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Help with Trains to and from Italian Cruise Terminals

We are wanting to do tours on our own going from Civitavecchia to Rome round trip, and also round trip between Livorno and Florence. We are also wanting to go from Naples to Pompeii and back. Can anyone give us some tips on how to make these trips as easy and stress free as possible?

Also, we see that there are two different train lines in these ports, Circumvesuviana and Trenitalia. Is there a difference between these? Should we have a preference for one over the other?

Is anyone aware of any scheduled train strikes along these routes?

Thanks.

Posted by
156 posts

Dont know of any potential train strikes but the question of the train from Civitavecchia to Rome comes up every other day. If you punch in the Civitavecchia website, it should bring up all the info you need or scroll down in the Rick Steves transportation questions and it will show up with lots of answers. I plan to do this trip and it takes an hour from the cruise terminal to Rome.

Posted by
8700 posts

Trenitalia is Italian National Rail. It's your only choice for Civitavecchia-Rome and Livorno-Florence. The Circumvesuviana is a private commuter railroad. It's your best choice for Naples-Pompeii because it's a very short walk from the Pompeii Scavi station to the entrance to the ruins. (Trenitalia uses a different station in Pompeii.) The Circumvesuviana departs from the lower level of the Napoli Centrale station. (Trenitalia trains use the upper level.)

Go to www.trenitalia.com for timetables. (There is an English option.) Enter the Italian spelling for towns: Roma, Firenze, Napoli. Enter an arbitrary date within 60 days from today.

Do a Google search for Circumvesuviana timetables.

Posted by
6898 posts

There will be frequent trains at both the Civitavecchia and Livorno train stations. All from Livorno and most from Civitavecchia will be local Regionale trains. No seat reservations permitted. The biggest problem you will have is that you won't be alone departing the ship and heading for the train station. There will be a crowd at the ticket windows. You cannot buy the tickets onboard the train.

What you can do is buy train tickets in advance when you first enter Italy. Perhaps you are arriving by plane at Rome. Don't know. But, you can buy your roundtrip tickets for Civitavecchia/Rome and Livorno/Florence at the same time as you buy other Italian train tickets. Tickets for the R train are open tickets with no train number or departure date or departure time. The tickets are good for 60 days. You can hop on any R train making the run shown on your tickets. Just validate the ticket before you get on. That way, you can walk from the port entrance to the station and get directly on the train after ticket validation.

If you are boarding the ship in another country then you may have to do the ticket window thing at least once. Again, buy all of your tickets at that time.

Posted by
144 posts

Yes, I am very familiar with these cruise ports of call and this is very easy. I just helped plan the same exact tours for my cousin and his family. It's an easy train trip from Citivecchia to Rome. Once there, it's a bit hard to get around because the sights are so spread out but if you just visit the Colosseum, forum, Palatine Hill & the Campidogio, they are all right next to each other. They are easy to access on the Rome metro from the train station to the Colosseo stop. You have to take a bus from there to get anywhere else, though it's not too bad a walk to the Campo Dei Fiore & Piazza Navona. There is a hop on hop off bus now that you might try. It's a bit trickier getting to Firenze & back on time. Does your ship leave at 6:00PM? The trip takes over 2 hours and Firenze is all walking. Fortunately, once there, all sights are very close to each other but the city is always crowded and some streets are just clogged with tourists and American students. Getting from Naples to Pompeii is a piece of cake. Their local train, the Circumvesuviana train, goes all the way down the Naples coast to Sorrento. Pompeii is just a few stops along the route. The trains run constantly and are cheap. There's plenty of time to do this in one day. You could do both Pompeii and Herculenaum in the same day. I love Herculenaum. It's much smaller and more intact. My cousins went all the way down to Sorrento for lunch after touring Pompeii and still made it back to their ship on time. The only scary part is Naples. It's a crime ridden city with over 50% unemployment. To get to the Garibaldi train station from the port you have to take the metro, which can be confusing and watch out for pickpockets, or a taxi, who might just take you on a 2 hour joyride and force you to pay him all your money. I recommend the metro. Just study the map carefully so you don't get lost. Once inside the station with hands on your pockets make a run for the circumvesuviana train.