All About Rome Vacation
for Civitavecchia Cruisers

Planning to take a mini Rome vacation before or after your Mediterranean cruise? Or simply visiting Rome, Italy for a few hours from the cruise port of Civitavecchia? On this page you will find info that will help you plan your transport from the cruise ship, book your tickets and decide what to see and do in the limited time you have!

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You always get to meet some familiar faces in Rome! It feels like home :)

Are you planning a mini Rome vacation before or after your Mediterranean cruise? Or just hoping to learn how to plan your precious time in Rome, Italy during your 12 hour daytrip while your cruise ship docks in the port of Civitavecchia?

I've got everything you need to know right here on my website!

Before you continue reading any further, what I want drive into your head is how important it is to…organize your time in Rome well! To arrange and book everything you can ahead of your trip!

Why plan ahead? Regardless of how much time you have in this city, there will never be enough and you are setting yourself for frustration if you find yourself standing in just another two-hour long line, unnecessarily!

If you want to start some in-depth planning immediately, you can jump to one of the pages listed below, or keep reading for intro to:

a stress-free mini Rome vacation before or after your cruise
visiting Rome Italy in the middle of your cruise, for a few hours

ROME VACATION ARTICLES TABLE OF CONTENTS:

PORT OF CIVITAVECCHIA - All you need to know about the port of Civitavecchia if you'll be travelling into Rome independently
CIVITAVECCHIA ROME TRAIN - How to get to Civitavecchia Rome train station and which train to take into Rome.
GETTING FROM CIVITAVECCHIA PORT TO ROME ON A TOUR - let me help you pick the right Rome shore excursion for you
GETTING FROM FIUMICINO AIRPORT TO ROME - pick your favourite means of transportation and book your tickets right now!
WHAT TO DO IN ROME BEFORE OR AFTER YOUR CRUISE - Find out exactly what to do to make your stay in Rome smooth and easy
WHERE TO STAY IN ROME - what neighbourhoods are closest to all the attractions in Rome? Find the best hotels, B&B's and apartments in Rome Italy
ROME ITALY COLOSSEUM - getting to the Colosseum from Civitavecchia, taking tours or seeing it by yourself...know what to do!
STREET MAP OF ROME ITALY PORT OF CIVITAVECCHIA - On our Civitavecchia map we have marked the exit from the port area, the train station and other points of interest.
12 INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT ROME - Facts about Rome that will surprise you and make you sound like a real seasoned Rome traveller!
ROME FACTS AND FIGURES - From Rome population and time zone to currency and language.
WHERE IS ROME? - Rome has a perfect location - both to reach from the cruise ship as to explore the inland.

Security check to see the Pope at the Sunday Angelus in St Peter's square

Five tips for a stress-free mini Rome vacation before or after your cruise:

Lucky you! You get to experience all the major attractions of Rome, feel the spirit of this amazing city, taste pasta Carbonara, see the best museums in Rome, maybe even visit an archeological location a little outside Rome (we loved Ostia Antica)!

Jump to the page that tells you What to do in Rome before or after your cruise for a well structure guide to your mini Rome vacation, as well as detailed tips on getting to and from the airport or cruise port before or after your stay.

Or just get a quick overview here:

Tip #1 - Purchase your transfer tickets from or to Rome airport: I will tell you all about your transportation options in my article Getting from the Fiumicino Rome airport to Rome. No time to explore more pages? Jump right to the point here and explore your transfer options:

Tip #2 - Book a sightseeing tour ahead: don't be fooled you will see all of Rome in a few days all by yourself...and understand everything you're looking at.

I have a Masters degree in archaeology but I couldn't make sense of all those Rome's layers before a really good local guide explained it all.

If you are staying for a few days before or after your cruise, you will find everything you need on my page What to Do In Rome.

No patience to explore more pages to find what you need?

Here's some most loved and best selling walking tours starting in Rome:

Tip #3 - Purchase your tickets to all the famous Rome attractions online: if you want to spare yourself waiting for two and a half hours in line to get into the Colosseum or Vatican, book a skip the line tour...not just a skip the line ticket (you will still wait in the skip-the-line queue). Why?

Find out more in my article about What to do in Rome before or after your stay.

Hurry and book one right here, I hand-picked the most trustworthy bestsellers for the Colosseum and the Vatican Museum, the most visited attractions in Rome:

Mariani cafe, where time stopped in the times of Fellini's movies

Tip #4 - Even if you have to pay more, pick your accomodation close to Rome attractions . A few dozen dollars saved is not worth stressing over rush hours in the metro and kilometers of walking from one platform to the other. Find out what the most desireable neighbourhoods are in my article Where to stay in Rome.

Tip #5 - Do not try to squeeze too much into just a few days: leave some time for strolling the streets of Rome, having a gelatto and stopping by for a real espresso and a corneto con marmelata (a marmelade croissant).

During our last visit in 2019 I planned one major event/attraction in the morning and one in the afternoon. Still, walking from point A to B, standing in lines and having to eat something occasionally ate up all the rest of the time and wore us down.

How to get from Civitavecchia to Rome?

Civitavecchia to Rome by train

Tours and shore excursions to Rome

Fiumicino airport to Rome

Where to stay in Rome?

What to do in Rome?

Rome Italy street map

Visiting Rome Italy Colosseum

Rome Facts and Figures

12 Facts about Rome

Where is Rome?

If I remember well, this was a charming balcony in Piazza Navona

Rome Vacation Tips: visiting Rome Italy in the middle of your cruise, for a few hours:

Rome's old world charm

So how do you fit everything into a 12-hour 'mini Rome vacation'?

Cruise ships dock in the small seaside town of Civitavecchia Italy which is just over an hour away from the centre of Rome.

Your major concern will be...

1) getting from the port of Civitavecchia to the city of Rome

2) maximizing your stay here i.e. seeing as much as possible in this short time

Of course, there are always cruise line organised tours to cover both but today independent tour operators have perfected their tours to suit the needs of the cruise passengers...which gives you more choice and lesses the risk of coming to the ship only to hear your favourite tour has been 'sold out'!

My page Getting from Civitavecchia Port to Rome on a Tour saves you time trying to pick the best one among hundreds of them.

In short: if you are coming for a short visit from Civitavecchia, you DON'T have time to stand in skip-the-line lines!!! Only the professional tour guide can swish you in without the wait!