What are you looking at? A better-looking experience, for starters.

Soft Landing

Is arriving at Fiumicino the most civilized—and dazzling—experience to be had in Rome these days? One fed-up local makes his case

By Mattia Ferraresi

When visitors to Rome land at Fiumicino, the city’s main airport, they may interpret its efficiency and general pleasantness as a taste of what’s to come during their vacation. That would be a mistake.

The newly renovated Leonardo da Vinci airport, called Fiumicino (FCO) for the cozy coastal town it inhabits, has everything Rome lacks—civility, cleanliness, cutting-edge technology, and a functioning sewage system.