Lodging in Civitavecchia pre-cruise and rec's post cruise

If you search for Civitavecchia on Google maps, it shows several hotels and B&Bs, both near the port and in the town.

In reverse order:

Is SML Santa Margherita Ligure? I had to search for that on the Intenet, and the first thing that came up under SML is an apparently popular show with puppets.

The Cinque Terre in Italy has been one of Rick Steves’ favorite destinations for a long time. We went many years ago and found it magical. Returning for a longer stay two years ago, it was impossibly overcrowded and not magical. If a cafe table with a wonderful view is your main goal, maybe the region would work for you.

Nice, France is one of my favorite places anywhere. We’re going back again in 2024. Getting there by train from Civitaveccia will mean a long day, with train changes. I’ve done it from Florence - very long day.

So Rome’s not an option at the beginning. Is Milan, if that’s where you fly in, or are you risk-averse for any big city? And you would need to allow more time to be at your departure port at your desired time than with Rome. If your searching for Civitavecchia lodging listed nothing, Rick seems like your best bet.

You have some stiff requirements, which seem to work against a satisfactory solution. For example, while some of us might suggest Viterbo or even Orvieto, it's clear that is too far away for your sister's comfort. And because Civitavecchia is not that close to Rome, you likely have a slow, often local train ride to Termini (in, gasp!, Rome) to begin your trip to some distant, post-cruise location.

Although Civitavecchia is annoyingly far from Rome, vast numbers of people, perhaps reluctantly paying for a car service (after their travel agent failed to tell them about Civitavecchia's location before buying the cruise!), have reached their ship without missing the departure. It simply is not risky to check out of a Rome hotel at 9AM and get on a ship that only STARTS accepting boarding at 1 or 2 PM. I personally find trains less ... worrisome ... than cars, but we only took the train (once or twice) so that we could say that we had done it. That's because we don't live in terror of missing the boat. It stops quite far from the port. (We WALKED to the port the first time we used the train, because the city busses were only half-hourly, and could not accommodate the crowd waiting.)

I could imagine renting a car to stay in some place nearby more interesting than Civitavecchia, and returning the car within walking distance (I guess that depends on luggage) of the Port shuttle-bus circle. But I think you're ruling out a car (and there are plenty of drawbacks to renting a car in Italy, although we certainly were glad to have one for Tuscany.) It would be useful to know if you're leaving from the bricks-and-mortar cruise terminal, which takes taxis directly, I think.

As a concrete suggestion, I'd say Tuscany after the cruise, and maybe fly out of Milan. But you have only hinted at your travel style. Rivieras might be starting to get quite by the end of September. But it sounds like your style is perhaps more "passive" than many posters here. I think you want to go to one hotel and stay there for the duration? Maybe you don't hike, or even walk long distances each day? You don't say if you've been to Venice before, which now has a lot of flights to the US.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/rome-airport-to-port-outside-of-rome

Thank you for the information. I will be re-thinking the pre and post cruise options.

I have no problem with cities and it may be that staying in Rome pre-cruise may be the best option. Post-cruise, flying between Rome and Nice would not be my first choice but it may be the best option given travel times by rail (esp since I have since reviewed Rome2Rio website on travel times).

I would be interested in hearing opinions re: Venice or Nice. Sister and I have both been to Venice (me 3x, sis 2x) and both love it. Neither of us have been to Nice. The YouTube videos I have seen of Nice are enticing. My travel style is laid back and casual. I can spend hours people watching while enjoying coffee or a glass of 2 of wine. Sis is the extrovert and can carry on a conversation with a stone and get the back-story. Sis and I have limited interest in cathedrals. I will go take a peek, but that is about it. I will visit museums if related to my interests. I am more into modern history than ancient, Expressionist and modern art vs old masters, nature vs cityscapes.

I think I have answered my own question here. But thanks and keep any suggestions coming. I have the most recent editions of the RS Italy and France books.

With not a lot of time available, flying is probably your best bet for the trip to Nice, but I want to warn you off using Rome2Rio for travel times (or schedules or fares). That website coughs up some howlingly inaccurate information and absolutely cannot be trusted. You need to dig deeper and go to the websites of the companies actually operating the trains (or buses if there are buses in the mix).

For modern art and contemporary art in the area around Nice, you have these museums (and I'm probably missing some):

In Nice itself: Matisse Museum, Chagall Museum, Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art. The Museum of Naive Art and the Museum of Asian Art might also be of interest; I liked them both.

In St-Paul-de-Vence: Fondation Maeght

In Antibes: Picasso Museum

In Cagnes-sur-Mer: Renoir Museum

In Biot: Leger Museum

Just an update-staying in Rome pre-cruise and flying to London for 7 nights post-cruise. Thanks to all who responded.

Thank you for coming back to report. Have a good trip.