There are two very important things to know about just ONE day in Rome from a cruise port:

1. Rome is not easy to get to from the port. Be sure to get transportation or purchase an excursion. The cruise port is about an hour and a half from Rome by bus.
2. You can “see” a lot, but you can’t “do” a lot! Expect to get a taste of Rome or an introduction to it.

We bought the hop on hop off bus excursion on the cruise. This was a great way to both get to Rome and to get around Rome. It allowed us to see all of the sites and learn about them with the audio narration. It’s a double decker bus. They give you free (cheap) earphones to plug in (yes, wires…🤦‍♀️), choose your language, and hear about the sites. It does get VERY chilly up top in late October, and I wish I would have worn a sweatshirt!

The bus is called “Hop on Hop Off”, but it’s not that easy. Rome is crowded, and it is difficult to get back on a bus. They only run every 15-20 minutes and sometimes not everyone at the stop can fit on one bus and have to wait for the next one. We opted to take the whole narrated tour (about 2 hours total) and then, we only hopped off at the Vatican to see that and grab some food before walking back to the bus stop.

If you have something you’d like to go inside to tour, you have to plan ahead. We wanted to tour the Coliseum but the tickets were all sold out. St. Peter’s Basilica had a 1-1.5 hour wait just to go through security. We didn’t have time for that, but we did walk around and explore.

There are just SO many things to see!! On our excursion, we could use the “Big Bus” which was brown or the “Vatican Tours” bus which was yellow. The audio guide on the brown bus was very good. The audio guide on the yellow bus was a computer AI voice and wasn’t as good.

The cafes and restaurants were cute and reasonably priced for a big city. The pasta was very high quality.

We had to really watch our time since the bus tour was 2 hours for the loop, and we had to be back for our transportation back to the port. Also, there are NO public restrooms in Rome! You can only use restrooms in a restaurant or cafe AND only if you buy something (they were strict about this!) AND the lines are long to use them. We almost missed the bus waiting in line for the restroom before the hour and a half trip back to the ship. There were also no restrooms on our motor coach either so be sure to factor in bathroom stops!

Rome was a beautiful city with so much to do and see. I’m glad we did the bus tour to give us a taste of everything the city has to offer. I think it’s the best way to experience it from a cruise ship!

One Day in Naples, Italy from a Cruise Ship

Stopping at the port of Messina? See Taormina on your own! Here’s how…