On a few occasions we have had layovers at the Rome (Leonardo Da Vinci) airport as well as day stops with a cruise at the Port of Civitavecchia (also known as “Port of Rome”) giving us a few hours to spend in the area.
With the city of Rome a good 1h+ drive from either of these (or a €150 taxi ride), you may not always automatically want to go into Rome itself. To a large degree you won’t really have enough time to make the day trip into Rome worthwhile.
Of course, if you’ve never been to Rome then there is no doubt that you’d want to at least go to get a glimpse of the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, and some of the many other important sites (see our post on Rome). This will most likely just make it clear that you should return for a few days in the future. You definitely cannot do Rome justice with a short visit of just a few hours.
So, for those that have already visited Rome like we have, what can you do for 8 hours in port instead?
Go to Ostia Antica
We had already visited the nearby Ostia Antica while staying overnight at Rome’s international airport and if you have not been there, it is definitely a good idea.
It’s only a few minutes from the airport and about an hour’s drive from the Civitavecchia cruise port. Easily doable and an impressive site.
See our write up about this impressive archeological site: Ostia Antica: A Must-See Archeological Park in Italy
Rome ship transfers
At first, we thought that we’d just take the cruise ships transfer into Rome to revisit some key sights and enjoy the best (or at least our favorite so far!) gelato in the world at La Gelateria Della Palmas. But when we got the details of our transfer, we saw that the MSC ship excursion only brought you as far as the train station near Piazzale dei Partigiani making it an ordeal to get into town afterwards.
Other cruise ships offering transfers into town have taken us closer to the popular attractions making it much easier and more convenient.
So, what to do instead?
Rent a car
We saw another excursion offered by the cruise line that visited Tarquinia and Tuscania. And upon checking these places out, we thought that instead of paying the €100 a person and having to follow a group, we could easily organize it ourselves with a rental car.
This proved not only easy to do but also saved us money and made it much more pleasant. My husband loves to drive (especially on country roads with a stick shift Italian car!) and doing the visits at our own pace would give us much more flexibility as well as letting us see the city without a bus full of people in all our photos.
As it turned out, Budget car rental was conveniently located literally within a 2-minute walk from the cruise port. We remembered that the airport also had a Sixt (and other rental companies) right at the terminal making pickup and drop off easy.
The daylong car rental (with full insurance) cost us about €100 at the last minute (and about €5 in gas). We definitely recommend taking the full insurance just to alleviate any concerns or stress about parking in the cobblestone streets or driving on the narrow roads (or scratches on the paint from bushes or … really anything). For an extra €20-€30 you don’t give this a second thought when you return the car.
So just like that we had pivoted from the ship excursion and found ourselves in our manual 4-door Italian Lancia heading into the Italian countryside to explore. Our own scenic adventure.
We opted to do the further of the two towns, Tuscania, first which was only about a 40-minute drive from the port.
Tips
- You can do it in 35 minutes with the toll roads, but Budget will charge you service fees to process the toll payments which are all cashless and billed back to the license plate.
- Use your map to pick a toll-free route that will take just a few extra minutes. It is also a more scenic route than the toll highway!
Tuscania, Italy
When we first googled “what to do in Tuscania” we didn’t come up with a lot. Almost to the point that we considered skipping it. We were happy that we didn’t. I can perhaps best explain this by saying that the charm of Tuscania is not with any particular site or church or feature but just in the overall ensemble of things.
Parking was easy and we used the EasyPark app on our phone and found a spot in the small lot just outside the main gate of the city. Entering through the old stone gates and walking along the cobblestone streets was a delight.
Set on a hilltop with a fortified wall around it and dotted with Romanesque churches, Tuscania has a feel to it that makes it seems genuine and unassuming. Nothing seemed particularly made to cater to tourists here, rather, people went around their business, and all seemed happy to greet us and show us their wares.
It really felt like we were taken back in time to a simpler way of life and time seemed to slow down a bit.
Two medieval basilicas, San Pietro and Santa Maria Maggiore are definitely highlights but in particular we loved the scenic views of the Tuscan countryside from the parc and scenic walkway on the wall ramparts.
We saw a beautiful village scene made from terracotta in the Duomo San Giacomo that was incredible in its detail. Don’t miss it.
We entered a lovely soap manufacturing shop where the semi-retired owner told us all about her lavender farm and how they must replant the lavender after every few years. This year they had planted 40,000 plants!
She also runs a bed and breakfast on her farm in addition to the soap shop and is up every morning at 6am to take care of business. I guess it is a semi-retirement with more emphasis on the semi! But when you love what you do it doesn’t even seem like working. We could tell how passionate she was about her farm as she talked about it. We bought some beautiful (and lovely smelling) soaps from her to bring home as souvenirs.
Some facts about Tuscania
- The town of Tuscania has been around since the 3rd century BCE. Etruscan tombs were discovered here.
- The Romans called the city “Tuscana” and it was an area that produced quality terracotta during their time. After the Romans, Tuscania was occupied by the Heruli, Goths and Lombards, later becoming part of the Church State.
- In 1222 St. Francis of Assisi lived in Tuscania, and there were subsequently many monasteries constructed in the surrounding area.
- The city was annexed to the Kingdom of Italy, in 1861.
- The town used to house many treasures and relics however a terrible earthquake in 1971, destroyed many of them.
While we only spent a couple of hours in Tuscania, even with our own self-guided leisurely paced tour it seemed that we swung through the town faster than we would have liked. It was really the kind of place that invited you to sit down in the park and relax for a while soaking it all in and taking your foot off the gas pedal.
Tarquinia, Italy
Next, on our self-guided tour was the town of Tarquinia. Even closer to the cruise port (maybe 15 mins by car!) the picturesque medieval walled city was also a delight to visit.
There is an easily accessible parking lot just outside the city gates where you can again pay at the meter or use the EasyPay parking app.
While you see cars going into the gates don’t do it!
It’s a restricted zone where shop owners and residents have permits to pass. Tourists with rental cars that do usually get tickets in the mail some month afterwards. Take our word for this!
Walking in through the gate we ended up in a nice plaza surrounded by a large square with a few eateries offering alfresco dining at their section of tables setup in the square. It was a nice day and tempted we grabbed a seat and had some excellent fresh pasta.
We also tried what seemed to be an Italian version of poutine! French fries with a cheese sauce and some crunchy onions on top. Yummy!
Part of the fun here was cutting through the small underpasses and admiring the small churches and ancient buildings. It was nice just taking in the overall architecture of the walled city.
Shops had been constructed into the remnants of the walls, and it was nice to just walk and soak it all in. At the end of the main street on top of the hill is a viewpoint that looks over the surrounding countryside.
An alley cat came out to greet us meowing loudly hoping for a treat. Maybe it sensed we were cat people but unfortunately, we had nothing to offer the poor little thing that looked hungry and worried.
You may recognize the scenery from Tarquinia as it has served as a movie set for many movies over the years.
Tarquinia’s long history
Tarquinia is actually well known for its UNESCO-listed necropolis with painted tombs but as we were visiting on a Monday these were unfortunately closed as were some of the smaller museums. Even then, we were not disappointed as we really enjoyed walking through the medieval streets.
Scholars initially believed that Tarquinia dated back to the 7th century BCE, but it was later discovered that it may even date as far back as the 10th century BCE (through archeological finds that include Vilanovan tombs). We could certainly appreciate why people would want to settle in this picturesque countryside.
Conclusion
We loved our self-guided rental car tour of the two small, picturesque towns of Tuscania and Tarquinia in Italy and would certainly recommend it.
We suspect that we may one day be back to the area. There are a few lakeside castles that we have an interest in visiting. More on those in a future post perhaps. Other small towns that looked interesting to visit in the area (albeit a bit further from the port) include Pitigliano (85km), Capraeola (70km), or Sovana (88km).
See our post: Mediterranean Cruise: Round Trip from Marseille
It’s also a treat to go off on your own without the crowd or the constant shepherding of a guide trying to herd the group. Some of our cruise ship excursions were really like “Ok you have 18 minutes. Everyone back on the bus by 14:55 and no later!”. We can appreciate that they want to keep the tour on pace but sometimes it’s better to see a little less but take the time to see it a little more!