Civitavecchia/Tuscany

[lilstinger]

We will be docking in Civitavecchia next summer and would like to take a tour of the Tuscany countryside from this port. Is this possible, and has anyone else tried this? We will be in port for 12 hours, so time should not be too much of an issue. We have already been to Rome twice, and opted for the Florence/Pisa tour last time we were in Livorno. Any advice on what to see and do, and who to use would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

Doug

[CRUZGAL53]

Anyone know???

[Hlitner]

I know, but not sure I want to tell! :). Actually, Civitavecchia is not the ideal place to start a tour of Tuscany because of the distance. As an example, it takes over 3 hours to get from the port to Florence, and this is by using the Motorways which has much of the same charm as driving on an interstate. The best part of Tuscany (and Umbria) is seen by driving the smaller two lane back roads such as the lovely S222 route between Florence and Siena. If you hire a private guide and driver it would be possible, but you would spend a disproportionate time sitting inside your car or van. The best cruise port for a jump off point into Tuscany is Livorno. Having spent a lot of time driving throughout Italy we have found that the 1 day cruise stops are just too darn limiting because of time/distance issues. You might want to consider visiting some of the hill towns that surround Rome such as Orvieto. Its even possible to get all the way to Assisi although even that is a good 2 1/2 hours each way. Many cruisers to the Med quickly find that they want more time in Italy and later return for a land-based trip.

 

Hank

[Crusin6]

Hello all,

 

due to a flight change I find that we have a day, July 21, 2008, a monday, to spend before we return home. My private tour operator made some suggestions, one being Lake Bracciano as the other suggestions are closed being it is a Monday. My question is has anybody spent any time at/on Lake Bracciano? We would do lunch of course and probably just walk around and experience the area before returning to our FCO hotel for the evening. Just looking for some opinions, thanks.

 

addicted traveler

[Cruise Junky]

We were staying around Siena this past September and with little traffic, it took us three hours to drive to Rome Airport. You'd be spending an awfully long time in the car.

[emcee207]

Hey Hank, (hlitner), you are always a great source of info. We will be in Livorno for two days in early May on the Azamara Quest. We're thinking of going to Tuscany and even thinking about staying one of the nights somewhere there if we can get some suggestions. Any thoughts?

BTW, we leave for Excellence Punta Cana in 3 weeks, thanks for the tip on that!

[dbh62ark]

We will be docking in Civitavecchia next summer and would like to take a tour of the Tuscany countryside from this port. Is this possible, and has anyone else tried this? We will be in port for 12 hours, so time should not be too much of an issue. We have already been to Rome twice, and opted for the Florence/Pisa tour last time we were in Livorno. Any advice on what to see and do, and who to use would be appreciated.

 

Thanks!

Doug

Some of the villages in Umbria are very similar in appearance and ambience to the ones in Tuscany. I just wrote about our wonderful day visiting in this area on another thread, and I think this is an ideal option for a port day from Civitavecchia for those who have already spent time in Rome.

 

I'm not a big fan of Rick Steves, but he pegged it right when he named Civita de Bagnoregio as his favorite in Italy. It's a small, pedestrian-only village that you walk UP to via footbridge. The topography of the surrounding mountains is also amazing, but the quaint village was really the highlight for us.

 

During our port stop in Civitavecchia, our private driver took us to Tuscania, Civita de Bagnoregio, and Bagnaia. It was approx a 9 hour tour. I think the drive to Tuscania was 45 minutes - 1 hour from Civitavecchia. The drive from Civitavecchia to Tuscania was scenic with views of Roman aquaducts and farmland. We passed Tarquinia on the way but did not stop. The drive from Tuscania to Civita de Bagnoregio was also very scenic through some villages and past a large lake. I think that took approx 45 minutes, but I really can't remember. The scenery was so lovely that we didn't feel that time was "wasted" in the van. Bagnaia was a 20-minute drive from Civita de Bagnoregio, and then we were approx an hour from Civitavecchia at the end of the day (from Bagnaia to Civitavecchia). I am a freak for gardens, fountains, etc., so Bagnaia was wonderful. But Civita de Bagnoregio was definitely the highlight of the day.

 

We prefer not to drive during port stops (we find it more relaxing and don't have to worry about finding our way around) and have found that the cost of car rental plus gas is nearly as much as splitting the cost of a driver with others from our roll call sailing. But if you are adventurous and don't mind the driving angst, I do think the Civitavecchia - Tuscania - Civita de Bagnoregio - Civitavecchia route would be fairly easy to do with a rental car.

 

Our driver was Bruno with http://www.montitours.com/eng/about_us.htm (recommended in the Rick Steves Italy guide). Please note that Bruno is a tour guide in Rome and did not know much about the places we visited for this tour, but we hired a driver only so were satisfied with his services (I’ve written separate messages on these boards regarding the differences between guides and drivers so don’t want to create any misunderstandings). With this car service, the price for the van is 450 Euros, so you can fill with 8 passengers for a total of only 56 Euros per person.

 

If you have any questions that I can answer, I'll be glad to help. :)

 

Happy Thanksgiving,

Donna

 

http://www.romeartlover.it/Bagnoregio.html

http://www.romeartlover.it/Bagnaia.html

http://www.romeartlover.it/Tuscania.html

[Hlitner]

Hey Hank, (hlitner), you are always a great source of info. We will be in Livorno for two days in early May on the Azamara Quest. We're thinking of going to Tuscany and even thinking about staying one of the nights somewhere there if we can get some suggestions. Any thoughts?

BTW, we leave for Excellence Punta Cana in 3 weeks, thanks for the tip on that!

 

Regarding the Excellence (we just returned) make sure you take some very powerful insect repellent. We had "OFF' which contains 15% DEET, and the mosquitoes loved to eat that stuff (we are still nursing more than 100 bites). Other than the bugs the resort was terrific.

 

As to Livorno, If you did want to spend a night off the ship (remember that everything is tres expensive with the weak dollar) you might want to rent a car to explore the countryside. Of course if you have never been to Florence many would say just go to that wonderful city and spend the night. If you want to do a driving tour we really like the region that lies between Florence and Siena where you have route S222 (a country road that meanders through the Chianti wine region) and San Gimignano, Volterra and lots of other small villages that are what Tuscany is really all about! We never tire of this region (also like Umbria and the Amalfi Coast) and will be back in Italy twice during the next 10 months.

 

Hank

[emcee207]

Thanks Hank, yes i've heard about the voracious misquitoes arouond the Excellence and I'm quite concerned as my wife is very senstive to misquitoe bites. Not hhappy about that.

[CRUZGAL53]

Thank you SO much!

[GloriaF]

Hi,

We will be taking a 3 continent transatlantic cruise on Grand Princess on April 12, 2008 - May 2, 2008. It starts in FLL and ends in Rome, Italy. We are thinking we would like to stay in Italy for 2,3,4 extra days to do a little extra sight-seeing.

 

First off, we need to find an inexpensive hotel in the area and get ideas of what to do with our time. We thought we would start by buying the Rick Steve's Italy guide. Any and all advice would be most welcome!

 

Thanks,

[dbh62ark]

Thank you SO much!

You're welcome, Joyce. Have a great trip!

 

Donna

[Hlitner]

Gloria, perhaps we will meet on the cruise. We are also wrestling with how long we want to stay in Italy post cruise, not to mention where we want to go. As of now, we will pick-up a rental car in Civitavecchia and probably drive down to Praiano (Amalfi Coast) for a few days. After that, we are thinking of exploring a region known as Puglia, which tends to attract few foreign tourists (Italians like to go to Puglia) but its all up in the air. I suspect we will just book our air allowing for a couple of weeks in Italy and deal with the details at a later time (perhaps even after we are in Italy). As to Rick Steves, we find his books to be pretty darn good if you like tour books. One problem I have is that he likes to recommend small non-touristy restaurants which, of course, quickly become very touristy restaurants after all the Rick Steves fans follow his advice. In fact, if you go into a Rick Steves recommened place you will probably find that everyone else in the place has the same book :). Tripadvisor.com is also a real good source for information, and we have often picked up some interesting ideas from their forums.

 

Hank

[GloriaF]

Thanks, Hank.

 

I look forward to meeting you on the Grand.

 

Enjoy your Brilliance (right ship?) cruise now!

[MercedMike]

We had a perfectly delightful experience in Tuscany, arranged for us by Dock and Discover http://www.dockdiscover.com/civ01.htm

 

We left from Livorno, but I am pretty sure they could do something similar from Civitavecchia. They were very cooperative and willing to accomodate our needs.

 

Check out

http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/cooking.html

for a report on our cooking lesson in a Renaissance Castle in Tuscany!

 

Have a GREAT cruise!