Our cruise ship docks a day in Civitavecchia, port city for Rome. About how long is the trip into the city? Best go by bus? Or better by rail? Thanks!

We took the train. If I can recall, about an hour. Don't take any ship tours -- ripoff. One couple we met took the ship tour for all day in Rome w/lunch, dinner, transportation and tours of Vatican, etc. $350.00 per person. They were so disappointed.

If you've been to Europe and aren't afraid to go it alone, you'll have a great time.

We also took the train, took about an hour, cost almost nothing. I believe there are stops at least at St. Peter's and Termini station.

Be sure to validate your ticket. I think the validation boxes were yellow and located on the platform.

You can check schedules and fares at www.fs-on-line.com.

Give yourself adequate time to get back. Our train was a little late and we almost missed it when the metro just stopped running.

Another option to consider is hiring a car and driver to meet you at the port, take you to Rome, drive you around as necessary and then back to the port. You could also book the car just for transport to and from the ship to a point in Rome like the Spanish Steps, as much of the main sights in Rome are walkable from there.

I have not cruised, but have used car and driver service in Rome generally. Would be a bit more expensive than the train, but probably well worth the peace of mind in not having to rush for the last train, and/or figuring out the train system. A good size car would fit 4 people, so maybe you could split it with others on the ship; some of the services have vans so you could even take a larger group. A popular service on this site [email protected], website at www.limoservicerome.com. You can e-mail them and ask for their estimate for transport only. vs car and driver for the whole day. You might also ask for recommendations from people on this site for other car services.

Instead of joining one of the tours offered by the cruise line, or trying to do a tour on your own, you might want tojoin one of the walking tours of Rome. There are several companies offering walking tours of Ancient Rome and the Vatican, my favorite and a favorite on this site is Scale Real (scalareale.org). Enjoy Rome also gets good reviews here, their website is enjoyrome.com. These take between 3-4 hours and can cover the Spanish Steps/Trevi Fountain, Vatican or the Forum/Coliseum. You should be able to do at least one of the afternoon walks, esp. if you have a car and can arrange for your driver to meet you at the end of the walk.

With just one day in Rome, why spend it waiting for the train or bus, and finding the station?
When we boarded a cruise ship in Civitecchia, we had a car and driver arranged to take us there from the airport, and that was less than an hour, probably more like 30 min.
Perhaps you could arrange for a car into Rome, then take one of those overview bus tours, where you can get off and on. Or do some research and determine what you want to see in your one day, and have the driver drop you off at the first spot.
Regular taxi drivers can be quite wild in their driving. There should be plenty of them at the docks, but a pre-arranged car would save you a bad driver or from a possible long line for a cab.