Florence to Civitavecchia questions

[Clearwater]

Would love some assistance. We are flying into Rome in October.  We were going to stay in Rome (been several times) but with all the rehab, scaffolding and construction happening, I think we want to head to Florence instead.

 

We land on a Sat at 1:15,  will clear customs, etc and head to Florence. 
 

Couple questions: 

 

does FCO have trains to Florence? 
 

Our cruise departs 7pm on Wednesday so we have essentially Saturday evening, Sunday, Mon, Tuesday.  
 

next question is: 

 

If we aren’t departing until 7pm on the cruise, are we safe to leave very early on Wednesday morning to get to the port in time or is it recommended to be there by Tuesday from Florence? 
 

thanks in advance! 

[euro cruiser]

There are direct trains from Fiumicino to Florence (stops, but no change of train) but you arrive too late to take one of them.  There are plenty of trains, however, they require a change in Rome.  It's pretty easy to do, especially if you don't have a ton of luggage.

 

With a 7 PM departure the latest you can check in is probably around 5 PM.  I would take the risk and travel from Florence to Civitavecchia the day of the cruise departure because you'll have fallback options.  

 

You can take the train (the fastest require one change in Rome) or rent a car and drive yourself.  The fastest train options take 3 - 2 1/4 hours.  Driving takes 3.5 - 4 hours but offers you the flexibility of stopping along the way.  

[Hlitner]

Going to do this quick, without doing any research.  Regarding construction in Rome, that is like saying there is some contruction in London, Paris, etc.  Rome is a large sprawling city and a little construction is no biggie (just avoid those few blocks).  As to going to Florence, I think your best bet is take the train into Rome (Termini) where you can get a high speed train to Florence   From Florence, we would have no problem taking an early morning train to get to the port at Civitavecchia.  But you do need to do some research, closer to your actual day, to make sure there are no train strikes scheduled on that day.  As to a Plan B, one can always arrange to do a one way rental car and drive yourself from Florence to Civitavecchia (we have dropped cars here a few times).  It is actually an easy drive, almost all on major highways.  Plan C is using the Flixbus (between Florence and Rome) and grabbing a taxi to Civitavecchia.

 

Hank

[Clearwater]

Hank, while I normally would agree with that sentiment… this time it’s way more extreme.  There is a website with the multi billion dollar grant and what it entails.  Seeing many of the big fountains all drained and behind paneling, the colosseum having tons of construction walls up, the pantheon outside in scaffolding and fountain drained and so so much more is a lot to the 3 people who are coming with and want to see them.  My friend there is a big guide & she said to come in 2026 when it’s all over. So I’d really like to give them a different experience for their first time. 

[-Lew-]

On 6/22/2024 at 11:01 PM, Clearwater said:

There is a website with the multi billion dollar grant and what it entails.

 

Would you be kind enough to provide a link to that website?  In response to your initial post I did a search and came up with nothing unusual...seeing no mention of a multi billion dollar grant earmarked for restoration of historical sites.

[euro cruiser]

Lew, while we wait for the OP to come back with the site they are quoting from, there are some official news sites with general information, like the Catholic News Agency:  Here’s how the city of Rome is preparing for the 2025 Jubilee Year | Catholic News Agency

 

This is the official list of projects from the city of Rome's website:  Roma si trasforma - Interventions, projects and active construction sites in the city

 

There is a seemingly comprehensive article on one website, which may be the OP's source, but I hesitate to quote from it as it was written by folks promoting their own tour services.  Even acknowledged news sources on the web have loose editing these days, in their rush to be first out with something, but an entrepreneur has no editing or oversight at all, so while everything they say may be correct, I look for more official sources.

[-Lew-]

15 minutes ago, euro cruiser said:

Lew, while we wait for the OP to come back with the site they are quoting from...

 

Thank you, @euro cruiser.  The two sites you provided contain much valuable information.

 

We can't seem to visit Italy without including Roma in our itinerary.  We always come across restoration projects in major European cities...it's a fact of life.  We especially enjoy seeing what has been done on a future visit.