Don't spend the $69/person to do 'Rome on your Own'. Instead, take the train from Civatavechia. It's easy, far cheaper (as little as 6 Euro on the local) and the scenery is great. Both of the big train stations (San Pietro & Termini) can be reached from the port multiple times in the day and give you options on both sides of Rome.

We had no idea what to expect given the lack of experience of this city but we were so pleasantly surprised! The city itself is bright and vibrant with the French influences giving us a comfort level that we weren't so out of place. Our tour buses were led through town by police cars not for security, but rather to move us conveniently through the traffic and people waved at us smilingly at almost every corner. We walked the Casbah and enjoyed it immensely though it is not for the agility-challenged. People engaged us in conversation and welcomed us continuously all while carrying out conversations amongst themselves in English, French, Arabic and Berber. Our VISA did not allow us to shop but it looks like it could be have been interesting. If you are at all worried about safety, DON"T BE! This is a beautiful, welcoming and friendly city.

We made our own city walk and it was well worth it. It's a bit of a climb just outside of the port but there are things to see and as with most climbs the view made it worthwhile. There is an excellent, barely restored Roman Amphitheater on the hillside as well as a couple nice cathedrals. The inevitable shopping street was decent and the public bathrooms under Saint Remy are (no exaggeration!) the cleanest public toilets I have ever seen in my life. Super friendly people and a bright Mediterranean sun more than compensated for the brisk temperatures.

Our favorite city on this trip. Venerable yet hip, laid back yet alive, Valencia is fantastic. We printed city walks off of the city website and enjoyed a couple hours of walking through the artist section and then the city center. There were many bike rental companies and it looks like that would have been a great option too. The Mercato is a must-see (bring some money for some good deals on spices you've never seen before) and should be followed by a cappuccino on a sunny plaza. There are impressive towers to climb and gorgeous cathedrals to walk through. Good shopping, good food and good beer. There was even a festival though sadly it didn't start until dusk so we only saw the three wise men arrive but not the parade. English was not obvious but there was enough to get by. This was the one city that we know we'll go back to some day.