Rome Shore Excursions Mediterranean Antiquities

[Traveler456]

Does anyone have a recommendation for shore excursions for Rome on the Mediterranean Antiquities cruise?  Thank you.

[Peregrina651]

Any of the three we have done are wonderful choices, depending upon what you are looking for.

 

If you are into ancient history and ancient ruins, try one of these two:

 

Tarquina: It is all about the Etruscans, who settled in Italy before the Romans. Stop one is the Necropolis of Tarquina and stop two is the town of Tarquina, where you can wander around on your own, visiting the Museum of Archeology and checking out the rest of the town.

 

 

Ostia was the ancient seaport at the mouth of the Tiber river and hence a very important part of the Roman economy -- without the cataclysmic ending. Lots to see here. Like Pompeii, very spread out but very walkable.

 

 

 

Rome. The included tour. We purposely chose this one because we knew that I would be jet-lagged and would sleep the whole but ride in and out of Rome (and I did). We also chose this one because we had been to Rome before and did not have a checklist of must-sees. We were just along for the ride.

 

This tour is half drive-by tour of Rome with a short get-off-the-bus photo stop at the Circus Maximus and half on your own in Vatican City. Having already seen St. Peter's, we headed away from the crowds and took a leisurely stroll along the Tiber River.

 

Many people use an included tour as transportation into the city they are visiting. For those who thinking about leaving the included tour and meeting it at the end, I would point out that the drive-time in and out Rome does not leave that much time touring on your own, 3 hours or so. If Viking is offering the "Rome On Your Own" it is a better option. More expensive than taking the train but less time wasted getting to and from train stations. The bus drops you at Vatican City and waits for you there.

[formernuke]

We did Highlights of Rome and the Coliseum. This was great. Got an excellent Coliseum tour and most of the rest of the most important sites in Rome EXCEPT the Vatican. Good restaurant lunch included as well. It's really not possible to do both the Coliseum and the Vatican in one day anyway, so you really need to choose. But this tour ticked most of the other boxes for us in Rome. 

[Mich3554]

3 hours ago, formernuke said:

We did Highlights of Rome and the Coliseum. This was great. Got an excellent Coliseum tour and most of the rest of the most important sites in Rome EXCEPT the Vatican. Good restaurant lunch included as well. It's really not possible to do both the Coliseum and the Vatican in one day anyway, so you really need to choose. But this tour ticked most of the other boxes for us in Rome. 

We did this tour too for the same reasons.  It was a very long and busy day and I can’t imagine trying to tack the Vatican in on top of it.