euro cruiser

Naples itself is a great option, if you like city visits. You walk off the ship right into the historic center of town, it could not be easier. Three popular sites are less than half a mile from the cruise port, Teatro San Carlo (opera house), the Galleria, and the Royal Palace. The famous Gran Caffè Gambrinus is right there as well.

Taking the ferry from the port is very easy, the pier is adjacent to the cruise port. Once at Sorrento there is a public elevator to bring you up from the port to the main part of town. If you enjoy what Sorrento has to offer it would be an easy, relaxing day. There is a ferry at 9:00 that arrives to Sorrento at 9:45, and a return that departs Sorrento at 14:00 (2 PM) and arrives to Naples at 14:45. That's early for your departure but the next ferry at 16:25 would be too late.

It's fun to try new things, new ways of getting around. The high speed trains in Italy are fast and efficient. If you fly into Rome there is a non-stop train right from the airport to the main station in Rome, Termini. There you would change for a high speed train to Salerno (if going to the Amalfi Coast). There is a left luggage office in the train station, very secure, so you can safely leave everything you don't need for your side trip there. Kpoint is the company that provides the luggage storage service at Termini (they also have the service at Naples Centrale). Their home page is in English here: Deposito bagagli all'interno delle stazioni | KiBag The specific page with rates for Termini is only in Italian, but google translate will make it clear: Deposito bagagli all'interno delle stazioni | KiBag They offer other luggage services as well, you could use their chat function to find out about them. They might offer forwarding service so your bags would meet you at the port.

Three different criteria, two different answers. The fastest, assuming no unusual traffic jams, would be a car service door-to-door, about 75 minutes. A fast train is about 50 minutes, but then you have to add time to get to the train station in Rome and from the train station in Civitavecchia. The car service is also the easiest. The cheapest is the local train (4,60 euro) or the local bus (3,90 euro).

Sure, it's possible. One thing to consider is packing what you'd need for your trip to Naples/Amalfi in a carry on bag and checking the rest of your luggage at the train station in Rome when you change trains to head to Naples. That will make your trip much easier. As for where to stay, it depends on your interests. If the coast is what you're going for, do stay there. It's easy to reach by train from Rome (to Salerno) followed by a ferry. Edited to add: I just noticed that you're thinking of flying into Naples. The same idea works there, check your big bags at the Naples train station left luggage office. For what it's worth, from Naples or Rome you'll have a two step process to get to the coast, I think it's easier to fly into Rome and leave your things there and may be less expensive as well. Flying into Naples also means a stop somewhere else in Europe on the way, there are very few transatlantic flights direct to Naples.

It's not perfect, but google translate is easy: Google Translate You'll understand the gist of the article, if not all of the nuance.

Okay, just so we're clear for other readers. There is a Sit bus from Rome to Civitavecchia, it's just too late in the day for you (departs the Termini area at 15:30 (3:30 PM), stops in the Vatican area, then arrives to the port at 16:45 (4:45 PM). As for the station, what do you require for confirmation? Civitavecchia, finalmente in funzione gli ascensori della stazione • Terzo Binario News Civitavecchia (rfi.it) (click on Accessibilita binari for details) Comitato Pendolari : "Attivati ascensori della stazione di Civitavecchia" (baraondanews.it)

The Sit bus does go from Rome to Civitavecchia. It starts near Termini (Piazza Indipendenza), makes a stop in the Vatican area (Via Crescenzio 2), then continues on to the port. Official Bus Civitavecchia Harbour - Rome City Centre (sitbusshuttle.com)

There's one bit of good news, they now have elevators at the Civitavecchia station.

Tickets with seat assignments do not need to be validated, only those for regional trains without a seat assignment require validation.

I came across an article recently which claims that the port shuttle bus stop was to move back to Largo della Pace by the beginning of June, and I'm wondering if recent cruise passengers found this to be the case. The Largo della Pace area was used for Covid testing for the past couple of years, the article said that control of the space had returned to the port management and they intended to have shuttle buses going back there by the end of May. Article here: Civitavecchia Porto - Crociere, finalmente riapre Largo della Pace - EtruriaNews Just wondering if anyone has been there recently (in the last six weeks or so) and can confirm that the move happened.

There is also the "Little Venice" part of Livorno: Livorno | Visit Tuscany My aunt went to see this once when she didn't have the energy to go to Lucca with the rest of us, she said it was interesting but didn't rave about it.

You'd need a car to get to Etna, it's about a 90 minute drive. Maybe you can find some others on your roll call interested in splitting the cost? I found it fascinating. You can take a chair lift part way up and stomp around, and there are lava rock piles all around Rifugio Sapienza (the end of the driving road and location of the chair lift) that you can climb on.

Or return to Pisa. We spent a couple of hours in the museum, which most visitors walk right by. Opera della Primaziale Pisana: sito ufficiale – Opera del Duomo Museum (opapisa.it) Or forget the tower area entirely and walk around the center of town, it has a huge, old university which means a diverse population and lots of interesting architecture: Art and culture | Comune di Pisa - Turismo

I've got one in the travel bag, one in my backpack, one in my toiletries case ... A friend who traveled with me once asked if I had a problem she wasn't aware of. I told her I just like to be prepared. 🍷

Volterra is beyond challenging by public transit, unfortunately. Tuscany in general is tough. One of my favorite places in Tuscany is Siena and you can get there by train with one change in Empoli. If you can make the 8:12 departure from Livorno you can make the trip in two hours, it's usually about two and a half. That's a lot of time on the train, but it's a possibility.

Some info on Mt. Etna: Mount Etna | Visit Sicily official page

I did a little digging on the city's web site and I find no mention of fixed fares.

Are you looking for places that you can reach with public transit, or will you have a car?

How about Mt. Etna?

When you get to Porta Nolana you can take one of two trains, whichever one leaves first, the train to Sorrento or the train to Poggiomarino. They both stop at Ercolano Scavi, the stop for the ruins. The same thing works on the way back, any train heading north that stops at Ercolano Scavi is going to Naples. Another map that's not particularly easy to follow unless you know the area, but here it is showing the two lines that stop at Ercolano Scavi: EAV treni_mappa web_0.pdf (eavsrl.it)

There are two tram lines that start/end at the stop across from the cruise port, you want line #1. The other one, line #4, doesn't make the left turn on Corso Garibaldi. This is the official info on the tram line: ANM Web Site - Tram Linea 1 As you'll see, it's not very helpful. The moovit app has a map that may make it easier to understand: Linea 1: orari, fermate e mappe - Poggioreale (Aggiornato) (moovitapp.com) As you look at the map, you'd be getting on at the bottom and staying on for six stops, to the first stop after making the left turn. The construction you saw continues, they are building a new metro line and expanding the Municipio station to link the two lines.

If you wind up in Genova it's easy to take the train from Piazza Principe (a quick 500 meters/one-third of a mile walk from the cruise port) to Rapallo and do the hike from there to Portofino (see here: Hike from Rapallo-Santa Margherita-Portofino - Daily Nautica). The hike is about 8 km/five miles so you might want to do it one way and take a bus or taxi back. The train ride takes between 30 minutes to one hour, depending on the train you get. There is no need to buy these tickets in advance, making it an easy fall back option if you suddenly find yourself at Genova.

Another option that I just came across is the Sit Bus Shuttle, from Termini to the port. It drops off at the port shuttle bus station, so you'd need to transfer your luggage from one bus to the other, but it's easier than the train and you're guaranteed a seat. It's also three times the cost, but still pretty inexpensive at 15 euro. Sit Bus Shuttle, servizio bus navetta tra Roma e aeroporti

Yes, there's only one functioning train station in Civitavecchia. At the station you can get the Port Link bus to your ship for 3 euro. Civitavecchia Servizi Pubblici Srl - Portlink (civitavecchia-servizi-pubblici-srl.it)