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Rome Italy
The 23 photos on this site are all in Rome Italy.
Wow was this an adventure. So we have not done a cruise tour yet and did not join one in Rome. We had done a bit of research about travel from the port to Rome and what all it would entail. Before we got off the ship, they really stressed to us all about getting back before 6:30pm departure as people have missed the ship due to train issues back from Rome. That seemed to scare a lot of people. So we planned to get back to the Rome’s main railway station at 3:00 giving us plenty of opportunities to catch different trains at different times. The trick we learned was there are four Rome train stations. The first Rome station (San Piedro) is where Vatican City is located about 45 minutes from the port. Since that was our number one site to see, we planned to get off at that station first. But … you want to make sure you leave Rome from the main terminal (Rome Termini) when returning back to the port. The reason being if the trains are packed full
leaving Rome Termini, they will not stop at the other stations. Not good if you’re trying to get back to catch a cruise ship. So that was the plan for what it was worth - at least we had one and it made sense to us. After successfully navigating the train station near the port, we made it to Vatican City and visited many of the sites there. The place was full of people so can’t imagine what it would be like in the summer time. We then paid for tickets on one of the Rome hop on/hop off buses so we could see the many sites by bus and photograph some that we thought we might not get back to see before leaving the city. We jumped off the bus at the Coliseum stop and again it was packed with people, but we were able to get plenty of photos of the exterior of the Coliseum and then got tickets to go inside at the Roman Forum location a few hundred yards away. The line at the Coliseum for tickets seemed to be endless, while at the Roman Forum ticket counter we just walked up and purchased tickets without
waiting. With that done, we walked past hundreds of people trying to get inside the Coliseum and all they had to do was go to another site only a minute away. The inside of the Coliseum was just as amazing as the outside with some museum elements added along one wall. After an hour at the Coliseum we walked to several sites that included the Trevi Fountains, Pantheon and numerous other sites. Just after leaving the Coliseum, we saw an Information Center with the idea they could give us train schedule from the Roman Termini. We were correct and by doing so knew when we had to be at the station to catch an early train back to the port (takes about 1 to 1:15 back to port depending on if it is a regional or national train). After getting many of the historic sites in by 3pm, we headed quickly by foot to the Roman Termini and just our luck, we missed the 3:12pm train back to the port by 2 minutes – who said the trains don’t run on time in Italy?? They were wrong! Fortunately, with schedule in hand, we knew we could catch the 3:45pm train
which we did but it was packed full but we were on it. The next train after that would be a full hour which would be pushing it to get to the ship before departure. Our plan was working - yes! We got back to the port city train terminal with time to drink a beer by the beach (added bonus) and then walk the 20 minutes back to the port gates to catch the shuttle to the ship. Even with that, we got back on at 6:15pm and 15 minutes to spare. So we got to see more Rome sites than we initially planned with a bit of time and lots of walking!
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Hope Carr
non-member comment
transportation help
They are called Taxis when you are rushed, they are everywhere!