We love it when readers reach out with questions. One of our favorites came from a fellow traveler who wanted advice on how to spend a day in Rome from the Civitavecchia cruise port. She had a clear goal in mind: to visit the awe-inspiring Sistine Chapel and experience the grandeur of the Colosseum, all in one day. However, she also wanted to avoid the overwhelming crowds that often accompany organized cruise excursions.
As I began to delve into the topic, I realized that many other people might have the same burning question: As a cruiser, how can you make the most of your limited time in Rome without sacrificing the quality of your experience?
Here are my personal insights and practical tips to help you navigate the Eternal City on your own terms. I know you’re wondering:
- How to see Rome in a day on a cruise
- How to get to Rome from the cruise port
- How much time to spend in Rome when you’re on a cruise
I’ll also share tips for touring Rome on your own from Civitavecchia, as well as links to relevant tickets and tours.
🏆 Just looking for transportation? The best value is this 2-way bus from the port to Rome. You’ll get to explore the Eternal City as you wish and won’t have to worry about getting back to the port in time.
How to spend one day in Rome from cruise ship
Rome, the capital of Italy, is a city brimming with history, culture, and world-renowned landmarks. It is a destination that holds countless treasures, but it can also be overwhelming for first-time visitors. And if you want to see Rome in a day from the cruise port, it’s crucial to plan your itinerary wisely. You’ll need to make strategic choices to optimize your time.
Getting into the city will take some planning. Rome’s cruise port is 40 miles (62 kilometers) away from the city. Here are your options for visiting Rome from the cruise ship.
💡 PRO TIP: It’s worth buying Rick Steves’ Mediterranean Cruise Ports if you’re an independent cruiser. The guidebook covers how to spend your day in various ports: itineraries, must-see spots, places to eat, local currency, how to get into town, even self-guided walks and tours.
1. Take a cruise ship shore excursion
- Pros: The official cruise ship Rome excursions are plug-and-play convenient, because they make all the arrangements and simply add the fee to your final bill. Plus, if a cruise tour has a delay getting back to the ship, the ship will wait for you.
- Cons: This is the most expensive option, and you will be sightseeing with a busload of other tourists.
2. Buy your tickets yourself
- Pros: The cheapest option. You book your own transportation, buy your own tickets, and use a guidebook to decide what to see in Rome.
- Cons: It’s your responsibility to be back on the ship in time.
3. Book your own guided tour of Rome
Many cruisers book their own guided tours, saying it’s worth the added expense for a once-in-a-lifetime trip. A guide will take you on a well-planned route that will cover top attractions and maximize your valuable sightseeing time.
Among the countless operators that offer tours in Rome, we can recommend Get Your Guide, Viator, and Take Walks from personal experience. You’re bound to find a few Rome tour options that you’ll enjoy.
ⓘ BUDGET TIP: If you’re traveling with others, look for tours that charge one flat fee for your group, not per person. Here is one we like. If traveling solo, check your Roll Call on Cruise Critic. People often look for others who want to split the cost of a group tour.
Check the itinerary carefully to ensure it’s what you want. For example, not all tours go inside the Colosseum.
Things to know:
- Tours range in price and often cost the same as cruise excursions.
- There will be fewer people on tours you book yourself.
- Some tours pick you up at the port, while other tours begin and end in Rome.
- Tours that depart from Civitavecchia cater to cruise schedules. They will make sure they get you back to the ship on time because their reputations depend on it!
- Tours that start in Rome are more varied and suited to a wider range of interests.
ⓘ TIP: You’ll be on your feet all day, so wear your most comfortable shoes. Be sure to bring a hat, sunglasses, water, and sunscreen. Your clothing must cover your shoulders and knees if you plan to enter St. Peter’s Basilica.
How do I get to Rome from the cruise port?
1. Car
No matter where you are on the planet, city driving is a challenge, parking is expensive, and you’ll waste precious sightseeing time if you don’t know the streets. That said, cars are convenient if you have other places to visit en route. (You can check prices here.)
2. Train
Civitavecchia train station is near the port. You can buy your ticket there, but if you want to avoid the ticket line and be on your way, you should buy your tickets in advance online. The official website is Trenitalia, but refunds can be hard to get. Omio‘s website is more user-friendly and their customer service is much better.
Choose the high-speed train to Rome and back; the regular one takes much longer. You don’t want to spend your precious sightseeing hours traveling to and fro!
3. Coach transfer from Civitavecchia Port
If you just need round-trip transfer between Rome and the Civitavecchia cruise terminal, this is for you. These buses take you there and back, giving you 6–8 hours to explore the “Eternal City” as you please. The trip will take 60–80 minutes each way and can be cheaper than the cruise line’s transfer service.
Book Your Round-Trip Ride to Rome
How much time to spend in Rome from the cruise ship?
As you begin your planning, factor in 1.5 hours to get to Rome from the cruise ship port. Budget 2 hours to get back to the ship, due to Rome’s typical delays and strikes as well as clearing the security line at the port. You’ll end up with 6–8 hours for sightseeing.
Regardless of when your ship docks, it takes time to get a seat on the port shuttle and then walk to the train station. So, you likely won’t board the train in Civitavecchia until 8:30 a.m. or later. Anticipate that you’ll be sightseeing by around 10:00–10:30.
The primary concern is getting back to the ship in time; you don’t want the ship to leave without you! Assuming your “Back on Board” time is 6:00, we recommend heading back no later than 4:00 pm. Agree ahead of time with your travel partners when to head back, to avoid the temptation to see just one more thing and lose track of time.
ⓘ TIP: Your cruise ship’s Daily Newsletter will have a phone number for who to contact in an emergency. Take it with you every day and save the number to your phone. If you are delayed or something happens, you can let them know your status and find out what to do.
Visiting the Colosseum on a cruise
If you intend to visit the Colosseum, you’ll want to go there first, while it’s cooler. (Be sure to read our Roman Colosseum article to get the top tips for visiting this iconic site!)
The distance from the cruise port to the Colosseum is 62 km/38.5 mi, or 80.6 km/50 mi by car.
To get from Rome cruise port to the Colosseum, take the express, high-speed train from Civitavecchia to Roma Termini station (60–90 minutes). Then, take metro line B and get off at the “Colosseo” stop (9 minutes).
The most important thing to know is that all Colosseum tickets have a scheduled admission time, and morning tickets are in high demand. So, if at all possible, purchase your Colosseum tickets as soon as you book your cruise. Try to get a 10:45 or 11:00 slot.
How much time does it take to visit the Colosseum?
Plan to spend an hour exploring the Coliseum on your own, including time for selfies and other photo opportunities. Guided tours generally last about 90 minutes.
Your ticket includes free admission to the Forum and Palatine Hill, which are adjacent. For planning purposes, you should allow another 1.5 to 2 hours to visit the Roman Forum, plus an extra hour for Palatine Hill.
To see it all in the least amount of time, you should book a guided tour. Most tours last 2½ – 3 hours.
For what it’s worth, we regretted not booking a guided tour when we visited the Forum, Palatine Hill, and Colosseum. We had read up on it beforehand, but we would have gotten so much more out of it if we had a guide to point out the significant stuff and answer our questions. Not to mention, we could have conserved a great deal of energy and avoided weary feet.
Visiting the Vatican on a cruise
If you want to spend your day in Rome at the Vatican, the best way to get from Civitavecchia Port to Vatican City is by train. Buy a return (round-trip) ticket from Civitavecchia to Stazione Roma S. Pietro. Trains run every half hour and the journey takes about 43 minutes.
How to get to the Vatican from the Colosseum. Take Line B towards Rebibbia. At Termini station, switch to Line A towards Battistini and get off at Ottaviano. The trip takes 15–20 minutes.
ⓘ TIP: Be sure to stop for lunch before entering the museums.
How much time is needed to visit the Vatican Museums?
The Vatican Museums are extensive, and so is the ticket line. The fastest way to enter is to buy skip-the-line tickets to the Vatican Museums ahead of time.
Visiting the museums on your own, you should expect to spend at least 3–4 hours walking through the most important rooms and visiting the Sistine Chapel.
To see the highlights in the shortest amount of time, you should book a guided tour. Most tours last for about 3 hours. This tour is especially good.
How to see the Sistine chapel
The Sistine Chapel is part of the Vatican Museums. You can’t get a separate ticket for the Sistine Chapel alone.
If you ONLY want to see the Sistine Chapel, you will need to walk through the entire museum to get there. It’s the final room, and there’s no shortcut. If you don’t stop to see anything else on the way, it will take 1-2 hours to navigate from the entrance to the chapel, depending on the crowds.
This world class museum complex is full of famous works of art. It’s so massive that it would take days to see it all. You can take virtual tours of many rooms online.
ⓘ TIP: As you exit the Sistine Chapel, you’ll be at St. Peter’s Basilica. You can avoid going through security again if you enter the Basilica directly from the Chapel. This is where Michelangelo’s famous Pieta statue is located.
Can you see the Roman Colosseum and the Vatican in one day?
Yes. It is possible to see both the Vatican Museums AND the Colosseum in one day if you purchase both entry tickets online before you arrive. Not only are Colosseum tickets in high demand, but it can take hours to get through the super-long ticket lines at the Vatican Museums.
Keep in mind that the Vatican Museums and the Colosseum are located on opposite sides of the city. As they are on different metro lines, it will take a while to get from one to the other.
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Thoughts about seeing Rome on your own from Civitavecchia
Depending on how much energy your group has, you can use our article 7 Things to See at the Vatican to see more of the Holy See or head back to the ship early and check out Civitavecchia.
Free sights near both the Colosseum and Vatican City include the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Piazza Navona, and Campo de’ Fiori, as well as many wonderful churches. Better yet, they have no lines.
Take Walks offers experiences that will fit into your time in Rome. Here is a sampling:
- Premium Colosseum – multiple run times per day, 3 hours duration
- Crypts, Bones & Catacombs – recommend a 12:30 departure, 3.5-hour duration
- Pasta-Making Class – lunchtime class at 11am, 3.5 hours duration
No matter what you decide to do, don’t forget to grab some gelato along the way!
Priorities vary. Some people are happy with visiting just one sight, while others squeeze as much as possible into one day. In, out, back to the ship happy.
You might want to check Rome off your Bucket List or look at a one-day visit as a sampler and immediately begin planning a return trip.
Romans think Rome is meant to be savored, and spend hours eating a simple meal. And no wonder… With 28 centuries of history, there’s no end to the things to see in Rome. No matter how much you manage to see and do, you’ll leave wanting more.
| ROME TRAVEL PLANNING ESSENTIALS |
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| ✔ Travel Guide: This Italy travel guide is a top seller on Amazon. If you’re only visiting Rome, Rick Steves Rome is better. ✔ Visas/ETIAS for the EU: Find out what you need, and apply here. ✔ Travel Insurance: Covers lost bags, delays, injuries, and more. We like SafetyWing ✔ Currency: This free app calculates exact currency exchange values. ✔ Flights: Rome’s airport is FCO. Check flight prices here. ✔ Airport transfer: Prebook transportation to your hotel ✔ Accommodation: For Rome, check Booking ● Vrbo ● HostelWorld. For Vatican City, click here. ✔ Getting around: Fastest by metro or on foot. Outside of the city, take the train, use Flixbus, or rent a car. ✔ City Discount Card: The OMNIA Vatican Card and Roma Pass includes the most attractions. ✔ Tickets & tours: GetYourGuide and Take Walks offer a wide variety of options. ✔ Organized trips: G Adventures has insanely affordable small-group tours + guaranteed departures. |
Hi Linda! We are scheduled to cruise at the end of May and will be stopping in Civitavecchia. I’ve done a one day tour of Rome before and visited St. Peter’s, the ruins, and the Coloseum. They were definitely not to be missed when visiting Rome. Having said that, I, however, missed seeing the Vatican Museum and the Sistine Chapel then so this time I would really like to see them, as well as the Pantheon. You said that we can take the train from the port and should only take 45 mins, that’s great! Is there a way to get from the Vatican to where the Pantheon is located?
Sure. You can take Bus 64 (12 minutes) or walk (29 minutes). (I’ll let you in on a secret: I used Rome2Rio to get the routes and travel times. The website calculates all the ways you can get from one place to another, free.)
You might want to check our Guide to the Best Things to See in Vatican City beforehand, just to ensure you don’t miss anything else while you’re there, lol. Have fun!
My wife and I attempted to do a walking tour during a stop in Rome. We were able to see a lot but I bet we would have seen even more if we used a car service. This being said it was one fantastic trip.
We’ll agree with you, Johnny. Rome is enjoyable, even if you don’t see a lot. Was there a highlight for you?
Great advice! In our experience, the best time-saving (and sanity-saving) advice is to book ahead and skip the lines, especially when time is short. I do think seeing just the Sistine Chapel is a mistake. The Vatican Museum and St. Peters are amazing, and worth every minute you can spend there, so a tour can easily fill more than a few hours. We did both by starting a cruise in Rome, but if I had to choose and time was limited, I’d go for the Colosseum – even with the Forum and Palatine Hill, we felt satisfied with our three hour tour.
The problem with Rome is that there are so many wonderful things to see! How much time did you spend in Rome before you began your cruise? Do you think that was enough?
It would be nice to have an unlimited time in any travel stop we make but this is just not realistic and what we do with the time we do have depends on our personalities. Thank you for giving the tips how to enjoy both the slow and busy travel days in Rome:)
You’re welcome; I’m glad you enjoyed it. It sure would be nice to hear how she ended up spending her day.
This is great advice! Especially about booking tickets online in advance. There was nothing more satisfying during our time in Rome than to skip right past the looooooong queues with our pre-booked tickets. 🙂
You’re right, Fairlie. I’ve often thought that the time savings more than offsets the few extra dollars it might cost to buy a ticket beforehand — especially when you’re only in the area for a short time. Every moment is valuable! An added bonus: You won’t have to endure any possible bad weather.
This is such a wonderful, comprehensive answer to her question. We were fortunate to have a few days to explore Rome on on our own, and I still feel like there’s so much we didn’t see. I also wondered if it was doable as a one day port excursion. I’ve always been a little bit worried about a DIY port excursion for fear that the ship would sail without me. Do they ever depart before everyone is on board?
We usually do tours on our own, just plan to be back in plenty of time. They cynic in me can’t help but wonder if they might threaten to leave passengers behind so they will be more inclined to take a cruise-run tour. 😉 We don’t like big crowds so those tours aren’t for us. There are plenty of private guides and tours available, both online and at the ports, and they promise to get you back in plenty of time to sail. We had an especially great experience with our first private tour, a cave tubing tour in Belize.
Common sense says to arrive back early just in case, but it’s reassuring to know that cruise lines have check-in systems to ensure all their passengers are on board and will wait for quite a while to make sure everyone makes it back. That said, at some point they will have to set sail if it gets too late.
Great advice and options! I haven’t been to Rome yet, but you gave me some great things to remember when I do go. I definitely want to see both places. I was trying to decide which traveler I am. haha I’m a see as many as possible, check it off, but leave an option to return in the future. Thanks for the insightful look into visiting Rome!
Well, take it from us, three days in Rome is definitely NOT enough. We kept seeing more and more things we wanted to see, and that’s without all the day trips to places like Pompeii!
I hate to hurry through things, but sometimes it is definitely a necessity. Nowadays, you can buy almost all museum tickets online before you go and you will not regret it. It’s worth taking a few minutes when planning, to decide which museums you want to go to!
You’re so right, Corinne. Hurrying through things is definitely a necessity on occasion — for instance, if you want to spend layover time in the city.
As for buying museum tickets online, spending a few extra dollars is a worthwhile investment if you want to ensure you don’t waste precious vacation time. Planning ahead is absolutely essential, as you said. We were especially glad we had the Paris Pass when we saw the ticket line snaking all the way around the Louvre. Being able to enter right away saved us enough time to see the Rodin museum as well! Worth every penny, that.
Excellent advice when time is limited. I am an advocate of the hop on hop off buses when time is short particularly. All very helpful information.
We are as well, Paula. Glad you agree. We’ve found that HOHO buses are vastly underrated because they are “touristy.” Crazy, that. Their itineraries not only include most “must-see” sites but the narration in between offers a lot of insight into the city and culture.
Fabulous tips for a fun-filled day in Rome Linda. There’s so much to see, it can be difficult to decide which sites are your priorities 🙂
You’re so right, Lyndall. Luckily for our reader, she knew which two sites she really wanted to see. On the other hand, Dan and I spent 3 days there and the more we saw, the more we realized we were missing! 🙂