Rome in a day – Done my way (and at a fraction of the cost!)

Civitavecchia is a major port in the Mediterranean and is included in many cruise itineraries.  Most passengers us it as a gateway to visit the beautiful city of Rome which is truly worth the journey if you haven’t already been.  It does however take about 1 hour and a half in a car or coach and excursions with the cruise-line can be quite pricey.  Having seen this before travelling I decided to do some research into public transport and a route to seeing the main attractions.  Bearing in mind I only had a day there and hadn’t been before I really wanted to make the most of my day in the city.  My day panned out as follows:

We docked up in Civitavecchia and after a big breakfast to give us plenty of energy for the day ahead we walked to the train station which took about 20 minutes.  The train journey took about 50 minutes and cost only about 5 Euros each way and then we were in the heart of the city at Termini Station in Rome. We walked for 20 minutes to the Colosseum which was truly breath-taking and after a look around and some pictures taken with a Roman gladiator we walked for about another 10 minutes towards the Trevi fountain.  This is a bustling area and after visiting the fountain and throwing our coins in we found a restaurant to sample some Italian Pizza in nearby.  We found we got a free bottle of wine if willing to sit outside in order to make the restaurant look busier and lure other tourists in.  I was very happy with this as it was a beautiful sunny day!

After lunch, we walked the short distance to the Spanish steps.  We then took a metro over to the Vatican to visit St Paul’s Square and St Peter’s Basilica which are about a 5 minute’s walk from the metro station.   We enjoyed having a good look around the walls, museums and Basilica before heading back to the metro to travel back to Termini station for our train back to Civitavecchia.

When you have paid so much for a cruise already we can’t always afford to book an excursion in every port so it is well worth doing your research before you go to save money which can be spent on-board or on your next cruise!

Have a look at this link for all our best tips for when in port:

The Definitive Guide To Cruising Destinations