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Civitavecchia to Rome Train ticket question

We're on a cruise ship that's docking for one day at Civitavecchia on Monday May 27th, 2019. I believe there will be a total of 5 cruise ships at the dock that day. Since the train to Rome is highly recommended I suspect there'll be quite a scrum for people going to/from Rome. We plan to get off at Trastevere Station in Rome, not Termini. We've been to Rome before, but not the Trastevere neighborhood. This will give us a day of slow wandering on the back streets instead of huge crowds at the more famous attractions.

The ItaliaRail web site will sell me tickets online for the trip, I just don't know if it guarantees seats. Since Trastevere Station is "downstream" from Termini on the way back to the ship, I'm concerned about purchasing a ticket then not being able to get on the train and "missing the boat". We're both older and creaky and it would be difficult for us to stand for the trip, and I don't know if the train allows standing anyway.

I've been researching Trastevere (Thank You Rick!) but I'm open to any recommendations for must see-sights or inexpensive restaurants.

Posted by
8091 posts

Last time we went out to Civitavecchia, we got on the train at the San Pietro Station. You can wait until you get to the Civitavecchia train station to purchase a round trip ticket from the people in the ticket booths.
With 5 ships coming in, your main problem is going to be catching a bus from the ship up to the front of the port. Chances are the lines will be long, and they may only have one bus running--for the whole ship. You'll want to move quick to get off the ship and get on a bus.
At the front of the port, you'll have to offload to a city bus for the short ride (1 mi.) to the train station--or catch a cab.
During the week, the commuter trains run often into Rome. (Weekends, trains are every hour.)
Trastevere is a place with many popular restaurants. It's quite a hike from the Pantheon and St. Peters, however. Rome is a place to use buses and the metro in.

Posted by
7179 posts

There are several different services between Civitavecchia and Rome, mainly distinguished by number of stops. So it varies from under an hour to over an hour. AFAIK, all the services are basic local rail. I don't even know if there are first class carriages. But I can't see there being any guarantee of seats connected to advance-purchase of an ordinary ticket. Local rail doesn't work that way very many places. I wouldn't worry about regulation of "standing". It's a pretty basic train.

Think about your transport from the ship to the station. I'm pretty fit, and I found it sweltering and long, and had trouble following Rick's detailed description of the walk. (Public busses maybe half-hourly. Imagine how crowded they'll be.) You also have to account for the need to take the proprietary Port shuttle bus (free) to the little bus station, where the ordinary taxis might wait just outside . Probably most Cruise Company excursions are allowed onto the pier, but many vehicles are not allowed. Is your ship so big that the fat cats get to debark first?

Our host, Rick, has a long essay about One Day in Rome from Civitavecchia, which I read in his Med. Cruise Ports book, but I think he has published it elsewhere. He wrote it because of demand, not because it's a good idea to try to do this! You might find it in your public library.

Posted by
8293 posts

Opt for the ship transportation to Rome and back to the ship. You won't be sorry.

Posted by
3812 posts

It's quite easy: If the train is an InterCity (IC on trenitalia.com) you'll have reserved seats, like everybody else because standing is forbidden on those trains. If the train you are gettiNg a ticket for is a Regionale or a Regionale Veloce (R or RV) you won't have a reserved seat because there are no reserved seats on R and RV trains.

Posted by
7179 posts

I see that there are about 12 weekday trains from Civitavecchia to Roma Termini between 6:00AM and 11:00AM. One is Freccia and One is IC. Maybe you could tell the OP whether the superior train tickets are good on the 8 RV or R trains, should they wish to set out for Rome before 9:16AM when the Freccciabianca leaves - for Termini, of course. And if they elect to buy a walk-up R/RV ticket for 4 or 5 Euros, is the Freccia ticket r-e-f-u-n-d-a-b-l-e?