Taking The Ferry From Italy To Tunisia – Don’t Do What I Did!

Taking The Ferry From Italy To Tunisia – My Story

It was my younger sister who was the one that originally planned to come to Tunisia. Her partner booked an all inclusive holiday here for her, himself, my 2 nephews, my nephews girlfriend and my 2 nieces. He said at the time that if I got the money together and I could afford it then I could come as well.

It did seem like he had a bit too much to drink when he said this. I kind of knew this but I think after going to Morocco (3 times) in the first half of 2025 that Tunisia seemed very attractive to me.

This was months before I ever booked my own travel and accommodation, and really before I ever actually decided I would try and make my own way here.

At the time I was actually quite upset because my sister said she didn’t want me to come. She said she wanted this holiday to be with just her and her family. I knew what she meant (her and her kids). I think it wasn’t that she didn’t think of me as family but she just didn’t want me there causing trouble.

She told me later that she was worried about me getting drunk (which I did understand), but in my mind I thought for the whole of 2024 I didn’t drink so one week would be nothing.

Although, at the time I felt quite rejected by this. It made me feel like things that I’ve had to deal with in the past were starting to rear their ugly head again. Part of me just wanted to make a stand and just find out the details and make my own arrangements just to prove a point.

I’m not sure if there ever was a point that I gave up on the idea. I was looking at flights as soon as I heard about this.

I tsuppose really this was always going to happen whether I admitted this to myself or not.

My Stay In Rome Before Tunisa

This felt like a long time coming. It was almost like there was no way I wasn’t getting here. 5:15AM I was at the train station, and I got to Gatwick Airport with a good amount of time to spare at about 6:25AM in the morning.

It was another one of those times I thought I should have slept for longer. I felt so tired I really wished I had left an hour later and got some more sleep but at least I was there and that was the main thing.

I’ve definitely got a lot of anxiety when it comes to missing my flights. This time was no different, and I suppose its just as well because here I was on my way to Rome.

I found it pretty easy really after this. Getting the train into Rome and finding my hostel was quite easy. The walk here was a bit much with carrying my bags and it was very hot but probably after only 20 minutes I was at the hostel.

Arriving At My Hostel In Rome

My hostel – the Villa Luzzatti was a bit of a laughing stock really. It is quite an old building. Definitely has a lot of history but this wasn’t really the problem.

What bothered me most after getting here was I wanted a shower but forgot to pack a towel. I thought it would be alright because I assumed the hostel would have one to rent (or to just let me use) like so many other hostels I been to before.

But no they did NOT. The receptionist could barely understand me and when he did he seemed surprised I was asking him. I mean maybe this is just Italy but I couldn’t believe it, and really this was just the start of it all.

I wasn’t even given a key or door key code. They basically just showed me my room and where my bed was and that was it. It seemed like anyone could have just walked in here. Perhaps, maybe they have enough trust in people for nothing bad to happen, and fair enough but whilst I’m complaining about the place. There was other things.

The door handles in the room were broken – you couldn’t close the door. The beds were very close together. Even though it was a mixed male and female dorm.

Also, the light was broken and I had to use a lamp. Not all the plugs worked in the room and the place just seemed like it was falling apart.

I paid 11 euros in the end for a towel from the shop. I know I should have packed one but I guess the silver lining was I got to have a nice walk round this part of the city. The shop I found was right by St. Marias Maggiore Basilica.

I didn’t know before but this is one the 4 Papal Basilica’s in Rome and the largest Marian Church in the city.

I really should have looked at getting a ticket to go in or something. It was a shame I didn’t because it was such a fascinating place to see there in front of me.

There was something going on over the park nearby as well. I’m not sure if this was some kind of annual festival or something they have here every weekend or not but on this day there was world food tents, music and other entertainment.

I hung around here for a bit before leaving. In my head I think I just wanted to find somewhere to buy a towel, get back to my hostel, have a shower and call it a day.

I think I can be pretty boring at times but maybe other British tourists would have been the same – I’m not sure. The main thing was I had booked so I got a full day in Rome and it was pretty cool really to see.

Visiting Bioparco Di Roma Zoo – What Was It Like?

I suppose this is kind of traditional for me. Most countries I go to I’ll check out their zoos and wildlife reserves. This was my main plan for the one whole day I had in Rome.

I suppose most tourists would have opted for the Colosseum or Vatican City but I thought this would be something else different I could do.

Really I found it slightly boring. I wasn’t drinking – so it wasn’t that but I think it was just like so many other zoos I been to over the past couple years.

Possibly I need to stop going to so many. It wasn’t a bad zoo really but I think on the day I just wasn’t really feeling it.

Although, it was cool to see the Brown Bears. I’ve been to so many zoos and they have been nowhere to be seen. Here there was 2 bears I see and a small cub (which was quite cute). There was an Anaconda here too which are always quite amazing to see, and they had big Komodo Dragons and Monitor Lizards.

I got round most of the zoo – I was doing my best to follow the map I was given with numbers. There was some animals I didn’t see – no wolves, otters, wild dogs, hippos or bear-cats. I mean I’m not sure if this made too much difference to how I was feeling on the day but it was not that bad really.

The animals I did see were the Giraffes, Elephants, Rhinos, Monkeys including Tamarins and Marmosets. There was the Tigers, Lions and Chimpanzees as well and of course the Bears and Reptiles as well. Just to name a few.

The walk round was a good bit of exercise too. Lots of hills to walk up. It was a bit tiring but I do say I like to walk when I’m away on these trips. My thinking is that it is good to make up for all the idle time I spend at home. Zoos are great places to go for a walk. This is one reason I like to go to them and to just enjoy the surroundings.

What I Did After I Left The Zoo

I left the zoo after I felt I had been round everywhere. I’m not sure how long I spent here on the day but I think It was worth the 19 euros I paid. I didn’t have anything else planned after this but It was good how this day turned out.

The Colosseum I kind of did think about going to but it wasn’t until getting the tram back to my hostel that I noticed it was only 4 or 5 stops away. I didn’t realise when booked or even got here but this was the best thing about my hostel.

It’s location is right near here.

So, I left the Zoo and went to see the one of the “7 Wonders of the World” – The Roman Colosseum. I didn’t even acknowledge this at the time but this is no. 4 on the official list.

The Roman Colosseum – What Did I Think?

Now when I think about it in hindsight – I think that it would have been a terrible shame if I didn’t come here to see this place. Really, I’m sure this will be one of the greatest building you could ever see in your life.

Even just to look at it from the street outside it’s really something else.

So, once you get here you begin to see there is so much more around the area. Before I actually decided to buy a ticket for the Colosseum I had a good wander around but I couldn’t come here and not explore it.

Coming here you will also see that the largest part of this site is the Forum. In a way I wanted to explore this more than the Colosseum. It really just looks like there is so much more here to see. I actually paid for the ticket hoping to get in here, with the Colosseum really only an afterthought but I unfortunately never did get to see both.

The ticket guard said people coming here typically need about 2 hours and it was under 2 hours until the site closed so I was too late. Although, I still had the opportunity to go into the Colosseum which was the main thing.

What Is The Roman Colosseum Like Inside?

So, I was quite happy to pay this still, and I’m glad I did because it was truly AMAZING. It just boggles the mind to think about what this place has been through.

• How old is it?
• How much of it is still here since these times long gone?
• and EVEN (my favourite question – was this even built by the Romans, or was it here before?

I’ve heard the Pyramids in Egypt are like this. Apparently, they are older than Ancient Egypt and belonged to a past advanced civilization that lived here WAY before.

The ancient past is so fascinating to me. Like how much do we really know? The Colosseum I see a picture of Inside of it being much taller and being quite reminiscent of the Tower of Babel..

It’s actually quite Interesting as Pieter Bruegel, the Dutch Renaissance Artist based his painting of the Tower of Babel on the Roman Colosseum. You have to question why this is? Was this really a place that existed and could it have been here?

I mean I guess not. Babel, I’m sure is the same as Babylon and this was the area on the lower Euphrates River in southern Mesopotamia. It is now Iraq so I don’t belie that but could have the Colosseum been much taller?

I am very fascinated by the legend of the Tartarian Mud Flood. This is apparently evident in places like St. Petersburg Cathedral, with its partially submerged windows on the ground floor. It is said that in Cities like Prague for Instance that they had to build new buildings on top of old ones because this really happened.

The Colosseum does have an underground so I do wonder – was this once above ground and was the building once much visibly taller?

I don’t know if this is true – my thinking is about there being more levels underground then the 2 which were used by the Gladiators and the animals such as Lions that were kept Inside of here.

Maybe one day this will come out in the news. “Hidden floors found underneath the Roman Colosseum”.

I wont bet any money on it but I would love for something like this to be discovered.

I will let people make their own minds up about this but STILL either way even if The Colosseum is what we’ve all been told it is and something else even more spectacular – it still is very worthy of it’s title of the 4th Wonder of the World.

My advice would be to make a full day of it and pay for the full experience – which I think is 24 euros.

You may want to look at booking a tour if you want to take this a step further but I suppose this depends on how much money you really want to spend.

Now, back to my STORY>>

My Last Two Days In Italy

This was the day that I felt so much was building up towards – actually finally getting to Tunisia. I set my alarm for 5.55 AM for this morning as I knew I needed to make sure I was in time for my train.

I needed to catch my train to Napoli at 6.56AM and I was definitely not leaving anything to chance. My anxiety was through the roof! The night before I was constantly waking up and checking the time. It must have been every hour or so that I was waking back up to check before going back to sleep.

It was quite bad. On this morning I totally went into panic mode. My thought was that because I booked my train ticket whilst I was still back home in England the time difference meant that my train was coming at 5.56AM Instead of 6:56AM.

It was just so stupid I must have looked like a right fool.

In my head I was thinking that I only had 26 minutes to catch my train, and I had very little time to get here.

I swear – quite often I think my life would make a good TV sitcom. There is a reason I go around with a Mr Bean Teddy Bear – I remind myself of him sometimes so much and this was just one of these days.

It was absolutely horrible.

I couldn’t get out the door quick enough. I literally grabbed everything I had and run out the door of the hostel. I then run all the way down the road carrying my bags whilst trying to use Google Maps. I just managed to get on the tram with about a minute to spare and got to Roma Termini Station just as the 5:55AM train was leaving.

The horror of being so close and still NOT making it. I think the worst part is that here and other parts of Italy if you miss a train you have to buy a new ticket. £35 I Paid – it is one of the worst things about Italy. In England you can use your ticket any time on the same day but not here.

So, I Thought I Missed My Train

I could have cried. The whole time from waking up that morning was so mentally exhausting. From the moment I was rushing out the door after I’d only just woke up (after barely sleeping the night before) to getting to Rome Termini – It felt like it was just typical bad luck but then I realized lol…

It was the 6:56AM train that I needed to catch after all NOT the 5:56AM train. I still had a whole hour. Can you believe that?

What a Relief! It was now feeling like everything was Indeed after all going to plan. I had no problem catching my train to Napoli, and I even had enough time to go to the toilet and have some food.

I was thinking I should give myself a pat on the back after all this because it really felt like this was going to happen.

I was telling myself “well done Alex, this is actually happening. Tomorrow you will be in Tunisia”.

It was such a lovely thought BUT I wasn’t over the line just yet.

I still had to catch my ferry.

Getting into Salerno and Catching The Ferry (Or Not)

This was of course the main mission of this trip. There was getting to Gatwick Airport in the morning from the the UK (for my very early flight). There was getting the early train to Napoli to get to Salerno but catching the ferry was the prime objective.

“I have got a whole 2 hours” I thought. After getting off the the train in Salerno I thought I had plenty of time. I was on the bus within minutes and it was like I had done everything right up to this point.

I was getting closer and closer to my goal and just like that this is where the problems started.

I think first of all it was not being sure where to get off the bus. Using the GPS on Google Maps I must have ended up about 15-20 minutes out the way. It was definitely not ideal but hope was not lost just yet.

According to the GPS coordinates I had it seemed like I knew where to go.

But, It was so confusing. The GPS location I was given by the ferry company (DirectFerries.com) was for those with vehicles – not for foot passengers.

I went to walk in past the gates but was told in Italian (not that I could understand it) that I could not come any further.

At this point, I did not know what to do, and even though the guard on the gates seemingly told me to head to the right, and to keep walking – I Instead went off in the complete opposite direction.

I was checking my phone trying to find the ferry port entrance. I was downloading taxi apps and stopping people hoping someone could understand English. All was hopeless.

I was running round like a headless chicken, and It was not till I see the same guard again – who AGAIN pointed to the right that I actually found where I was supposed to go.

Finding The Salerno Direct Ferries Ticket Office

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If I only I had just listened to him. I do wonder if I’d have actually made it if I did. It did say in my email that I should be here 210 minutes before the ferry leaves but I was guessing I still had time.

Maybe I would have NOT made it still anyway, but, still I’m guessing I probably could have been here a whole hour earlier, and I’m sure that would have maybe made all the difference.

I was told to wait for 5 minutes by one of the guards. It was still before 1:30PM when the ferry was scheduled for departure so I had a glimmer of hope, but I kind of knew it already. It was just my luck – a woman come to the ticket office and she came across a bit aggressive really because I was cutting it VERY fine>

She said – There was NO WAY I was getting my ferry to Tunis, and there wouldn’t be another ferry till the following Friday. I came all this way and I never even managed to do this. It was kind of heart breaking but I did think –

“oh well, at least now I don’t have to endure a 24 hour crossing from here to Tunis. I did give some thought to just staying in Italy but I still wasn’t ready to give up on my holiday.

So I did what I probably should have done in the first place. I went on Skyscanner and looked for available flights from Italy to Tunisia. £50 I see it would be to fly from Milan but it was for the same night, and could I really get there in time?

I wasn’t ready to chance it. Not after missing my ferry but I see the next day I could fly here for the same price at the same time. It was a way to go but this was my new mission.

Also, the best part about it was I got to spend a bit longer in Salerno. It really is a beautiful city. I probably wouldn’t have minded staying here for a couple of days. I think maybe I am kind of grateful because I never would have known about this beautiful place otherwise if I didn’t book this ferry ticket but still all this effort I put into getting here – what a shame this was.