the sampietrini cobblestones will wreck anything less than a proper walking shoe. Those uneven basalt cubes look handsome in the afternoon light, but by day two your ankles know every single one of them. The Metro has just two lines you'll care about: A runs from Ottaviano near the Vatican through Spagna and Barberini to Termini; B runs from Termini down to Colosseo and onward to EUR. They cross at Termini, and that's the only transfer point. The whole system shuts at 23:30 on weeknights, 1:30 on Fridays and Saturdays. A BIT ticket from any tabacchi or station machine costs €1.50 and gives you 100 minutes of unlimited bus and tram rides plus one metro entry. Contactless bank cards now tap on at the gates too — same €1.50 per ride, no Italian transit card needed.

Buses fill the gap where the Metro doesn't reach, but manage your expectations. The 40 and 64 express lines from Termini to the Vatican run often and are the fastest way across the city on the surface. They're also where pickpockets work — keep your bag zipped and in front of you, hand on it, no exceptions. Beyond those two routes, the ATAC bus network is broad on the map and unreliable on the street; the electronic arrival boards at stops tend to show times that have no relationship to reality. Tram line 8 from Largo di Torre Argentina to Trastevere is more dependable than any bus on that corridor, and it drops you right where the smell of wood-fired pizza from the takeaway windows along Viale di Trastevere starts hitting the warm evening air. Mind you, the tram gets packed after 18:00 — standing room only, bodies pressed together, the metallic screech of brakes at every stop.

Licensed taxis are white, metered, and more straightforward than their reputation suggests. Flagfall is €3 on weekdays, €6.50 on Sundays, €7.50 after 22:00. A ride from Termini to Trastevere runs roughly €10-12. The fixed fare from Fiumicino airport to anywhere inside the Aurelian Walls is €50 — set by the city, non-negotiable, posted inside the taxi. From Ciampino it's €31. Uber operates here but only as Uber Black at about double the taxi fare, so it's not the answer. Download Free Now or itTaxi before you land; both summon the same licensed white taxis but give you a fare estimate, digital payment, and a paper trail. This matters at Termini and Fiumicino, where unlicensed drivers approach you in the arrivals hall with laminated signs and firm handshakes. Walk past them. The official taxi stand is always outside, always marked, always has a queue.

The day-pass math is simple. A 24-hour ATAC pass costs €7 and covers metro, bus, and tram. The 72-hour version is €18. If you're based in the centro storico and walking to most sights, you might only ride four or five times a day — at €1.50 each, individual tickets stay cheaper than the pass until you cross that threshold. The Roma Pass bundles transport with museum access: €32 for 48 hours with one free entry, €52 for 72 hours with two. It's worth the money if your plan includes the Colosseum (€18 alone) and the Borghese Gallery (€15 with mandatory reservation). Not worth it if you're spending your days in churches and piazzas, which cost nothing. That said, the real value of the Roma Pass at the Colosseum is the separate security line — on a hot morning when the standard queue stretches past the Arch of Constantine and you can feel the sun on the back of your neck at 09:30, skipping 45 minutes on scorching pavement changes your whole day.