Civitavecchia (Rome), Italy Cruises

We walked to the train and got off near Vatican City. Went to the Forum, the Colosseum, and Trevi Fountain. So great to see these awesome places!

Visited: Jun 04, 2017

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We left our cruise to spend 4 more days in Rome. I’m glad we took the opportunity to do this. Rome is huge! It’s a big city that grew up around a large amount of Roman ruins. If you get to do this, make sure you plan months in advance of you trip there for the tours, as the tour places buy up all the tickets to do their tours. Trying to book a tour when you get there can be done, but it is more difficult to do. Must see attractions; The Trevi Fountain, the Colosseum,(of course), Piazza Popolo, Villa Borghese, Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, Piazza Veniza, the Jewish Ghetto, Castel de Angelo, and Saint Peter’s Basilica. The Trevi Fountain is very crowed, so try to get there early in the am to get close enough to take pictures. Anything with Piazza in front of the name usually is a large park like plaza, which Rome is replete with. Piazza Navona is the biggest, I believe. Great place to stop and eat. Piazza Veniza is very near the Colosseum and has a huge architectural masterpiece in that one. The Pantheon was spectacular! Make sure to look for Rafael’s tomb there. Castel de Angelo is huge defensive fort that’s a must see. The Colosseum tour is awesome, but four hours long as you go to Palatine Hill and the Roman Forum. Lots of walking, so bring a hat, suntan lotion, sunglasses, and good shoes. If you want to go underground you must book this months before you go. It’s a separate tour. Be prepared to spend 80-100 euros for that tour. Finally there is St. Peter’s Basilica. We booked with “The Roman Guy”. Great tour! I highly recommend them, but go early! I can’t stress this enough. Right when the Vatican opens for business. Make sure you see, St Peter’s tomb under the Pope’s altar, the Pieta by Michelangelo, Bernini’s colonnade, the Sistine Chapel, (no talking, no pictures, & zero tolerance! After the tour, if you’re in shape go to the top of the church’s dome. The views of Rome from here are amazing! Be prepared, if you are claustrophobic you may not want to do this. Lots of people too. The tour also included the Vatican museum. Priceless works of art, sculptures, and tapestries. Finally, go under the church to see where all the Popes are buried. Make sure you take videos of the Swiss Guards. Villa Borghese is a huge park with art museums, a zoo, you name it. There are art museums in Rome, but very expensive to get a ticket, 100 plus Euros, per person. Food is amazing. I recommend food at Piazza Navona, restaurants near the Colosseum, particularly Ristorante de Angelo. The Jewish Ghetto also has good food too, recommend “Ba, Ghetto”. We saw all the sites above, and still did not see everything. Rome has great treasures, that they are racing against time to preserve for future generations. I hope none of these treasures succumb, because to lose them, we would lose our humanity. As with any big city take precautions against pickpockets and be aware of your surroundings.

Rome, what can you say, it’s Rome!!! This is one of the few organised tours we have done & it was well worth it! As it is a bit away from the port and we have 2 young girls we thought it would be the best option. 1st stop was the coliseum, we didn’t go in but spent time having a good look around outside and in the surrounding area. Standing in awe looking up at the building makes you feel slightly insignificant somehow. Stop 2, was the trevi fountain & Spanish steps. Unfortunately the steps were closed for maintenance, but they did look quite impressive all the same. The fountain was spectacular and having lobbed the coin over the shoulder as directed by my wife, I should be back there at some point in the future! 3rd and final stop was St. Peter’s square. It was stunning, never have I felt so small in such an open and expansive area. We hadn’t planned on going into the basilica as we expected the queues to be massive, however there was no queue at the time we were there and we were able to walk straight in! My wife, who is not catholic was moved to tears inside, she was dumbstruck by the place, I’m catholic and I have to say I was too! All in all it was a great day & well worth the money paid for the excursion! Rome, we will be back!

The Colosseum, Arch of Constantine, and Historic ruins of Rome were a remarkable experience.

Visited: Apr 02, 2018

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No words can describe how beautiful Rome is and would love to go back❤️ck ❤️

Visited: Apr 22, 2018

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