Things to do near Ravenna cruise terminal

Hi guys

Me and my husband haven't booked a trip for our Ravenna stop on our cruise and we would rather have a day just us two relaxing. I was thinking it would be nice to go to a beach town, where we could sit on the beach or browse around shops or sit outside a bar for a drink. We are in Ravenna for 12 hours 7-7 but I am worried about missing the boat so don't want to travel too far away. Can anyone recommend somewhere for us to visit for the day and how to get there? We don't mind paying for taxis if they aren't too expensive.

We are visiting Ravenna for the first time next fall, and I am SO excited. Ravenna has the best collection of Byzantine mosaics in Europe.

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/read/articles/ravenna-italys-byzantium

Most of the sites are within walking distance to one another, I plan on taking a taxi from the cruiseport, if my ship does not have a shuttle into town (which I believe it will). There is a nive map showing how close to one another they are on this site: https://delightfullyitaly.com/2013/09/25/ravenna-mosaics/

I ran across the following two art history videos about two of the mosaic sites that I think are just SO well done and informative. If you are planning to visit them, I thought you all might enjoy as well. Kind of scholarly, but they do a great job of explaining what you are looking at, as well as imparting their passion for the subject.

You should really take a trip into Ravenna, and Basilica of San Vitale. Well worth visiting.

If I dont remember incorrect, it is a 20-30 min taxi ride from the cruise harbour to the center of Ravenna.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Basilica_of_San_Vitale

While there are some beaches relatively nearby, Ravenna isn't the port I'd pick for a beach day. Go to see the beautiful mosaics -- nothing like them anywhere else.

Although I appreciate that the mosaics are beautiful and everyone loves them, unfortunately they are really not my cup of tea. As me and my husband have never been on holiday together without our three young children we were really hoping to spend time together relaxing rather than trudging round sight seeing. We would rather sit in a cafe or a bar watching the world go by or on a beach so we can spend time talking and enjoying each other's company. We are just not sure where is the best place for this near ravenna.

Then just catch the shuttle into Ravenna, and spend time in cafes watching the world go by! With a bit of luck, there will be ports later in your cruise when you can do the beach thing. Ravenna isn't that kind of place, nor is there much close. Or stay on board and be pampered!

Stuart

We just went to the beach which you can see from the ship. We hired loungers and had a nice relaxing day. We had our teenage son with us and he enjoyed the day off from sightseeing

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Although I appreciate that the mosaics are beautiful and everyone loves them, unfortunately they are really not my cup of tea.

I sometimes think that people on these boards need to realise that not everyone wants to be fully immersed in the 'culture' of a place and perhaps want to just chill out in a nice atmosphere watching the world go by. I have done the mosaics in Ravenna - they are stunning and I wouldn't have missed it for the world, but they are not everyone's idea of a fantastic day out. I did them with one son whilst my husband and other son didn't - just not interested in that type of thing. Therefore I would do just want barneyboy below suggests ..........

We just went to the beach which you can see from the ship. We hired loungers and had a nice relaxing day. We had our teenage son with us and he enjoyed the day off from sightseeing

 

...... the second time we went to Ravenna we did just this. We walked from the ship to the beach which you can see right from where you dock. It's less than 10 minutes walk away. It's a wide sandy beach with shallow water into the sea and backed by beach clubs all the way along. We just chose to go to the nearest one but you could walk a little farther if you wanted. There are loungers, shades, restaurants and facilities at all the beach clubs - sounds like a perfect relaxing day ;)

This particular beach is a very popular place where Italian families own their summer beach properties which should be a recommendation in itself.

The coastline going north from the cruise port is called Marina Romea and it is lined with beach clubs, most of which also have some kind of restaurant or bar.

Here are a couple of the web sites so you can get a sense of the area:

http://www.bagnomoderno22.it/

http://www.bagnoluisa.com/