Rome and Vatican Highlights: Shore Excursion Tour

Experience the best of Rome and Vatican City on this full-day shore excursion from Civitavecchia Cruise Port. Skip the lines at the Colosseum and Vatican Museums, visit iconic landmarks like the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps, and enjoy a delicious lunch at a typical Roman restaurant. Choose between a private or shared tour and enjoy worry-free transportation back to the port.

Duration: 10 hours
Cancellation: 24 hours
Highlights
  • Pantheon - Entrance and SkipTheLine Tickets Included only in Private Tour options The Pantheon (“Temple of All the Gods”) is a former Roman temple, now a church, in Rome, on the site of an earlier temple commissioned by Marcus Agrippa during the reign of Augustus (27 BC – 14 AD).
  • Spanish Steps - The Spanish Steps are a set of steps…
What's Included
  • Lunch in a Typical Roman Restaurant
  • Colosseum reservation fee (€2 per person)
  • Worry-free Shore Excursion
  • Air-conditioned, fully insured and licensed vehicle with professional English-speaking Driver
  • Colosseum entrance ticket (€18 per person)
  • LIGHT TOUR-NO GUIDE NO TICKETS Option includes only Driver and Lunch
  • PRIVATE Tour Options include:…
What's Not Included
  • Tipping is not included in our service fees, It is never mandatory although it is always appreciated
  • LIGHT TOUR-NO GUIDE NO TICKETS Option NOT includes Tour Guide NOT includes Entrance Tickets
Additional Information

This impressive Shore Excursion touches the most significant highlights of Rome and Vatican City:
• Pantheon
• Trevi Fountain
• Spanish Steps
• Venice Square and the Wedding cake
• Roman Forum
• Colosseum
• Arch of Constantine
• Circus Maximus
• Vatican Museums and Sistine Chapel
• St. Peter’s Basilica Square
Lunch included in a typical roman restaurant….

Location
Pantheon
Piazza della Rotonda,
Cancellation Policy

For a full refund, cancel at least 24 hours before the scheduled departure time.

Customer Ratings
5.0
(5 Ratings)
5 stars
4 stars
3 stars
2 stars
1 star
Richard_e
Jul 6, 2025
Romes best in a day - We can't say enough about this excursion. We had a lot to do in one day but our guide did it effortlessly. We initially had reservations about getting back to our ship on time considering the distance from port to downtown Rome. But our guide and driver were fantastic. The driver negotiated the streets of Rome with ease. Our guide made sure the pace was just right to show everything on our itinerary. Lunch was absolutely fantastic and an unexpected surprise. This was on of the best excursions we have ever been on. It started at the Colosseum and continued through to the Pantheon, the Trevi fountain, the Sistine chapel and St. Peters Basilica. Our guide was very knowledgeable and easy to understand. The value of this excursion vs. others made this an investment more than an expense. We highly recommend to anyone visiting Civitavecchia to give this tour a try.
Review provided by Viator
Jeffrey_a
Jun 2, 2025
Best Day in Rome - WORTH EVERY DOLLAR!!! We literally saw everything in Rome in one day. My family of 6 (4 Adults, 2 Kids) was greeted at the literal doors of the cruise terminal by a private driver in a very nice, clean Mercedes van filled with cold bottles of water. Since we were picked up at the cruise terminal, we beat out all the other groups and large touring buses (1hr drive to Rome from Port). We arrived at the Pantheon to meet our personal tour guide who stayed with us all day, knew everything about everything, and interacted with all of our party. Since he already secured tickets for us, we got to skip-the-line on everything. NO WAITING. We personally toured the following places: Pantheon, Trevi Fountains, Spanish Steps, Colosseum (2hrs), Vatican City (2hrs), St. Peters Basilica, and St. Peter's square. The driver also took us by a multitude of other places like the Roman Forum, Cesar Palace, and many more. After visiting the Colosseum and before the Vatican City, we were taken for about an 1hr to eat at this beautiful restaurant near the Roman Forum. We were given appetizers, two different pasta dishes, and dessert. We ended this tour where we began, by being dropped off a the doors of the cruise terminal. No long distance walking, no being drop off at some random area surrounded by venders. I can not stress how wonderful this tour was. We literally saw everything in Rome in 1 day. Since we had our own private van, driver, tour guide, and the skip-the-line tickets, we were able to do Rome at our pace. Some areas we spent more time, some less time, and others, simply driving by. If you only have 1 day in Rome and you want to literally see every thing, you must book this tour.
Review provided by Viator
David_f
May 28, 2025
Great Tour of Rome - We felt like VIP's throughout the tour. We were picked up on time, we were thoroughly educated about Rome and our time was maximized there. The driver and the tour instructor were very friendly and professional. This was one of the best tours I have ever experienced
Review provided by Viator
Camper287704
May 3, 2025
Tour of a lifetime!! How come I can't pick more than 5 stars? - Our tour of Rome with Illyria Tours was absolutely exceptional. About our trip: We came in a few days before our cruise and chose the small group option out of Civitavecchia, to Rome, with skip-the-line tickets and included a driver and a tour guide. We booked through AAA and used their partner, Viator, which is how we were connected with Illyria Tours. Our tour was about 10 hours in all. Our driver was Giovanni and our tour guide was Francesco. These two gentlemen totally made our trip! We were picked up in Civitavecchia and driven to Rome in a nice sized, beautiful van that easily fit 4 adults. If you've ever been to Italy, you know that the vehicles are tiny and I was worried about fitting our very tall, family of four. No problem at all there - the van was very spacious, comfortable, and meticulously clean. Giovanni did a fantastic job driving us to Rome and was so friendly, offering great insights as to what we were seeing on our trip and even the history of how the countryside developed over time. He made us feel very welcome. We met up with our tour guide, Francesco, in Rome. I can't say enough about Francesco. So welcoming and kind, so incredibly knowledgeable. We had a packed day, and he kept us on track, but also made sure to spend a little extra time in the places we were really enjoying. On our way to the Pantheon, Francesco took us to his favorite place near there, just a little off the beaten path, to have a cappuccino and a little breakfast in the morning, and it did not disappoint! He also made sure to point out the best restrooms (so appreciated!). Francesco is incredibly knowledgeable and could be counted on to offer so many details about all of our stops. If you are someone who likes the details and the history - you'll love this tour. We learned so much about everything we saw. On our way to each stop, we also heard a lot about the places that weren't on our itinerary, but still very interesting. Francesco seems to truly enjoy sharing all he knows and appreciated how intently we listened, sharing all that much more. At all our stops, I noticed others who were also intrigued with his amazing insights and would see them hanging back to listen until we would move on (we didn't mind :) ) My children, ages 14 and 17, were also really taken with Francesco. He included them in his conversations as well, which really added to our trip and made it great for our kids. Our lunch stop was sooo good. They were ready for us, and had about 4 courses coming, one after another, of amazing Italian food and wine. The atmosphere was great and they really seemed glad to see us, treating us very well. When we were done seeing each of our sights, Giovanni was ready at the curb with the van to pick us up. Let me tell you that this is HUGE. Rome is certainly very walkable and pretty safe, but when you don't know where you are or where you're going, trying to do it on your own takes a lot of time. We needed to devote our time to experiences, not figuring out how to get from point A to point B. Having someone waiting for you at the curb to take you to the next place is fantastic. We saved so much time by doing this and that extra time was spent with Francesco at the sites we wanted to see. Something else to note - at each of our stops, Giovanni and Francesco made sure we got to the best picture spots and then took our pictures for us! This was huge! I now have about 20 pictures of our WHOLE family - not 3 of us bc someone had to take the picture. This was unexpected and a huge benefit. I should also note - our plans were really thrown into turmoil due to the passing of Pope Francis, two days before our tour. His passing was rather unexpected at that time and plans were developing fast. Nobody knew what was going to happen ahead of time and we found out that morning that he was to be displayed at St. Peter's that morning. We had tickets for St Peter's but when we got there, we were met with 35,000 mourners. While we were touring the Sistine Chapel and the Vatican Museums, the streets were shut down. Giovanni and Francesco handled it so well. They were in constant contact and made arrangements to figure out how we were going to finish our tour. I have no idea what we would have done without them. While it was a calm crowd, walking into 35,000 people in a city you don't know, with a language you don't speak, and our ride had to move....how would this have gone without them? But - it was all okay. They figured it out and took great care of us. We have taken a number of excursions while cruising. Those are certainly good experiences, but if you have a chance to use Illyria Tours to see Rome, THIS is the way to do it. THIS is the way to make the most of your trip and spend your hard-earned money!! Thank you Illyria Tours - you made our family's trip into a once-in-a-lifetime experience, and we are so thankful for Giovanni and Francesco. We hope to come back and will use you again! Our tour was EXCEPTIONAL!
Review provided by Tripadvisor
Frederick_w
Jun 17, 2023
Great Tour with Giovanni - Great tour, Giovanni was a great knowledgeable guide with a great sense of humor! He was able to access and park at the footsteps of each site. Had a wonderful lunch. Coming from the cruise, we didn’t have enough time to take in the Vatican as we had to be back on board the ship. Would recommend this tour group and of course Giovanni
Review provided by Viator
From $372
up to 8 guests
1 - Adult
Cancellation: Free cancellation up to 24 hours before the start of your experience (local time).