cruise from Lisbon to Rome

The cruise port is closer to the Alfama district, but Lisbon is small enough, and taxis dirt cheap, that your hotel, in relation to the port is really not a concern. If flat ground is what you are looking for, the Baixa is as good as any, centrally located, but everything else will be uphill from there. Choose your hotel for access to the things you want to do in those 3-4 days.

+1 for Paul. There may even be a bus route that includes the port, which is not "remote", as is Rome's. We treated ourselves to a taxi.

"Hopefully a little cooler in Rome and just maybe s smaller crowds."

I'm not sure what is cooler weather for you but I was just in Rome Friday/Sat/Sunday coming home yesterday. It felt hot as h3ll to me, lol but I don't tolerate heat at all and you might do better than I. From your profile it looks like you have more heat to deal with normally than I do. It was 80+ all 3 days. Mosquitoes were so bad in Rome that when I was sitting indoors in a restaurant Sunday night with the windows open, mosquitoes were landing on my hands and arms as I ate.

Crowds seemed as thick as ever although I haven't visited in a few years. I hit the Vatican Museums when they were oddly uncrowded but on another post onthe forum someone posted info from the same day and experienced very crowded conditions.

Not saying this will hugely impact your visit, just mentioning it to help you perhaps reframe expectations of cooler weather and lowered crowds for the Italy portion of your visit.

Thank you for the information, Pam.

I live in Texas and hate our summers. I usually stay home and only go out after 7 pm. I even have food delivered. I also do not go sightseeing in the heat as I would be doing in Rome.

Your info is kinda discouraging but I am glad that you wrote me.

Maybe I will change my cruise to another month. Going to have to do more research.

Pam,

I watched youtube videos "Rome in October 2022"

There were crowds but it looked manageable for me.

On some days, the weather was about. 75 degrees but other days very hot.

Maybe next October will be a cool October or maybe it will be a very hot one. It is difficult to say with climate change.

If it is real hot, I will take bus tours of Rome or stay in my hotel until evening. I would hate to have to do that but I can not do much walking in very hot weather.

Although I live in Texas, I hate hot weather.