Sunday in Rome;Bus or Train

[tony s]

We are going to be in Civitavecchia on a Sunday and want to go to Rome on our own and not part of a tour group. Is there a cheap bus or train that will get us there and back in good time?

[CruiserBruce]

If you look down the board, there are many discussions about the train system,  and using it to get to Rome. Train is the fastest, most efficient,  therefore being the best choice financially. Just takes a little research  (at the very important website  trenitalia.com) to see the fares and schedule. 

 

 

[euro cruiser]

At the train station in Civitavecchia you can buy a 5-zone BIRG ticket (from the newsstand, no need to wait in line at the ticket window) for 12 euro, this ticket covers round trip train fare between Civitavecchia and Rome (on regionale trains only) as well as all mass transit in Rome (bus, metro, trams) for the entire day.

 

What time is your arrival and departure from Civitavecchia?

[tony s]

We are going on 11/24 while MSC Grandiosa is in port

[CruiserBruce]

2 hours ago, tony s said:

We are going on 11/24 while MSC Grandiosa is in port

Euro cruiser was asking how long you are in port. What are your arrival and departure times?

[euro cruiser]

You're not making this easy Tony!

 

According to the MSC web site, that ship will be in port from 7 AM to 6 PM, so you'll need to be back on board no later than 5:30 PM.

 

Assuming everything goes fairly normally you should be able to make the 7:59 train from Civitavecchia to Rome.  That puts you in Rome between 8:54 - 9:18, depending on which station in Rome you get off at.

 

For the return I always recommend taking the next to the last train that will get you back with a safe margin.  In your case, the latest you'd want to be back at the Civitavecchia station would be 5 PM.  The last train that would do that departs Termini at 3:57 PM and arrives at 4:45 PM, the train prior to that is the Civitavecchia Express (the BIRG ticket cannot be used on this train) departing at 3:37 and arriving at 4:30.  This prior regionale train (on which you could use the BIRG ticket) is the 2:42 PM arriving at 4 PM.

[tony s]

Thanks, I did not give time as MSC has history of changing things

[Tapi]

Do allow extra time for getting to/from the train station in Civitavecchia. You’re not allowed to walk from your cruise terminal to the train station. You need to take a shuttle to the entrance where the cruise terminals are located, and depending on time, there may be a long queue of people waiting, so this will add some time to your transit time. 

 

It’s definitely not as cheap as taking the train, but we pre-purchased private transportation from Stefano’s Rome Cabs and are extremely glad we did. Rome Cabs, as well as other private companies, can pick you up right at the terminal as you get off the ship, saving you valuable time, specially when you only have a few hours in port. They will be waiting for you, holding a sign with your name on it as you exit the terminal and you’ll be on your way within minutes. No lines, no waiting for shuttles, no trying to figure out how to get to/from the train station, No waiting for the next scheduled train. It took us a little less than an hour to go from the cruise terminal to our drop off point near the Vatican, door to door. Absolutely worth every penny.