Micro-planning our pre- and post-cruise (Orvieto, Tivoli, et al)

We're now within three months, so it's time to start figuring out the fine details...

Here is the framework: We are on back-to-back cruises out of Civitavecchia June 25-July 9...We are flying in, arriving the evening of June 21, departing morning of July 13. Our hotels are set.

Pre-cruise: Since we are arriving early evening, we booked the Hilton Garden Inn at the airport. IIRC, there is a shuttle we have to find from the terminal to the hotel, though it is almost walkable. Assuming we may be hungry, I believe the hotel has a restaurant, but is anything else within walking distance?

The following morning, we need to get from there to Orvieto. Staying at the B&B Valentina--near the Palazzo del Popolo. Assuming best way to get there is by train, getting a shuttle back to the terminal and hopping a train there for Orvieto, via a change at either Termini or Tiburtina. My understanding is that, on these local trains, there is no price advantage to pre-booking, so, since we may not be able to judge our time all that well, best to just buy a ticket when we get to the station, correct? When we get to the station in Orvieto, it is at the bottom of the hill. Either we must find a taxi to take us to the hotel...or...we can take the funicular up to the top of town, but, from there it's about a kilometer walk to the hotel (anyone know if this is flat or hilly?)

We will be staying two nights in Orvieto. Can anyone who has visited Orvieto let us know any "must sees" or good restaurant choices?

When we leave Orvieto, we are headed to Civitavecchia where we will be spending the night before embarkation at the Hotel Traghetto--very near the pier. But, what is the best way to go from Orvieto to Civitavecchia? My understanding is that, if by train, we need to go back through central Rome. If by car, one would, more likely drive across via Viterbo and Tarquinia--looks like a more direct and maybe more scenic route...and allow us to stop and visit Tarquinia. Does anyone know a reasonably priced and dependable car service that would drive us from Orvieto to Tarquinia allowing for a stop en route in Tarquinia? Or, better to just grab a train into Civitavecchia, deposit our luggage at the hotel and then just bus back and forth to Tarquinia?

Post-cruise:

When we dismebark, we need to head to Tivoli for two nights at the Catillo. I understand that getting from Civitavecchia to Tivoli by train is difficult and we may need to take a train to Termini and a taxi from there, correct? Is the same true for the return to Fiumicino? Any good places to eat in Tivoli?

After two nights in Tivoli, we spend our last two nights back at the Hilton Garden Inn at the airport. Yes, I know, far less than ideal, but here is what happened: We booked the flights and we were flying out on July 12 early...So, we booked the hotel on a nonrefundable pre-paid rate. Then the airline canceled our flight and the only reasonable new flight had us leaving the NEXT morning instead. Hilton would not let us just change the date...So we had to just book a second night, leaving the first one intact. So, we will have that day in between at Fiumicino...What to do? Anything to go see in the area of Fiumicino for that one day? Or we take the train into Rome and back and kick around there for the day (Note that, for us, visiting Rome isn't all that crucial...We have been many times and have spent lots of time there...which is why we planned on Orvieto and Tivoli instead)...

Anyway, that's the general plan...If anyone can give me any specific recommendation in the cities we are visiting...or, especially, any recommendations as to transportation options between the cities we are visiting...I will be very grateful.

Thanks..

I don't think I'd walk to the hotel with luggage, it's two and a half miles. If you could fly in a straight line from the terminal it would be great, but as it is it's an indirect walk around.

I doubt you'll find much to eat within walking distance, it's mostly long term parking lots out there.

I don't think I'd walk to the hotel with luggage, it's two and a half miles. If you could fly in a straight line from the terminal it would be great, but as it is it's an indirect walk around.

 

I doubt you'll find much to eat within walking distance, it's mostly long term parking lots out there.

I was sort of half-joking about that "almost walkable"...Of course, we're taking the shuttle!

For Orvieto you're right, there's no benefit to purchasing tickets in advance. Be careful to avoid the IC trains between Rome and Orvieto, they cost twice as much but travel at the same speed as the regional trains.

Given that you'll have luggage I'd aim for a mid day transfer to avoid commuters.

By public transit from Orvieto to Civitavecchia you really do have to go back through Rome, a huge time waster.

If you have it in the budget to use a car service, or rent a car, you'll save yourself a lot of time and aggravation.

The difficulty with getting to Tivoli from Civitavecchia is that there are so few trains from Termini to Tivoli, most leave from Tiburtina which means two changes. If you can work out the timing to catch one of the Termini to Tivoli trains (8:57 AM or 1:10 PM, nothing in between) it's not too bad.

 

I doubt you'll find much to eat within walking distance, it's mostly long term parking lots out there.

Agreed, I've stayed there and don't recall anything. The restaurant in the hotel isn't great but it's not too terrible. You could avoid it on one of the days if you decide to do something like go to Ostia Antica (which is close to FCO) or even just to Ostia, a beach town. There are some not too bad restaurants in Ostia -- I know Hank likes to eat there; perhaps he'll check in with a recommendation.

For that pre-cruise, it might even make some sense to rent a car for part of it...But, even though I've rented cars in Italy several times in the past, I was trying to avoid it this time...

A taxi from Orvieto to Civitavecchia appears to cost €173...at least, that's what I've been able to find on the internet. Renting a car for the one day in Orvieto (Hertz across from the train station, smallest car, manual transmission) would be about €70 if booked now (plus gas). The rental car would allow us to visit Tarquinia on the way, maybe another stop or two. But, I'm a little wary of driving a stick, I haven't driven one here at home in over 30 years. And, of course, however inefficient, the train should only cost about €30-€45.

Anyone think it would be okay to just wait until we're in Orvieto, then decide? Like should the car rental folks have cars available (at the same price)...or might we find local taxis at lower prices? If we find a taxi there, is there a fixed price or a negotiated price...or does it go by a meter?

We stayed in Catillo in Tivoli last year. We had a hire car and drove from the airport but I suggest you email Catillo and ask them how they recommend you get there. It is a bit tricky to find but they were very helpful and came to meet us and help us with our bags. They spoke good English. There are great places to eat in Tivoli. It was my birthday so we went to Sibilla. I also remember Taverna Quintilla, We also just went to some nice places near the square for lunch. Loved staying in Tivoli as I am really over the crowds in Rome.

We have found it very useful to just ask at the hotels for restaurant recommendations in Italy. We have rarely been given poor advice. The exception would have to be Civitavecchia where they have too much of a captive audience.

Anyone think it would be okay to just wait until we're in Orvieto, then decide? Like should the car rental folks have cars available (at the same price)...or might we find local taxis at lower prices? If we find a taxi there, is there a fixed price or a negotiated price...or does it go by a meter?

Our current favourite restaurant in Tivoli is Viva l'Oste, on Via Santa Sinferusa. The menu was handwritten, and the owner came out and explained it all to us, in random order, in rapid-fire Italian. Everything we had was delicious, I think it would be hard to go wrong. My Husband loved his ravioli carbonara, a combination we haven't seen anywhere else so far.

Getting to Tivoli, via public transit, from Civitavecchia is a royal pain and very time consuming. Also keep in mind that Hadrian's Villa is outside of Tivoli (even a further walk then the Hilton Garden Inn :) ). When we went to Tivoli (where we stayed two nights) we found it most convenient to have a rental car. And we never found any restaurant in Tivoli (in the town) that we could personally recommend.

By the way, driving to Tivoli from Civitavecchia or the FCO area is pretty easy since you simply use the high speed ring road to go around the Rome area. As to what to do when you return to the HIlton, you might want to visit Ostia Antica, which is relatively close to Fiumcino. And if you rented a car, and held onto it that last evening..you could drive into the city of Fiumcino to enjoy dinner at one of the decent restaurants located across the street from the sea wall/beach. Our own favorite restaurant is called Amelindo which is a large seafood place frequented by locals. In fact, our waiter (during our last visit) truly did not speak more then 2 or 3 English words. The reality is that the immediate airport area does not offer any decent restaurant options (at least not that we have found) but the city of nearby Fiumcino is a seaside resort town (used primarily by Italians) which has many fine restaurants in all price categories.

Hank

We took our car the last time we visited Tivoli, and stayed at a b&b in the town. If you have a car, check to be sure there is parking at your hotel/b&b, because parking on the street was a challenge to DH's Italian parking skills, which he likes to think are pretty good. Even if the space is decently large when you pull into it, when you come back the next morning, you will have about an inch, front and back, for manoeuvring room.

And in addition to Viva l'Oste, we also ate at Sibilla, which had very good food, and superb wine, but was very expensive. It is fun to look at all the photos of various stars and dignitaries who have eaten there over the decades.

The drive from Rome to Orvieto was easy (all autostrada) and beautiful. I did it my myself - it was a drive from Rome to Florence via Orvieto and Panzano in Chianti. My car at home is a stick, so I don't mind a stick. Yep, it is a uphill walk at Orvieto, and some cobbles. There is a large car park by the top of the funicular, so I parked there and walk up the Centro Storico. The cathedral there has a beautiful exterior; I took hundreds of close-up photos of the different textures and colors. My main reason for going to Orvieto was the ceramics - it is one of the important centers for ceramics. I could easily spent several thousands of dollars on so much that I wanted (but I limited myself to only 100EU).

I only had a lunch there - it was a a deli that has wonderful porchetta sandwiches. Il Negozietto was the name. Has a boar's head mounted at the entrance. 16 Via dei Magoni.

With what you are planning, I would rent a car and not have to deal with all the train changes. The one plus to the train is that you aren't driving so you get to see all the scenery (albeit at fast speed).

The drive from Rome to Orvieto was easy (all autostrada) and beautiful.

We actually drove that segment (Orvieto to Rome) last time we visited...We actually went from Civitavecchia to Florence (via Siena) and, on the return to Rome, we cut off the Autostrada to visit Pitigliano (An incredible city, click on attachments below), then rejoined the Autostrada at Orvieto. This time, if we rent a car, we would miss that section of Autostrada entirely as the idea would be to cut across the peninsula via Viterbo and Tarquinia--a more direct route to Civitavechia.

I guess the ideal, for me, would be to hire a driver to take us that same route--with a stop for an hour or two in Tarquinia...but my fear is that including the stop would make that option quite expensive. Without the stop, it's €173. That's €75-100 more than the rental car would cost (not figuring in the gas), but also has some advantages at each end: The rental car in Orvieto would have to be picked up near the train station and it would have to be dropped off about a mile from our hotel in Civitavecchia--so there are some added taxi costs at each end...or major hikes.