Rome, the Eternal City, is as exciting and engaging as you have heard and well worth the time to visit, even if it’s only for a day. Many cruises start or end in Rome leaving open the opportunity to spend more time there, and we would recommend it if you can. For now however, we will consider this as a port of call.
There is so much to see and do you will have to choose carefully. We would suggest picking one of the major sites and then building a day around that neighbourhood; shop, eat, and people watch. I had to convince myself that I would visit Rome again to avoid a major meltdown in the planning process.
Ships dock in the port of Civitavecchia which is about an hour and a half travel time there and back. When you know how much time you have in port, you can determine how much time you have to explore Rome, and then budget that time based on your priorities.
Options for getting into Rome are plentiful. There are well planned ship excursions that include your tours. On our first visit we used the “Rome On Your Own” cruise ship option to get into the city so we were free to do our own thing. We have also taken the commuter train from Civitavecchia which is inexpensive and runs about every half hour. There are usually shuttle buses from the port to the train station, or it is about a 10 minute walk. Before you decide for sure check out private excursions for Rome such as www.italytours.eu. There are lots of options, we just haven’t used many of them.
If you want to visit Vatican City, and include a tour of St. Peter’s Basilica and the Vatican Museum, that will probably be your entire day. It is a very popular and crowded destination so wait times are horrendous. Unless you really want to see the Pope or engage in a worship service avoid Wednesdays (when the Pope makes an appearance) and Sundays (the day of worship). We would also strongly recommend that you make an advance reservation online for the Vatican Museum before you arrive. It will allow you to skip the line and get right through. The earlier in the day you can attend the better, as crowds grow throughout the day. The Museum is not located near the Basilica entrance, but is a bit of walk around the wall. We got there half an hour before it opened and by time we had toured the whole museum and made it to the Sistine Chapel the crowds were still manageable.
Another popular destination in Rome is the Coliseum and Roman Forum. Again you can buy tickets in advance to skip the line into the Coliseum or join a local tour guide. Be sure to take the time to tour the Roman Forum and Palatine Hill in order to better understand how the Romans lived and governed during this time. If you still have some time left check out the Capitoline Museum to see up close the many artifacts from the area. There are ticket options that include all of these sights for one price.
The third option is to tour the heart of Rome to see such sights are the Pantheon, the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps. This whole area is a healthy walk with a good map. In between each of these well-known landmarks are numerous churches containing spectacular art and architecture, piazzas teeming with people, great shops and out of the way restaurants serving the best pasta.
Whichever option you choose for your port of call just keep telling yourself you will be back. Rome is, after all, the Eternal City.