Rome Express

[alli234]

This is our first visit to Rome and my husband would like to do the Thomson Express, has anyone else done this excursion.

[WeeCountyMan]

We were in Civitavecchia a few months ago - plenty of reasonably priced minibus tours to Rome available when you get to the new cruise bus terminal.

 

Worth investigating online before you commit to Thomsons.

[thesignalman]

Alli,

 

We "did" the Rome Express a few years back - Mrs. Signalman treated me as it was my birthday.

 

I can recommend it if it is your first visit and unless it has vastly changed, this is what we had for our money.

 

Coach from ship to station.

Private coach on the train (a FIAT DMU, but very luxurious - red leather seats, thick carpets etc.)

In to St. Marks station in around 45 minutes, transfer to coach and then you see all the sights which make Rome famous - Coliseum, Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain.

Stop off at a restaurant for lunch

Afternoon at the Vatican

Walk to the station and then 45 minutes back to port and coach back to ship.

 

Wasn't cheap, but was value for money. We would have never seen everything if we had gone DIY and would have lost another hour and a half of the day travelling.

 

Hope this helps.

[Gelbel]

Hi - how much walking is involved on this trip? The DH is no longer a spring chicken and can't stand around for ages.

 

How easy is DIY Rome? It looks OK but there seems to be a lot of hanging around for travelling. The Ho-Hos don't get great reviews. What to do? :confused: The thought of a 10 hr excursion is quite daunting even to me.

 

We're there on a Saturday if that makes any difference.

 

Any advice would be welcomed.

[Pensioncruiser]

We did the easy Rome trip once which was OK if you just want to have a look at the sites but its not for everyone.

[crystaltips99]

I did Rome On Your Own 2 years ago, and I'm planning to do it again this time - you can never see everything in a city the size of Rome but I like the flexibility it gives!

 

We were dropped off near Ponte Umberto I, and from there I managed to walk to the Spanish Steps, see the Keats museum, walk to the Pantheon, and then walk up to the Vatican (which I'd pre booked before we left). The Vatican and St Peters took the whole afternoon, to be honest.

 

This time my plan is to attempt the Colosseum & Forum, the Trevi fountain and the Pantheon (again) - I'm hearing bad things about the queues at the Colosseum so I'll be booking that online in advance in an attempt to save time!

 

You're right, 10 hours is a daunting prospect, but its because of the journey from Civitavecchia. With the journey being 90 minutes you have a slow start to the day, and the chance of a nap on the way back (which a lot of people were doing), so it takes the edge off it a bit. I found Rome pretty easy to walk round but I'm considering using the the Metro this time, depending on where we get dropped off.

 

Hope this helps!

[elmsliebev]

"This time my plan is to attempt the Colosseum & Forum, the Trevi fountain and the Pantheon (again) - I'm hearing bad things about the queues at the Colosseum so I'll be booking that online in advance in an attempt to save time!"

 

We went to Rome a couple of years ago and the queues were huge even to collect pre-booked tix - we booked in advance & did the Forum first - no queue & then you just walk up to the pre-booked entry at the Colosseum. Still had to queue but only for about 5 mins.

[Nannyannie]

Hi - how much walking is involved on this trip? The DH is no longer a spring chicken and can't stand around for ages.

 

How easy is DIY Rome? It looks OK but there seems to be a lot of hanging around for travelling. The Ho-Hos don't get great reviews. What to do? :confused: The thought of a 10 hr excursion is quite daunting even to me.

 

We're there on a Saturday if that makes any difference.

 

Any advice would be welcomed.

 

We also did this trip a few years ago and DH did struggle as in did involve a lot of walking. The trip was brilliant but you did need to be reasonably fit.

[crystaltips99]

Elmsliebev - that's a fantastic tip, thanks for that!