Civitavecchia to Rome DIY

[The Shutterbug]

Hi!

 

I have been reading lots of the posts about this but I am still confused :confused: :o

 

We will be in Civitavecchia on Equinox Sat 17th Oct, we want to go to the Vatican and do one of the guided tours with them. they are only at 8.30, 9.15 & 11am that I can see?

 

If we get off the ship asap after docking, we could most likely make the 7.44am or the 7.58 BIRG train. (Does this stop at San Pietro station?) I think this is the closest station? How long is the walk to the museum entrance, from what I am reading it is at the far side of the Vatican to San Pietro station? (we have been at this station before but then went onto get the metro to the Coloseum on our last cruise)

 

Do you think we would make the 9.15am tour? I'm thinking the 11am one is a bit late and we may be better off just purchasing skip the line tickets without the tour.

 

Appreciate any help/advice on this - thank you! :)

 

Sorry meant to add is the port shuttle bus drop off point still the temporary one or back at the Fort?

Edited August 16, 2015 by The Shutterbug

[Bobal]

If you are ready to go as soon as the ship docks and get off and on to the first port bus you should be fine. There is a bus from the port bus stop to the station but we've never caught it at that time of day but have walked - it's a 20 minute brisk walk but you could wait for the bus if you don't want to do it. I would prefer to just strike out and walk briskly to the station:)

 

If you are off the ship sharpish and get to the station quickly you will have no problem getting there for the 9.15 tour.

 

I believe all the trains stop at San Pietro but if you check out the trenitalia website you can see the train schedules http://www.trenitalia.com/ The walk from San Pietro station to the Vatican is less than 15 minutes but just make sure you print off a map so you know where you are going.

 

The port shuttle drop of is at the same place it's been for a long time now and I believe is the permanent drop off

[dritan]

I would be cautious and aim for the 11. We're just back from a cruise including Rome. We have DIY Rome many times prior to the switch last year to the new port shuttle drop off location. This was our first experience with the new location . We didn't attempt to walk but caught the 2 euro local bus to the rail station. This ended up as a 40 minute journey from ship to station due mainly to both shuttle and local bus waiting until they were full before starting.

If your port time is from 7am then catching the 7.44 would be highly unlikely.

😟

[AVAD]

I would be cautious and aim for the 11. We're just back from a cruise including Rome. We have DIY Rome many times prior to the switch last year to the new port shuttle drop off location. This was our first experience with the new location . We didn't attempt to walk but caught the 2 euro local bus to the rail station. This ended up as a 40 minute journey from ship to station due mainly to both shuttle and local bus waiting until they were full before starting.

If your port time is from 7am then catching the 7.44 would be highly unlikely.

😟

 

That is too bad. I am not surprised that is a time consuming challenge now. We will be there next month and I am concerned about the time it will take to catch the 2 busses and then the train, and then reversing it on the return trip. Doesn't it seem as if the cruise lines are trying to make it more and more difficult to DIY? They only want you to do their expensive excursions!

[Bobal]

That is too bad. I am not surprised that is a time consuming challenge now. We will be there next month and I am concerned about the time it will take to catch the 2 busses and then the train, and then reversing it on the return trip. Doesn't it seem as if the cruise lines are trying to make it more and more difficult to DIY? They only want you to do their expensive excursions!

 

To be fair I don't think this has anything to do with the cruise ships but is more to do with the town. Exactly the same thing has happened in Salerno - another Italian port, whereby the port bus now stops at the far side of town.

 

My understanding (from people who live in and know the towns) is that the people who run these towns wanted cruise ship passengers to actually pass through the towns, perhaps spend some money in town, eat and shop locally rather than go straight from the port bus to the station and head out of town.

 

Whilst cruise ships are big business for these towns I doubt whether they have any influence on town planning. It's not that many years since we first sailed from Civitavecchia but during that time the number of ships seems to have increased dramatically and they now make use of a much larger number of berths, some of which are much further out of town. I doubt that the old port bus area could now cope with the number of ships in port.

[cruisemom42]

To be fair I don't think this has anything to do with the cruise ships but is more to do with the town. Exactly the same thing has happened in Salerno - another Italian port, whereby the port bus now stops at the far side of town.

 

My understanding (from people who live in and know the towns) is that the people who run these towns wanted cruise ship passengers to actually pass through the towns, perhaps spend some money in town, eat and shop locally rather than go straight from the port bus to the station and head out of town.

 

Whilst cruise ships are big business for these towns I doubt whether they have any influence on town planning. It's not that many years since we first sailed from Civitavecchia but during that time the number of ships seems to have increased dramatically and they now make use of a much larger number of berths, some of which are much further out of town. I doubt that the old port bus area could now cope with the number of ships in port.

 

While the cruise lines themselves may not have any say about how the ports are set up and organized, I have read several times (in local Italian news stories no less) that the commuters who live in and around Civitavecchia are less than thrilled with all the passengers from cruise ships taking the regional trains and making them that much more crowded for the local commuters.

 

Perhaps this is one way of subtly discouraging the practice. ;)

 

Whatever the reason, it is certainly LESS convenient for DIYers than it used to be, when I considered Civitavecchia one of the easier ports to DIY from (despite the distance into Rome) due to the convenience of the port shuttle drop off near the train station.

[plane2port]

I would allow 30 min. for the walk to the Vatican entrance. It takes about 15 to walk to the entrance to St. Peter's, but then you have to walk all the way around the Vatican wall to get to the entrance of the museum. This will also give you a little leeway if you make a wrong turn or stop to gawk at the Guards. I would go for the 11:00 tour. I've done the tour and it's a nice introduction to the museum.

[slidergirl]

Are you sure there are still places available for Oct. 17? I just went to the official Vatican Museums site and there was no openings for their individual guided tours on that date. Or, that date isn't open yet; I saw up to Oct. 16.

 

That would only mean you can't do the Vatican museums with their own guided tours. You could always book with an outside company or known guide.

 

In any case, I wouldn't book a tour until 11am at the earliest. You got some transportation to do from port. If you end up lucky and get into Rome early, settle in somewhere with an espresso and un cornetto until your time come up ;)

[The Shutterbug]

Thank you everyone, really helpful replies :)

 

17th isn't open for booking yet, hopefully in the next week. 9.15 is def too early we agree. We might just end up booking skip the line tickets and walking around the Vatican museums on our own and hopefully get through the exit door from the Sistine Chapel to St Peter's basilica by tagging on the end of a group or looking like we know what we are doing LOL ;):D

[TonyBrooklyn59]

Just returned from touring the Vatican after disembarking the NCL Epic in Civitavecchia and staying an extra night in a hotel off the Roma S. Pietro station.

 

All the previous information regarding the getting from the ship to the Vatican is accurate. If you haven't taken TrenItalia before, factor a few extra minutes to get your train ticket and find your platform. Taking the train several times over our stay, I found that while the automatic machines are easy, they sometimes didn't always read both my Amex or Visa cards (about 50% of the time) and some don't accept bills, so the tellers might be your best bet. The tellers were very useful whenever we purchased a ticket directly and spoke enough English to get by. Also don't forget to validate your ticket prior to getting on the train -- even though you may find no one will check your ticket after boarding. You'll be able to take a direct train to Roma S. Pietro without transferring that will get you there in about 40-55 minutes depending which you catch.

 

It is about a 25-30 minute walk from the train station to the Vatican museum (https://goo.gl/maps/tTNqk), also accounting for quite a bit of pedestrian traffic once you get to the Vatican and a little bit of an uphill walk leading up to the museum.

 

Although he doesn't have an audio tour of the museum, you might want to download Rick Steves tours (https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/audio-tours/italy) of the Sistene Chapel and the Basilica if you're going to DIY.

 

Also, as to your point about going into the Basilica after the museum tour, you will be able to walk right in without any difficulty or looking like you're part of a group.

 

Something else you might consider is the tour of St. Peter's tomb and the necropolis underneath the basilica. It's a very interesting and unique tour (only about 250 people are allowed each day). To request a reservation you have to email the Vatican Scavi. We emailed our request about a month in advance of our date and they replied the next day and luckily we were selected. More info here: http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/institutions_connected/uffscavi/documents/rc_ic_uffscavi_doc_gen-information_20090216_en.html

 

Hope that helps!