Rome day trips or 2 day getaway options?

[Sistersinlaw]

We have 6 days from when our flight lands in Rome until our cruise starts. I'm looking for advice on our itinerary - we have 3 daughters (18, 16 and 14). I'm thinking 4 days of Rome 'touristing' (colosseum, Vatican etc). Our cruise is in July 2023.  Should we stay in Rome the other 2 days and do day trips? (Beach? Tuscany? Florence?) Or do a 2 day getaway somewhere? Cruise does Naples and Venice, so no need to go there. I think our girls will want a museum and monument break between seeing the Rome sights and the cruise starting I'm thinking something "fun". Would love any recommendations!

[cruisemom42]

Hi -- glad to see you have planned such a nice stay in Rome, first of all. 😉

 

With teen daughters, it's hard to say what might be most likely to grab their interest. An overnight stay in Florence might be a good option -- Florence will be teeming with visitors, of course, but if you stay overnight you'll find the crowds thin out a bit and it's such an iconic place (and teens know it).

 

Or, it could be that they would be interested in the Italian beach experience. There are several beaches within 1-2 hours of Rome, some of them are better than others. I'm not a beach expert but when I was on an archaeological tour had the chance to see the Sperlonga beach in summer and it is very beautiful. The beach at Ostia (Lido) while one of the closest, is not as pretty....  Here's a helpful article:  Best beaches near Rome: towns, resorts, hotels, how to get

 

One word of warning:  cruise ships are no longer porting in Venice, so if you want to see/spend time there, you'll probably want to plan extra time either before your cruise or after (if it ends in "Venice" -- which as of now likely means Trieste, Ravenna, or an industrial port nearer Venice called Marghera).

 

[euro cruiser]

There is more than enough in Rome to fill months, so I would start by having each member of the family develop a list of things of interest to them in the city.

 

At the same time, I would have a couple of easy to do, last minute day trips in my back pocket in case you decide you'd like something different.

 

The most obvious day trip is Florence, about an hour and forty minutes away by high speed train.  Trenitalia and Italotreno offer high speed service throughout the day.

[rdt10]

Florence is great as a day trip or overnight. We've done both. You can do a lot in a day, but it is really nice to walk around Florence in the evening with things lit up and the crowds gone. Take the train. The station is walking distance to the Florence center.

[cruisemom42]

16 hours ago, euro cruiser said:

There is more than enough in Rome to fill months, so I would start by having each member of the family develop a list of things of interest to them in the city.

 

Very true, and it reminded me of something else. A colleague with two teen daughters just spent some time in Rome and said her daughters had a lot of fun shopping at some of the local flea markets. Might be a low-key option for a day when you can't face any more museums, churches or ruins....

Edited September 22, 2022 by cruisemom42