Civitavecchia, Rome's cruise port

What to expect at Civitavecchia with city centre, tour and airport transfer options

Civitavecchia Cruise Port Reception Centre — Civitavecchia cruise port reception centre at Largo della Pace

Civitavecchia cruise ship port

Civitavecchia is a medium-size town about 80km north west of Rome. Civitavecchia is a major ferry port as well as cruise ship port.

Rome's major airport, Fiumicino, is to the west of Rome close to the coast, both airport and Rome itself are about an hour's drive.

There is a frequent train service between Civitavecchia and Rome's Termini Station, the most economical way of transferring between Civitavecchia and Rome and its airports.

The town itself is pleasant enough with a well kept sea front promenade with open air cafés and a small regional shopping centre. The kind of place you could kill time for two or three hours pleasantly if the weather is fair.

Cruise ship reception Civitavecchia station to reception Civitavecchia to and from Rome

Largo della Pace - Civitavecchia cruise ship reception centre

Civitavecchia public bus, Rome — Civitavecchia bus between station & Largo della Pace

There is no direct public access to cruise ships in the port. You either have to:

- Make your way to the cruise ship reception area called Largo della Pace just outside one of the dock gates where there are free shuttle buses to individual cruise ships.

- There are a few cab companies (not the local cabs you can get at the railway station) with a special licence enabling them to travel through the secure area to individual cruise ship berths.

About Largo della Pace

Largo della Pace is basically a large open bus station recently built outside one of the port gates.

Its sole purpose is a transit point where people on cruise ships can access their cruise ships through free shuttle coaches. (Vehicles need a special licence to enter the docks themselves).

It's really quite basic, a line of coach bays from where the bus shuttles to the cruise ships depart from and an area where local buses and taxis deposit passengers.

There is a small information kiosk (see image above), and a few local taxi and tour operators which form a gauntlet you have to walk through every time you use the facility and quite a visible security presence.

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Getting to/from Largo della Pace from Civitavecchia train station

Civitavecchia port bus, Rome — Civitavecchia free cruise shuttle bus at Largo della Pace

By public bus

Local public buses (see image) leave from outside the main exit of the train station running about every 20 minutes which take less than 10 minutes to Largo della Pace. The bus ticket can be bought at the news-stand or at the bar inside the station.

By taxi

Local taxi cabs are also available immediately in front of the main exit to Civitavecchia train station as an alternative to the public bus to Largo della Pace.

Walking

It is possible to walk between the train station and Largo della Pace in about 15 minutes, though with luggage it may take longer.

The route is pretty straightforward with pretty smooth rights of way which you can roll your luggage along.

From the front entrance of the railway station turn right down the small access road to the wide coastal road and cross this road immediately to the promenade and turn right towards the centre of town.

The promenade footpath is very wide, parallel to the sea and very smooth without kerbs to negotiate. After about 5 minutes you come to the dock gates with a McDonald's on your right and the imposing Fort Michelangelo on your left.

Walk through the gates and immediately cross to the right hand side of the road. Now just follow the dock side, ignoring the spur that goes out to the left immediately after entering through the dock gates.

Now follow the pedestrian path as it winds through the docks past fishing boats, a terminal with toilets and shops.

Most of the way the path is just a cordoned off strip of tarmac separate to the road and again the surface is very smooth. Eventually you come to a road junction by another set of dock gates and you just follow the pedestrian signs out of the docks labelled “Shuttle Bus to Cruise” to the Largo della Pace facility on the opposite side of the road to the port exit.