angelik

Thanks so much for recommendation! We booked with this company already, hope it will work out.

Thank you!

thank you

Hello everyone,

I got quotes from 2 companies thus far: romeinlimo as well as Italytours.eu.Rome in limo is a bot pricier, but if I put that aside fro a minute, which company would you recommend> I saw rave reviews for romeinlimo on this site. Italy tours.eu has some reviews, but they are mostly a bit older. They do offer a tour guide included in their price, but I just want to make sure the excursion is high quality and I will not be missing anything out. Thank you in advance for your help. This is my first time booking something independently , so I want to make sure we get what we need from the tours. Thank you in advance

Thank you again for all suggestions. Really appreciate it

Thank you everyone for such wonderful suggestions. I am worried if I can pull off going on teh train without getting nervos to miss teh ship. I will investigate all teh suggested options. Has anyone purchased anything throguh company called tiquets? I just saw them teh otehr day online with good reviews They mainly offer skip teh line audio tours

That's what we did a few weeks ago. If you have access to an express train to Rome from your cruise line, that would save you the most time. If not, then you can get a BIRG ticket at the Civitavecchia trans station for 12 Euros each that gives you unlimited train, Rome metro, and Rome bus travel for 24 hours. Figure a little more than one hour each way to Rome on the train.

Dear Host Clarea, what did you end up seeing in Rome? What time did you get there and what time did you leave to get back in time before the ship leaves? Is there a train schedule posted somewhere around train station?

Makes sense, plus the local trains run more often and would afford more schedule flexibility.

 

One tip someone gave me - if traveling from Rome to Civitavecchia on a week day, the local trains fill up quickly as the train gets farther away from Termini. So it might be best to take the metro to Termini to have a seat for the trip back to CV.

Thank you! Good suggestion!

Absolutely. There is much discussion on these boards about taking the train from Civitavecchia (port) into Rome. It's about an hour, plus or minus, depending on which stop in Rome you want. There is an integrated ticket that costs 12 euros per person and is good for your round trip train ride to Rome and back, as well as any subway or public bus in Rome itself during the day.

 

It does require some organization and some patience -- willingness to get to the train station in Civitavecchia, for example requires either a long walk or using the free port shuttle to the port gate and then a public bus to the train station.

 

You can book tickets to the Colosseum in advance online, with or without a guided tour, and you can get there by getting off the train at the Roma Ostiense station (no need to go all the way to the central Rome station, so you save a little time) and then you transfer to the metro -- located in the adjacent station and go just 2 stops to the Colosseo station.

 

If you really are interested in doing it on your own, I suggest you start by doing a lot of reading here -- lots of good info and most questions have been asked and answered. And also I suggest getting a guidebook such as Rick Steves' guide on Mediterranean ports to help with ideas on how to tour independently and specific suggestions for your ports.

Thank you! I will definitely look into the guide you mentioned. A little nervous to be traveling by myself, but doesn't hurt to investigate and read about it

Thank you! Do you think it's possible to get to Rome on your own from port and buy Colosseum tks in advance with skip the line option? I am just trying to see if I can save anything by doing it myself.

Thank you very much!

Thank you. Do you have a link for the thread you recommended? I am not sure if I see it. If not, it's ok. I will keep looking :). Also, does the tour company you mentioned provide tour guides or just transport? Lastly, what tour dis you find was really good with them?

Hello, my family is taking symphony of the seas Mediterranean cruise in June we are trying to plan out shore excursions as this is the first Europe trip for my children, ages 14 and 12 years old. I’m looking for suggestions on private tour companies. Specifically I’m trying to plan out the excursion to Pizza and Florence. The ship docks in La Spezia. I have read posts that Florence is just too far from that port. However, the ship surprisingly is running quite a few excursions to Pisa/Florence. Unfortunately I don’t like the program that they’re offering. I would preferred to go to Pisa, have my kids climb up the tower with the skip the line tickets and spend some time there, and then go to Florence and see some of the major attractions there. Would be nice to have skip the line Accademia ticket as well. In addition, I am looking to book a really nice Rome excursion. The ship charges extraordinary amount of money, and on the one of the excursions Colosseum is only viewed from the outside. I really wanted my kids to go inside and have an ability to explore. I would really appreciate any suggestions, recommendations, perhaps things I can do on my own? Thank you so much and advance.