Civitavecchia excursions NOT Rome

[Gill H]

Thinking about next year's cruise and wondering if we might skip Rome altogether. We intend to visit there at some point in the next few years anyway, at a quieter and cooler time of year, when we would have more time and would be able to book early morning tours to places like St Peter's Basilica to skip the worst of the crowds.

So - where else could we go?

The DCL port adventures include several medieval villages, wine tasting, olive oil tasting, nice countryside - sounds good!

Anyone have any experience?

I'm also wondering if these tours would be a much smaller group, as many of the cruise passengers would be Americans wanting a rare crack at Rome.

[Omega1]

Having been to Rome a few times we opted to get the train from Civitavecchia to Ostia Antica which is the ruins of the ancient port of Rome. Think Pompeii.
It was a good day out and easy by train.

[Gill H]

We are probably doing Pompeii the previous day. The DCL excursions offer countryside, medieval towns, wine tasting, olive oil tasting etc. That's something we probably wouldn't do on a city break as we don't drive. Sounded like a more relaxed option.

[Guest]

I've been to Civitavecchia twice on cruises.. the first we did a day trip to Rome and the second stayed in port.

I'd agree with your itinerary, Rome in a day is very hard, especially in the heat! It's more a whistle stop tour for those who won't go again.. I've visited Rome during a city break since (when a lot cooler) and found the whole experience a lot more enjoyable

Civitavecchia in itself is... okay. It is okay to get off and walk around, but that's it. Tbh I wouldn't get off again unless going on a tour.

So yes, a countryside tour sounds great, our ship only offered Rome tours from what I can remember but would have loved the opportunity to go on one.

Just remember if you go off on your own and you don't make it back in time they will leave without you - my aunt and uncle got the train to Rome and had to join the cruise later on!

Hope this helps

[Gill H]

We would probably go on one of the DCL tours so would be sure of making it back!

[JAF]

Last year we found ourselves in Civitavecchia along with 6 other cruise ships and so decided to try elsewhere. We caught a local bus to Tarquinia which is a walled Roman town and was far quieter than Rome would have been. It is a lovely town with good museums etc. To get the bus you need to buy a ticket from a tobacconists which then stops outside the information office. You can get there by train but the station is not close to the walled town and the trains do not run very frequently.

[danisleigh]

We booked the olive oil and countryside excursion in August after doing Rome twice in the last couple of years and for some reason it was cancelled a few weeks before our sailing. It did sound nice and a bit different.

[Gill H]

Originally Posted by danisleigh

We booked the olive oil and countryside excursion in August after doing Rome twice in the last couple of years and for some reason it was cancelled a few weeks before our sailing. It did sound nice and a bit different.

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That was my worry - I suspect that all the Americans will want to do Rome, and the non-Rome ones might get cancelled.

[danisleigh]

Originally Posted by Gill H

That was my worry - I suspect that all the Americans will want to do Rome, and the non-Rome ones might get cancelled.

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Yes I did wonder how popular it would be when we booked it as most people if it was their first time there would want to go into Rome. In the end we wandered around the town for a bit then took advantage of the adult pool being quieter while DS met his friends in vibe!

[MrsBC]

Tarquinia Gill, the tour we did was an olive farm and food tasting - (olive oils, cheeses, breads etc), followed by Tarquinia. It was a lovely day.