Civitavecchia

In 2024 and 2025 we went on Mediterranean cruises that began and ended in Civitavecchia, Italy.  Civitavecchia is the port town of Rome, and is about one hour from Rome's city center.  You can take a train ride directly from the train station in Civitavecchia to Roma Termini and vice versa.  Tickets cost about 5 euro.

Trainline

This is the least expensive way to travel from the port to the city and back.  We purchased tickets for both directions and didn't end up using either one of them, we ended up renting a car instead.  The car rental option is a lot more expensive, but gave us more flexibility.  And, since there was a train strike on the day we returned to Rome, and our train wasn't one of the guaranteed trains, we decided it was safer to just rent a car.  

Hertz 

The Hertz car rental station is right by the train station.  

You can easily walk from the train station to the cruise ship port in about 20 minutes.  You can also choose to take a taxi.  We walked in 2024, and took a taxi in 2025.  I'd recommend just paying for a taxi.

We didn't explore much of Civitavecchia because we were in a hurry to get on our cruise ship both times, but we did run into this gem on the way to the dock:

Unconditional Surrender, a statue based on a photograph taken in 1945 on V J Day (Victory over Japan Day) The man in the photograph was a sailor, and the woman was a dental hygienist.  The statue has been on display in a variety of places, including Sarasota, Florida; San Diego, California; Waikiki, Hawaii; Times Square, New York; Normandy, France; Hamilton, New Jersey; and other copies are in Royal Oak, Michigan; Key West, Florida; Bastogne, Belgium; Portsmouth, United Kingdom; Graham, North Carolina; Omaha, Nebraska; and this one in Civitavecchia

James and I caught this photo with the iconic statue in 2024, which is exactly like the photo we took in San Diego in 2023:

Unconditional Surrender in San Diego

This pathway leads to the cruise ship port and affords a spectacular view of the sea

This statue is called "Kissing in Memory of a Port" 
It was inaugurated on September 16, 2020 during the 150 years celebration of the Italian Port Authority
You can see Fort Michelangelo behind it

And there's our cruise ship behind us, just a short walk!  That was in 2024 when we took a Costa Cruise

Roma Termini

our train ride from Rome to Civitavecchia in 2025

Our MSC Cruise in 2025