Are there things to do/see in Civitavecchia?

[saddlegolf]

From what I read, day tour to Rome seems to be rushed and not nearly enough time to see any sights in detail. If we don't take tour to Rome, are there things to do and see closer to Civitavecchia port?

[Hlitner]

Sure, you can go to McDonalds :).  Civitavecchia has its charm (walking along the promenade) but really is not much of a tourist town.   While seeing Rome in a port day means limiting your horizons, it is certainly a very reasonable way to spend a few hours.  There are pretty good train connections and round trip regional train plus all day's use of Rome's public transit system costs less than 14 Euros.  We have actually enjoyed entire days in Rome doing virtually nothing except sitting a café in the Piazza Navona (people watching can be great entertainment).  There are alternatives to Rome but they do take some homework to determine the best method of transportation.  One favorite place  (and often overlooked) of ours is Ostia Antica which are some extensive ruins located near Rome's FCO airport.   There is also Tivoli (with its Villa d'Este and Hadrian's Villa) although that is on the opposite side of Rome and somewhat of a challenge for a day trip (we have done it with a rental car).

 

Hank

[euro cruiser]

If you like to see things in detail I would pick one or two sites in Rome and focus all of your time on them, rather than miss the opportunity altogether.

[steamboats]

If you´ve never been to Rome go there... It´s definitely not a city to see everything in one day. But the major sites can be seen either by walking or taking a HoHo bus (several companies, all of them starting that the central station but you can also hop on at the Vatican city). The BIRG ticket is 12 Euro (at least the last time we´ve been there going to Rome) and includes the public transportation in Rome. Last time we went to Roma Ostiense and walked to the Via Appia Antica where we rented a bike (see here). Very nice trip for those who have seen most of Rome.

 

We have been there on land trips and many ship visits. But we also stay in Civitavecchia. We love the nice market there. Here are some views (part 1 and part 2). But to be honest there´s not really much to see. There´s an excellent gelato shop but a bit offside.

 

Close to Civitavecchia is Tarquinia. You can take the public bus or an organized tour (like this one - just to give you an idea what to expect - there are other offers at Largo della Pace).

 

steamboats

[dogs4fun]

19 hours ago, saddlegolf said:

If we don't take tour to Rome, are there things to do and see closer to Civitavecchia port?

I would recommend a trip to Rome - you could take the train (easy and inexpensive) and focus on just a few sights in this magnificent city.

If your heart is set on Civitavecchia, in all honesty, there really is not a whole lot to interest one in the city. We did visit the Taurine Baths (Baths of Trajan) on one of our visits. They are located about 2-3 miles from the city center. 

[ollienbertsmum]

Whilst I agree with the other posters that a day in Rome is the best way to spend a port day in Civitavecchia, can I suggest Tarquinia as an alternative. 

 

Tarquinia is an interesting town with some tombs from the Estruscan times.  You can easily get there by train (in the opposite direction to Rome) and a short bus ride or walk.  

 

On one of our Western Med Cruises we thought we would take a change from Rome and had a pleasant afternoon in Tarquinia.  

[euro cruiser]

1 hour ago, ollienbertsmum said:

Tarquinia is an interesting town with some tombs from the Estruscan times.  You can easily get there by train (in the opposite direction to Rome) and a short bus ride or walk.

 

The train station for Tarquinia is in the valley while the town is on the top of a hill.  The distance from the train station isn't great, about two miles, but it's significantly uphill and mostly on narrow, curving roads with no sidewalks so it's not a walk for the faint of heart.  There is a bus from the train station to town.

 

It's easier to just take the bus directly from Civitavecchia to Tarquinia.  You can get the bus quite close to the port exit and it drops you just steps from the Etruscan museum and not far from the necropolis.

 

I think the Cotral (the bus company for Lazio) web site is awful but you can see the schedule by choosing "percorso e tariffe" and using Via Luigi Cadorna Civitavecchia as your starting point and Largo Barriera San Giusto Tarquinia as your destination.  Be sure to set max changes to 0.  Remember that dates in Italy are day/month/year and that hours for transportation use a 24 hour clock (in other words, 2 PM is 14:00).

 

https://servizi.cotralspa.it/PercorsiTariffe

[ollienbertsmum]

On 12/26/2019 at 9:16 PM, euro cruiser said:

 

The train station for Tarquinia is in the valley while the town is on the top of a hill.  The distance from the train station isn't great, about two miles, but it's significantly uphill and mostly on narrow, curving roads with no sidewalks so it's not a walk for the faint of heart.  There is a bus from the train station to town.

 

It's easier to just take the bus directly from Civitavecchia to Tarquinia.  You can get the bus quite close to the port exit and it drops you just steps from the Etruscan museum and not far from the necropolis.

 

I think the Cotral (the bus company for Lazio) web site is awful but you can see the schedule by choosing "percorso e tariffe" and using Via Luigi Cadorna Civitavecchia as your starting point and Largo Barriera San Giusto Tarquinia as your destination.  Be sure to set max changes to 0.  Remember that dates in Italy are day/month/year and that hours for transportation use a 24 hour clock (in other words, 2 PM is 14:00).

 

https://servizi.cotralspa.it/PercorsiTariffe

 

You are right, the walk from the train station was not a highlight of our day, walking doesn’t really bother us though.  We did not have great public transport options because we were there on a public holiday.  We just got on the train and winged it.  It was a lovely day out.  

[Giantfan13]

We have been to Civi several times, as a departure point and as a cruise stop. As a whole. there really isn't that much to do, but we wanted something different. On exploring this site, and others, we came across a Thermal Spa/Baths, Ficoncella Thermal Baths  https://civitavecchia.portmobility.it/en/ficoncella-thermal-baths. Now this was something we were interested in. 

We had to get a taxi to take us there and also made arrangements for him to pick us up at a certain time and it all worked out wonderfully. The taxi is sort of expensive, but the baths are only about 1-3 euros, depending on how long you want to 'soak'. The day we went, we were the only 'tourists' there and had a wonderful time with some of the locals who frequent this place.

Anyway, it suited us fine, had a memorable day doing something no one else ever did, visiting Civi.

 

Cheers

Len