Civitavecchia - Options other than Rome.

[goody1]

Hi,

Has anyone berthed at Civitavecchia and done anything other than going to Rome? My wife and I have been to Rome 3 times and are looking for alternative suggestions. Thanks.

[euro cruiser]

There are several alternatives, but the ease of doing them depends on your transportation limitations. Are you looking for places you can reach via mass transit (train, bus)? Would you be willing to rent a car and drive yourself, or pay for a car and driver?

[Eileen G]

We have taken the bus to Tarquina and rented a car to go to Orvieto & Civita. Tarqunia is pretty easy and can be done in half a day. Orvierto & Civita is a full day. Here are my reviews of both.

 

Since we have been to Rome twice and it’s a long ride there we decided to go to the walled town of Tarquinia. We took the local bus to the walled city whose claim to fame is it’s painted Etruscan tombs. We took the free port shuttle to the port exit and crossed the street to the McDonalds. We continued past the McD to the next road where there is a newspaper stand. This is where we purchased our tickets. The bus was 2euros each way. We bought the return ticket also. A little further down the road across the street from the Church of Santa Fransisco is the bus stop. We caught the 10:04 bus which was right on time. It was an enjoyable 30 minute bus ride to the town where we stopped in at the IT just inside the wall to get a map. We first visited the Archaeological Museum which is in an old palace. The museum was 6 euros but in combination with the necropolis it is 8 euros. We then walked up the street to the plaza and turned right to exit the wall to get to the necropolis. About a half mile outside the wall is the Necropolis where there are about 20 tombs open underground to look at. The tombs have paintings on the walls that date back to 500BC. After seeing several of the tombs we walked back to town. We just missed the 1:30 bus so we explored the town a little and caught the 2:50 bus which was 5 minutes early. It was lucky we missed the 1:30 bus because walking around the town was very nice. There was a park on the far side with beautiful views of the valley. Both the museum and the necropolis have clean bathrooms.

Pictures here: http://travel.webshots.com/photo/267...01391319SsmPpL

 

 

Since we had been to Rome a couple of times we rented a car from Hertz near the train station. We had directions from Mitchlem Maps and headed off to Orvieto. We passed part of a Roman aqueduct along the road and stopped to take pictures. We went from town to town until we reached Overito. We drove to the train station where there is free parking then took the funicular up to the town on top of the mesa. We took the shuttle bus to the Duomo. This was a very beautiful church on the outside. Very ornate in front but had horizontal stripes around the rest of the church. The inside was very pretty too. There were very pretty streets surrounding the church. We walked back to the train station and walked through the very pretty park behind the station which had a clean WC. We took the funicular back down and drove about 20 minutes to Civita. We had to follow the signs to Bagnregio which is where most the people live since Civita is a dying town. We were able to park right at the walkway to Civita. Civita sits on a small mesa in a canyon and a long walkway has been built so people can walk to the town. Unfortunately the town is slowly crumbling into the canyon so only the old people still live there. It is very quaint with beautiful views. It looks like something out of a hobbit movie. When we left we took the road strait to Viterbo instead of going back to the main highway and got lost when we reached Viterbo since we couldn’t get on the bypass road. We landed up driving through farm land trying to get on the bypass road. We finally stopped to ask someone and did find our way to the next town and the right road back to Civitavecchia. We made it back to the boat with little time to spare.

pictures here: http://cid-1e98e90214e77bf9.skydrive...aspx/Hilltowns

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[Keith1010]

We have been to this port of call several times over the years but it was on our most recent visit this past April that we decided to just enjoy a nice day at the port and it was far better than we had realized since normally you past through it quickly either on the way to the pier or going to Rome.

 

We walked all around the town. There are many nice streets with stores, cafes and other venues.We went to the outdoor market that was quite impressive with its array of fresh fruits and vegetables, cheeses and an array of other items. We went by the Catholic Church, walked over to the train station and just enjoyed a nice day in town. As you know, the Mediterranean can be quite busy as you take very long tours so it was nice to just enjoy this day in a town that we had underestimated.

 

Keith

[goody1]

There are several alternatives, but the ease of doing them depends on your transportation limitations. Are you looking for places you can reach via mass transit (train, bus)? Would you be willing to rent a car and drive yourself, or pay for a car and driver?

 

We're looking for any ideas reachable by train/bus. We have been to Italy quite a few times and are comfortable in using the public transport system.

[euro cruiser]

Tarquinia is the closest and easiest. There are lots of posts with specific information on how to take either the bus, which goes directly to the historic center of town, or the train, which is between the beach part of town and the historic part.

 

There's also Ostia Antica, if you haven't been there. It's a little more complicated to get to (train to Roma Ostiense, change trains to Ostia), but well worth it.

[goody1]

Thanks to all who have replied. I think at present, we'll probably go to Tarquina and then maybe do as Keith suggested and take a wander around the Port.

[max227]

Does the ship dock within walking distance to shops and cafes in Civitavecchia.??

[euro cruiser]

Does the ship dock within walking distance to shops and cafes in Civitavecchia.??

Yes it does. You'll need to take the port shuttle from your ship to the port entrance, but from there into the heart of the town is only a couple of blocks.

[euro cruiser]

There are several walking itineraries for Civitavecchia on this site (http://www.civitavecchia.net/index.php?cmd=itiner). When you click on the individual sites, the explainations are in English.