Trajan willed it as Rome's port — Pliny the Younger described the works — and nineteen centuries later it still does that job: Civitavecchia ranks among the Mediterranean's top cruise ports, the capital's sea gate. Guarding the old dock stands Fort Michelangelo, begun by Bramante and completed, in its keep, to a design attributed to Michelangelo.
Outside town, the Terme Taurine — the Roman bath complex beloved of emperors — deserve the detour, and the beaches of Santa Marinella wait ten minutes away. Rome is an hour by train: many cruise passengers never learn what they miss by staying aboard.
Near Civitavecchia
The closest destinations covered by our editors, with straight-line distance.
