When we first started planning our Interrail adventure we’d vaguely thought we would just get a train from Spain to Greece – they’re both in southern Europe so can’t be that far away, right?! Five minutes spent with a map and we realised the extent of our geographical ignorance. Yes, they are both on the same latitude but there is quite a lot of sea between them, which generally means no trains! So we started looking at ferries…
We realised that we could get a ferry from Barcelona to Sardinia and then travel from there on to Italy. Hop across Italy from one coast to the other on the train and we could get another ferry from Bari to Patras. Simples! We’d never been to Sardinia and it looked lovely. Also, although Em had visited Rome on her first Interrail adventure way back in 2000, I’d never been so there would be a chance for me to finally see the eternal city.
So, we booked our ferry to Porto Torres in Sardinia. There was some debate as to whether or not to pay for a cabin for the overnight crossing, which Emily eventually won. Then, about a week before we were due to head off, we actually started looking at practicalities like where we’d stay. We’d thought we would camp – there seemed to be lots of nice campsites on Sardinia. But when we looked a bit closer we realised that most of them weren’t open until May. Plus, we would be arriving on Easter Saturday, which would likely make travel around the island more difficult. We soon came to the conclusion that staying on Sardinia might be expensive and not straightforward and would also eat into our limited time to see Greece and the Balkans.
But not to worry – we also discovered that the ferry we were getting on continued straight on to Civitavecchia in Italy after its stop in Porto Torres. So all we needed to do (we thought) was book another ticket from Porto Torres to Civitavecchia.
However, when we arrived in Barcelona to check in they told us as we had separate tickets they had no way to check us in all the way to Civitavecchia. They could only check us in until Porto Torres. But not to worry, just speak to someone on the boat and they will sort it. Probably… I immediately started worrying. You have to check in for the ferry at least two hours before it leaves. But we wouldn’t be at Porto Torres to check in two hours before as the boat only docked for about an hour.
After waiting (and worrying) for a couple of hours in the port office we finally boarded at around 11.30pm for our 1am departure. We went straight to the reception desk to try to sort the ticketing issue. At first they we very reassuring – no worries, they would check us in on board. Then further discussion was had. No, actually, they couldn’t check us in on board. But all we needed to do was just hop off the ferry at Porto Torres and hop back on again. It would be fine. Probably…
We retired to our cabin for a fitful night’s sleep. I was convinced we were going to be stranded in Sardinia, with nowhere to stay and the accommodation we’d booked in Italy, not to mention our next ferry, being missed. As we got closer to Porto Torres the next day I went back to reception to speak to the helpful woman again. Don’t worry, she said. I think I’ve sorted it. Just stay on the boat when we get to Porto Torres. After all the drama we didn’t have to disembark, she just arranged for the captain to come and look at our tickets. Phew!
We eventually arrived at Civitavecchia just after midnight on Easter Sunday. After over 24 hours on the ferry it was good to be back on dry land and it was thankfully a fairly short walk to our accommodation, although it wasn’t uneventful as we had some trouble figuring out how to circumnavigate the city walls and Emily managed to trip and fall down heavily on the way there.
Civitavecchia is about an hour and a half from Rome by train, which only costs 4.80 Euros each way. As we were arriving so late we knew we’d need to stay in Civitavecchia for at least one night and once we’d looked at the cost of accommodation in the capital we decided to stay there for our whole time in Rome. Thankfully the cheap room we’d booked was basic but nice and the owner had kindly waited up to check us in with our late arrival.
As well as being tired from 24 hours on a boat, we lost an hour with the clock change so we decided against an early start the next morning. Nonetheless we made it into Rome by lunchtime.
As we were in Rome over Easter we knew we needed to be somewhat careful with our plans – the area around the Vatican would be heaving as crowds gathered for the papal address on Easter Sunday so we decided we’d visit Vatican City on Monday morning. The only time slot we could get tickets for the Colosseum was 6pm on Monday so the Roman Forum area was booked in for Monday afternoon.
That left Sunday afternoon to do the other really touristy things including the Spanish Steps, the Trevi Fountain and, by far the most impressive sight, the Pantheon. I had just read an article about the fact that archaeologists have only just discovered how the Romans made concrete so strong that they could build the huge dome of the Pantheon without iron reinforcement and its still standing today. It was very impressive to see it in real life. We also found some very yummy vegan gelato on a side street just by the Pantheon.
Easter Monday was our second day in Rome and we had a very early start, getting up at 5am so we could get the train into Rome and be at St Peter’s Basilica for its opening at 7am. Except, it didn’t actually open at 7am. So instead we stood in a queue with all the other people who’d also thought it opened at 7am, until they finally opened the doors at 8am.
St Peter’s Basilica was suitably awe-inspiring, especially if you are into God and bling, but after that we were ready to take a break from the crowds and very touristy areas. So we took a walk down to the island in the River Tiber, which was pretty much deserted, and spent an hour or so reading and dozing in the morning sunshine.
Suitably refreshed we continued our exploring with a stroll through the Jewish quarter and a quick visit to a cat sanctuary in some Roman ruins – sadly it wasn’t open because it was a public holiday but we could see the cats through the railings.We then decided to take a bus out of the city to the Via Appia – the start of a Roman road which connected Rome to Brindisi. Anyone who is visiting Rome and confused like we were about how to buy bus tickets – you apparently can buy tickets from shops and ticket machines but not from the bus driver. However, you can also just tap in with your debit card as you would in London but the machine to do this is situated in the middle or back of the bus, not at the front.
Along the route of the old road are several catacombs where early Christians buried their dead. We took a guided tour of what is probably the oldest one of these, the Catacombs of Domitilla, which was really interesting and after the Pantheon probably my favourite part of Rome. Sadly no photos are allowed in the catacombs.
By the time we’d exited the catacombs and were heading back into the centre of Rome the morning’s sunshine was a distant memory and by the time we were queueing to get into the Roman quarter (yes, there was quite a queue, even if you already had a ticket) rain was falling quite heavily. We were both well-prepared with waterproofs, but it’s quite hard to focus on learning about ancient history when it’s chucking it down! Also, the brutality of the Roman Empire and particularly the activities that happened in the Coliseum make it quite difficult to admire.
The next morning we had another early start to get the train from Civitavecchia into Roma Termini and then change onto the fast train across the Bari. We knew there was a landslide which had closed part of the line between Rome and Bari and that this meant our journey would take longer than usual but we weren’t sure quite how much longer it would take. When we arrived at Roma Termini to find that our train to Bari was delayed leaving and then delayed some more I started to stress that we would miss our evening ferry to Greece. Eventually, an hour after it was due, our train arrived and we boarded it, travelled for a few hours, got off and onto a rail replacement bus, drove a bit, then got back onto a train. Italian railways seem to be about as reliable as British ones.
Thankfully we did make it to Bari in time for our ferry and even in time for an extremely overpriced beer portside! Emily had again won the argument on whether or not to shell out for a cabin, but we had just paid for a shared one rather than a private one. Thankfully the boat was quite quiet and we had the cabin to ourselves, which meant we could have a much-needed 12 hours of sleep as sailed across the Ionian Sea.
Practicalities
Accommodation:
- 29-30 March: Ferry from Barcelona to Civitavecchia
- 30 March – 2 April: Stanza al porto in Civitavecchia
Transport:
- Ferry from Barcelona – Porto Torres – Civitavecchia
- Train from Civitavecchia – Rome (Sunday and Monday)
- Train from Civitavecchia – Rome. Train/bus/train from Rome to Bari.
Food:
Mostly self-catering (pizza bread from Italian supermarkets is really good!) but we ate pizza at Rossopomodoro and vegan gelato at Buccianti Gelato.
365 days of adventure 