Hi All
If you may advise please
Will be in Avignon end of this month, then planning to travel to portofino
I will be renting a car to explore province area
What is the best way to reach to portofino
I’m thinking to drop the car in nice and then take a train to portofino via Genoa
Or just drop the car at Avignon and search for a train to Genoa then portofino
But I didn’t find direct trains I think I will need to change multiple times
Any hint is highly appreciated
Thank you
Posted by
Lisbon, Portugal
93 posts
Check rome2rio.com for your travel options.
Posted by
Fort Myers, FL
1894 posts
Nice to Santa Margherita-Ligure-Portofino two train changes.
Posted by
Gettysburg PA
7229 posts
There is no train to Portofino
Nice to Genoa
Genoa to Santa Margherita Ligure
Ferry or bus to Portofino
Posted by
San Diego, California, USA
1145 posts
Hello Slmn, and welcome to the boards!
I have driven much of the coastal area you are talking about and unless you have specific stops you want to make between Avignon and Nice I would agree with dropping the car in Avignon TGV station and then taking the train. Driving the coastal roads during the season - especially in and around Nice - takes a lot patience. The train is about as fast and way less hassle than driving through the coastal areas.
There will be some changes since you are technically passing through 3 countries - France, Monaco and Italy - and using several different train systems but people do it everyday so don't let the that intimidate you.
You can take the TGV out of Avignon to Nice (3h29) and the Nice to Ventimiglia (52m) which is the border with Italy.
And then Ventimiglia to Genoa Piazza Principe (2h) and Genoa Piazza Principe - S. Margherita Ligure-Portofino (49m) or the slightly slower Ventimiglia to Savona (1h 50min) and Savona to S. Margherita Ligure-Portofino (1h 56min) depending on your schedule.
And then a ferry or something else to actually get to Portofino proper from S. Margherita Ligure train station. That's three changes so maybe you can do better but with the international borders I don't know.
This will be an all day travel adventure but it is doable. The time to drive from Avignon to Nice is roughly the same as the train so that's not going to speed up the process. You could consider staying overnight somewhere if you don't want to spend all this time travelling in one day.
Italian Trains schedules/tickets: https://italiatren.com/en/
France Train schedules/tickets: https://www.sncf.com/en/
General information on Train travel from the Man in Seat 61:
Italy: https://www.seat61.com/Italy.htm
France: https://www.seat61.com/train-travel-in-france.htm
Hope that helps, have a great trip,
=Tod
Posted by
Paris
7312 posts
End of June is not peak traffic season, and driving from Avignon to Nice will be about 1 hour faster than the train - making sure you return the car at Nice Ville train station and not at the airport.
This said, the train ride is quite scenic in parts, so... Up to you if you'd rather not drive and don't mind a longer journey.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
thank you all for your reply and helpful notes
tried to reply to each one of you but it seems this feature is not available to me
again thanks