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Advice planning train journey - stop in Pisa between Cinque Terre and Florence?

Posted by (Florida) on

Hi again all,

Still planning my Italy trip that's due to happen in a couple of months and had a question. Trying to determine the best way to stop at Pisa between CT and Florence. Just wanted to stop for an hour or so to see the tower/grab a photo or two.

My whole trip looks like Venice > CT > Florence > Rome.

I've looked at The Trainline for train schedules and they have me going from Venice > Florence via the fast train and then to either La Spieza or Saranza via a regional train and then to Manarola which is the CT town I will be staying in. Nothing through Pisa. However, going from CT > Florence they do show me routes that change in Pisa before going to Florence.

My questions are:

  1. If I wanted to stop at Pisa on the way to CT, can I book just the fast train from Venice to Florence and then book a regional train from Florence to Pisa and then again from Pisa to CT? If I can, should I just book the fast train in advance and buy the regional train ticket on the day of at the station? Basically there's no reason I have to book the whole itinerary in one trip right?

    1. Assuming I can do both options, stop on the way to CT or stop on the way back from CT to Florence, do you think one would be preferable over the other? Or is it just personal opinion?

Hopefully all that is clear. Thanks for any input!

Posted by
3812 posts

Basically there's no reason I have to book the whole itinerary in one trip right?

Right, but there is no reason to book the Regional trains at the counter, either. You can make separate purchases online months in advance, or five minutes before the trains departure.
Before getting on the train, Do not forget you must time-stamp Regional trains tickets locally purchased.

PS You should really learn how to correctly Spell the Italian city names if you want to find them on the departure boards. I have no idea where / what "Saranza" is.

You can go from Venezia to Manarola also via Milan and Monterosso

Posted by
168 posts

You should really learn how to correctly Spell the Italian city names if you want to find them on the departure boards. I have no idea where / what "Saranza" is.

It was supposed to be Sarzana. It is late and I'm tired. Typos happen.

You can go from Venezia to Manarola also via Milan and Monterosso

This is what I thought I was going to do initially but just about all the routes suggested by Trainline go through Firenze when I search Venezia to Manarola. I did manually search Venezia to Milano and then Milano to Manarola but that doesn't seem to save me any time.

Posted by
15441 posts

Via Milan you don’t save time, but you might save train changes.

Spelling city names correctly is not trivial. Not too many years ago a Swedish couple made the news. They wanted to go to CAPRI, the famous island in southern Italy, in the gulf of Naples, but they misspelled the destination name in their GPS navigator and drove to CARPI instead, a large town in northern Italy near Modena. Once they reached the destination they went to the tourist office asking for information on how to book a boat tour to the Blue Grotto. They were really convinced to have reached the island of Capri in spite of the fact they never crossed any body of water on a ferry.

Posted by
3812 posts

It's more about having reserved seats all the way to Monterosso and saving one change.

How do you know Trainline's site displays the full scheduled and all the fares?

Posted by
168 posts

It's more about having reserved seats all the way to Monterosso and saving one change.

How do you know Trainline's site displays the full scheduled and all
the fares?

You can reserve seats on regional trains?

I checked Trenitalia's website too. Same schedules. The minimum number of changes when I search Venezia to Manarola is 2.

The ones that go through Milano don't save changes and see to be longer journeys and get me there in the evening.

The journeys that go to Firenze then CT with the change in La Spieza make stops at Pisa. Can I just get off there and reboard another train later? Or do I need to buy a new ticket? I would think I would have to buy a new ticket.

Posted by
6561 posts

You would need a new ticket

No you can’t reserve seats on regional trains

There are IC trains that come from Milan-those do have reserved seats

Posted by
3060 posts

If you got to Pisa at 10 AM, you could probably do the main Plaza of Miracles in 3-4 hours. If you want to climb the Tower, maybe an extra hour. We spent 2 nights there, but we travel more slowly than some.

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