Barcelona to Civitavecchia (Rome) ferry

GreenB
GreenB Forum Participant Posts: 3
edited January 2023 in Overseas Campsites & Touring #1

Hi All,

We are on a gap year with our children, currently in the south of Spain. We are hoping to take our car, Nissan Navarra (5.3m) and caravan Adria Altea (8.3m) via ferry from Barcelona to Rome (port of Civitavecchia). We intend to travel onto Greece from there over the weeks that follow.

Has anyone taken the ferry route from Barcelona to Civitavecchia (or for that matter onto Greece from Bari, Italy). If so, any difficulties encountered (e.g. issues with the on/off ramps) or in general what was your experience? We are new enough to caravanning so any comments or advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!!

Comments

  • eurortraveller
    eurortraveller Club Member Posts: 6,828 ✭✭✭
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    edited January 2023 #2

    I can’t help and I doubt if many members on here can. You may find it worthwhile to enrol and ask on The Ferry Forum which seems to have a number of people who know about things like the the Barcelona to Rome ferry run by Grimaldi Line.

    In the meantime the reviews on the Direct Ferries website are more encouraging than those you will find elsewhere. It can’t be as bad as some on Trip Advisor say-  after all it’s just a ferry. Good luck with it.

     

     

  • Tammygirl
    Tammygirl Club Member Posts: 7,958 ✭✭✭
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    edited January 2023 #3

    I was hoping someone would come back with some useful info for you. 

    We have looked at this ferry but doing it the other way, from Italy to Spain with our MH. I do remember reading somewhere about a couple who did it with their MH, they didn't seem to have any problems.

    If you do go this route it would help others if you could come back and give some feed back on it please. 

  • Lutz
    Lutz Forum Participant Posts: 1,564 ✭✭✭✭
    edited January 2023 #4

    May I ask what the reasoning behind taking that ferry is? We went down to Italy a couple of years ago. The weather was so bad that we decided to pack everything and leave for southern Spain by the land route. No big deal. It just took us a couple of days longer than if we had taken the ferry. I’m sure it was cheaper, too.

  • Tammygirl
    Tammygirl Club Member Posts: 7,958 ✭✭✭
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    edited January 2023 #5

    Can't say for others Lutz but the reason we were/are looking at it was the length of time it would take to drive from Rome to Barcelona.

    We are thinking of late in the season say end of October, weather in southern Italy may well still be decent but the drive north and around France might not be so or even northern Spain. 

    An overnight ferry from Rome to Barcelona has to be a consideration given the cost these days of fuel.

    With a caravan sites have to be open, throw in 2 small children I think I would be doing the same as the OP if the costs were favourable.

    We are even considering the ferry from Croatia to Italy then Italy to Spain rather than driving it. Less miles on the van and only 2 days to do the journey has to be considered.

  • Lutz
    Lutz Forum Participant Posts: 1,564 ✭✭✭✭
    edited January 2023 #6

    I looked into the two alternatives and costwise there's little to choose between taking the ferry and towing the caravan overland along the Mediterranean coast. Both came to just under €500 (taking fuel, motorway tolls and two nights en route on a campsite into consideration if driving all the way) so the only advantage of the ferry over driving was the time saved (2 days).

    Of course, in the end it's up to personal preference, but I'm perfectly happy with driving. We don't have small children to have to take into account any more, but even if we had, our two were quite happy when we crossed Australia by car or during a 5000 mile round trip by motorhome in Canada/USA when they were young.

  • Tammygirl
    Tammygirl Club Member Posts: 7,958 ✭✭✭
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    edited January 2023 #7

    At 900 mls from Barcelona to Rome I would think the OP would be doing more than 2 overnight stops at least 4 given the time of year and the roads he will travel on. 

    Given he is currently in Spain and is looking to do this crossing shortly during the winter months, I think as it's similar costs I would choose the ferry if I was him.

    Why spend all that time and put all those mls on the car. He is looking at driving to Greece so I'm sure he would welcome a break from all the driving. 

    We also used to drive hundreds of miles with our children, they also were happy in the car, however that was in the summer months where we could take lots of breaks to look at things and at the end of the day the children could let off steam as the nights were light. That's not the case in the winter months.

    If the OP wants to do it this way then he should, it's his choice. I know we will certainly look into it in more depth. 

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