OK, I'm trying to pre-print schedules for Rome-to-Venice, Venice-to-Monterosso (by way of Genoa- better choice than La Spezia, right?), Genoa-to-Varenna, and, finally, Varenna-to-Milan. First of all, is there a key to explain all of the abbreviations for train stations, just to make sure we get to the right ones? E.g., Roma TE = Termini? VE S.L. = Venezia, Santa Lucia, right? But, what does Mestre mean? GE P.P. = ? and GE BRIG = ? MI C.LE = which station in Milan? Thanks a bunch!
On the trenitalia website select a train and then click the button for details. That way you will see the full name of each station.
More than likely you will want the main train stations in these cities--MI C.LE is Milano Centrale; VE S.L. is Venice Santa Lucia, which is right in Venice and Mestre is the industrial town outside of Venice; Roma TE is Termini the main station in Rome.
For Lake Como, you want Varenna-Esino. For Genoa, there are several train stations. Brig is one and P.P. is another. P.P. stands for Piazza Principe. It's a large transfer station. You may also see Piazza Principe Sotterranea. That's also P.P. but it's on a lower level. If you are going from Monterosso to Varenna-Esino, Genoa is either a stop on the run or a transfer point depending on the run.
FYI, about half the runs from Venice to Monterosso go through Florence/Pisa/La Spezia. It really doesn't matter as the the run times are about the same as going via Milan/Genoa.