Question about Ravenna, Italy

[rmurray847]

We'll be stopping here in August on the Serenade of the Seas. It sounds like a cool place to visit. We've read that using bicycles to get around is very popular and that bikes are readily available to rent or borrow. Question I have is: how far is the port from the Old City Center, where the main sites are? Is it reasonably doable by bike?

 

Oh, I and I guess that leads to a possible ancillary question. Are there bikes to rent/borrow near the port?

 

Thanks for any tips.

[nordski]

It is a long trek from the port to downtown Ravenna and even more so to at least one of the churches with remarkable mosaics. Furthermore, although along a river, you travel through a rather industrial and thus not particularly attractive landscape. Can't recall, but I imagine there would be a lot of transport/tanker traffic. Thus for someone it might be "reasonably doable", but to us not an efficient use of time.

 

As for bike rentals, we saw no sign of those at the port.

 

Ravenna is a wonderful city to visit but, as in Amsterdam, you must be aware of bicycle traffic.

[rmurray847]

It is a long trek from the port to downtown Ravenna and even more so to at least one of the churches with remarkable mosaics. Furthermore, although along a river, you travel through a rather industrial and thus not particularly attractive landscape. Can't recall, but I imagine there would be a lot of transport/tanker traffic. Thus for someone it might be "reasonably doable", but to us not an efficient use of time.

 

As for bike rentals, we saw no sign of those at the port.

 

Ravenna is a wonderful city to visit but, as in Amsterdam, you must be aware of bicycle traffic.

 

Thanks for the response. So would we be best off grabbing a taxi or some other transport to get to the "touristy" part of town? Then maybe see about bicycles there?

[nordski]

You're welcome!

 

We were there in November so others may have a more comprehensive reply. Both cruise lines in port at the time of our visit, Azamara and, provided transfers to the city centre; ours dropped us off near the train station.

 

I think I heard somewhere that the city of Ravenna offers transfers during more popular months. Didn't notice taxis, but again they be available during the high season.

 

We really enjoyed Ravenna and, in our view, certainly the mosaics are well worth seeing.

 

Hope you find it equally interesting.

[luvn2cruzzz]

We were there last October on Voyager of the Seas and Royal Caribbean provided a shuttle service (for a fee, of course) to the town center. It is quite a drive, probably 20 mintues if I remember correctly. We enjoyed roaming around in addition to viewing the incredible mosaics. There is a market and in that vicinity, several charming restaurants. The top sights are easily walkable once you are in town.

[ab0si]

The Tourist office offers (or at least used to) free loans of bikes. You need a passport or similar ID. If they are all gone when you get there, they can direct you to a nearby bike rental firm. The Tourist Office is at Via Salara, 8

[Courier95]

Thanks for the response. So would we be best off grabbing a taxi or some other transport to get to the "touristy" part of town? Then maybe see about bicycles there?

 

We were in Ravenna last week and had no trouble in finding a taxi at the pier. The fare to the main tourist part of the town centre was 20 euros. To return to the ship, we took a taxi from outside the station.

[little britain]

Ravenna: the local cruise terminal site advises that there is a free shuttle to town, which is around 10 miles distant. We saw no such thing and no one seemed to know. =X= offered a transfer for $14pp so we took a cab for €20. Ravenna is a hidden charm. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site because of the mosaics. They do a museum ticket with entry to 5 sites for €11.50pp. You get a €1 discount if you say you are with a cruise. The mosaics are amazing and we really enjoyed this port. We caught the #90 bus from outside the station back to Porto Corsini (Traghetto). It took 20 mins and the ticket was €2.50pp. A friendly local showed us the stop to get off at and it was a simple 5 minute stroll back to the ship.

 

We did see people cycling,obviously on a tour along the road,but as someone has said, it is not particularly scenic- one way industrial chimneys and the other way a canal with Chinese style fishing nets. In town there were a lot of bikes and it looked like you could just hire one and then return to a stand. I'm sure the TI office would advise.

[Bykrunski]

Very useful info. thx

[Perstef81]

There was bike rental at the pier when we were there in May, but it would be a bit of a haul into the city. And it was pouring to boot!

 

The mosaics in Ravenna were absolutely worth the trip in. We did a four hour walking tour that was fantastic (despite the rain). I posted some photos on my blog if you're interested in a sneak peak.

http://perstef.blogspot.com/2013/07/ravenna-italy.html