Rome (Termini Area)

Walter Sobchak III

My wife and I are going to Rome in April 2013. We have booked a hotel which is ten minutes walk from Termini Station. Reviews about the hotel were very positive. My wife having read a guide book on the city has become a bit spooked about the area in which we are staying. The guide book suggested that the area after dark is unsafe and is awash with vagrants, drunks and undesirable characters. Just looking for advice.

Tom_Cruise

I stayed in a hotel 10 minutes walk from termini when i visited Rome.

The area we stayed in did change at night, my GF said she wouldn't of felt safe to walk around on her own, although we didn't have particular reason to do so. It just felt very badly lit up and there was a few people of all ages drinking.

I don't think its to bad a place at all so i don't mean to alarm you! We got lost at night a few times and had to walk around for quite some time to find the hotel, and the locals were always willing to help us make sense of the map.

Like anywhere just be careful and watch out for the pickpockets! It seems to be a big problem over there and we did come across a few tourists that were unlucky enough to succumb to these thieves!

Enjoy Rome, its a great place/.

Pappacharlie

I was in Rome and stayed in a lovely Hotel about 5 min walk from Termini. There are quite a lot of dodgy characters in that area. Be very aware of pick-pockets in the Termini station itself. Particularly at the ticket vending machines they will be around you like flies. They will be offering assistance but be very careful.

Lapin

Walter Sobchak III wrote: »

The guide book suggested that the area after dark is unsafe and is awash with vagrants, drunks and undesirable characters.

The guide book could be describing any city in Europe there.

Major railway stations and their immediate surroundings in all European cities attract their share of undesirables and Rome is no different. A little common sense is all that is required in most cases to have a safe trip. Don't make it easy for pickpockets and keep to well lit areas at night.

Rome is one of the safest cities in Europe and the area around Termini is well policed 24 hours a day.

I have stayed in hotels in Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II and near the British Embassy in the other direction (both about a 10 minute walk from Termini), and never witnessed any hassle.

Don't worry about the guide book. You're unlikely to encounter anyone dodgy apart from the odd beggar. Enjoy your trip.

sarkozy

The area around Termini seems seedy, alright, but also enough tourists stay there that the area is bound to be safe. It's similar to many places in other European cities; I always felt the area around Amsterdam central station was bad (but it's been cleaned up a bit); Barcelona can be dodge; I've heard things about areas in other Spanish cities; the same thing can be said of certain areas of Dublin.

So just exercise common sense.

Alternatively, if you want to stay somewhere else that's more Roman and definitely not seedy and still affortable, look into the Trastevere neighbourhood. Great part of town.

ollaetta

In common with the other posters I wouldn't let those reports bother me. Stayed 10 mins from Termini myself and had no problems day or night. Use the same level of common sense you would anywhere else and you'll be A1.