civitavecchia to rome

Me & my 2 kids 15 & 12 port in Civitavecchia and plan visit Rome this March for a day. We disembark at 8 am and depart at 7 pm. Planning on taking the intercity 1501 train at 09:24 from civitavecchia landing at roma ostiense station at 10:18 and returning on the intercity 1518 train from roma termini station at 15:57 back to civitavecchia at 16:45.

Does anyone have experience on these particular train and how long of a walk form the ship to the train station?

Would like to show my kids as much as possible but do not want to be frantic.

I was thinking of visiting the Colosseum and possibly the Vatican any thoughts?

Hello!

I see that you are in the same situation as my family. We will be arriving with our 13 and 15 year olds to Civitavecchia via ship and plan to spend the day in Rome. Although I have never been to Rome, I figured that I'd reply and share this map that I found while looking to plan our day. Check this out:

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8986241,12.461387,14z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!6m1!1s1NMDsSlMJ5h7XnpPvJ6SuCXdpiME?hl=en

We are working to modify it to suit our taste.

Good luck and hopefully someone might come along with additional thoughts.

Ciao!

This is the challenge.

You want to show them as much as possible but your time is limited.

I would think very hard about some type of tour that allows you to see a few sites outside the vehicle and also provides an overview of Rome and views from the vehicle.

If you had two or more days there that would be a different story.

JMHO.

Keith

Let me add to my earlier post that I think a visit of the colosseum is a good choice. I would not try to do that and the Vatican

so that is good.

Walking around the Ancient City would be good too.

Again think about a tour.

The time goes by quickly and you need time for lunch and a break or two.

Keith

We were there 2 years ago and used the Roma Pass which we purchased at a store as we walked from the port to the rail station. It gave us the train to and from Rome and then the buses and metro in Rome. It was very handy. We got off the train at a station that also had a Metro station and starting our touring from there. Coming back to the port we caught a train at the main train station. It was a long walk in the train station to the port train platform so plan accordingly.

Four years ago we did this trip, hope the report may help you!

This is an extremely easy and cheap way to see Rome on your own. The 3 main points that make this day relaxing and enjoyable are:

An early start – be in front of the cruise ship trips

Planning before you go so that you are not dithering what do when you get to Rome

Leave plenty of time for the train back to Civitavecchia as Termini is a very large station

We left the ship at 7.15 am and the shuttle bus was waiting at the bottom of the gang plank to take us the 5 minute journey out of the docks. The bus dropped us off and we walked to the right, around the corner to a kiosk where we purchased tickets to Rome. Tickets were 12 euros each for return journey or 16 euros for the non-stop faster train, however faster train was booked up. They will give you a timetable with your ticket. We took the 08.02 train and arrived at 8.55 am at Rome St. Pietro station. We got off there and walked round the corner to the Vatican. As it was early, there was only a small queue which was moving quickly. 10 minute wait and we were in St Peter’s Basilica (free of charge). Came out of Basilica and decided not to go to Sistine Chapel as you have to go through the Museum and it is a long walk. With limited time, we preferred to try to see Coliseum instead.

Walked towards Castel St Angelo and across the Pont St Angelo. We then took a left turn and walked by the riverbank to the next bridge and turned right, across the road, and we saw a sign for Piazza Navona. Followed sign into Piazza. This is a large open space with 3 fountains and lots of artists painting and plenty of cafes.

Took route out by the middle fountain and followed signs to Pantheon. Again another square with plenty of cafes. Was able to sit in Pantheon to rest our legs!

Then followed route to Trevi Fountain. Very busy square. By this time we were hungry and stopped for lunch in a cafe just off the square. Paninis 4 euros which we thought reasonable.

Moved out of square and toward the Coliseum. We came out at a large crossroad with the Coliseum straight in front. However, the forum is just across the road and it is best to purchase tickets from the Forum for both sites as there was only a 5 minute queue at the Forum, whereas we waited 25 minutes for tickets at the Coliseum. Walked around both.

We had seen all we wanted to see by 3pm so had an ice cream and headed for the underground station opposite the Coliseum as we wanted to take the 16.12 train from Termini back to Civitavecchia to get us back to ship by 17.30. The underground was very easy and we only waited a couple of minutes for a train – 2 stops to Termini Station.

At Termini we had to go up stairs to the main station. This is a very large station and you have to watch the notice boards to see which platform you require. Civitavecchia train was platform 28 and we could only see platforms 1-24. Saw a sign for 25-29 and followed but had to walk a good distance to these 4 platforms. We arrived just in time for the 15.45 train which arrived at Civitavecchia at 17.00. Leave plenty of time as this is a very large station and easy to miss signs.

We walked back from the station along the sea front which was very pleasant with cafes and ice cream places, to the shuttle bus back to the ship.

We had a fabulous and cheap day out. We did not stroll along as we wanted to fit so much in but kept walking and did all we wanted.

When we compared notes with people who had done the ships trips, they had spent a lot of time waiting for people who turned up late at rendezvous and didn’t see as much as we had.

The trains are clean and comfortable with upstairs if you want a good view. They appear to run on time. However, beware that they sometimes change the platform at the last minute e.g. when leaving Civitvecchia we were told platform 1 but as the train approached we were told platform 3 – just follow everyone else!

Would really recommend this but you will need to keep an eye on the time – don’t miss the train back. Also worth buying a pop-up map of Rome – we got one from ebay for 99p and marked where we wanted to go beforehand!

Keep the phone number of the ship with you in case of an emergency.

hello!

 

I see that you are in the same situation as my family. We will be arriving with our 13 and 15 year olds to civitavecchia via ship and plan to spend the day in rome. Although i have never been to rome, i figured that i'd reply and share this map that i found while looking to plan our day. Check this out:

https://www.google.com/maps/@41.8986241,12.461387,14z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!6m1!1s1nmdsslmj5h7xnppvj6sucxdpime?hl=en

 

we are working to modify it to suit our taste.

 

Good luck and hopefully someone might come along with additional thoughts.

 

Ciao!

thank you for this!

It’s been a couple of years since we took the train. If I remember correctly it’s about a 20min walk from the train to the port, but don’t quote me on that. If you want to see the main sights of Rome I would recommend looking for a Best of Rome walking tour that would take you to the major highlights like the Trevi Fountain and Pantheon. These tours are usually 2-3 hours long but do not stop at the colosseum or Vatican. You can book a tour of the colosseum directly via their site. The Vatican is amazing and easy to visit since you don’t need a ticket. Have a great time!