Rome Fiumicino airport

[Turning 40]

I have a Volare flight to Paris that leaves Rome Fiumicino at 8:30am in the middle of July. How long before the flight departs should I get to the airport? Is it hard to find the proper gate? Also, my accomodations in Rome is in Vatican City. I think I will have to get to Termini Station for a subway to the airport. The subway says they have direct routes to the airport that take 35 min. and begin at 5:52 am. Should I believe them? When should I leave for the airport? If it matters, I am traveling with a 10 year old and a 12 year old. I am hoping they travel well.

[Canadian Dude]

Well I always arrive 3 hours before an international flight...you never know how long secuirty and check in are going to take...and you will have a language barrier to deal with aswell...so take that into account

[worldwidemike]

If I remember right, the train to the airport takes about 45 minutes. Plus, the rail system is screwed up from time to time, and I almost missed the train because of a last minute change they made on stops. I had to take the subway to a different station at the last second. The earlier, the better, as a rule. I'd go with planning on being there 3 hours early like CD says. That way, if you run into a problem that sets you behind schedule, you'll still be at least a couple hours early.

worldwidemike

[zylah]

so basically u guys are saying they need to get to the airport at 5:30, which is 20 minutes before the train starts running.
turning it looks like then need a faster than light train (in which case catch that instead of a slow plane)
or u may need to get to the airport another way, say taxi, or book into a a hotel near the airpot the night before.

I suggest u talk to the airline and ask them how early you need to be at the airport. Also see if you can get a map of the airport before hand. All i found was
http://www.cheaptickets.com/trs/cheapticke...map_results.xsl (im afraid its not very good)
or you could try http://www.adr.it its the rome airport website, you may want to run it through babel if your italian is a bit poor.
goodluck