What is the fastest way to get from Cinque Terra to Venice by train? Is it by way of Milan, or by way of Florence? Any suggestions would be helpful!
Posted by
Tilburg, Netherlands
2829 posts
It's faster to travel via Firenze, connecting there with a high-speed train to Venezia S.Lucia.
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
It appears that the routing via Florence is a couple of minutes faster but it can vary depending on where you depart from the CT. Just so you know, there is a 3rd way as well. There used to be the 7:52am train out of La Spezia Centrale to Bologna. At Bologna, you change trains to a high-speed into Venice. A couple of years ago, this was the fastest run to Venice from the CT. I've looked at the recent schedules and the run is still there but they have added an additional train change in Parma. This makes the run a few minutes longer and in my opinion, less desireable because of the additional train change.
Posted by
Carbondale, IL, USA
1201 posts
The "real" answer is "it depends".... Where you leave from has some impact on the travel time and how many train changes you will tolerate. Leaving from Monterosso al Mare will be different than leaving from Riomaggiore. Monterosso has the distinct advantage of having a direct rail connection to Milano Centrale. If you are staying there, the trip is between 5:45 to 6:15 routing through Milan, but you only have the one train change at Milano Centrale
Posted by
white bear lake, minnesota, USA
87 posts
We were staying in Monterosso, so took a late a.m. train from there to Venice via Milano Centrale. Great trip. Suggested by Laurel in these pages! BTW, we were unsucessful booking seats on website while in Rome (it was down) so we hoofed it to Roma Termini, where most self-service ticket machines were also not functioning (true story) Long time in line with other frustrated travelers, but we booked 2 legs of our trip through the station agent (incl the CT to Venice one) and it was time well spent. Our trip is almost over, and we again (in Venice) booked reservations for final 2 legs of the trip.
We loved CT (see my other recent post about crowds and how to make the best of it) and loved Venice. Go to major sights.eg. Doges Palace, when they open in the a.m., then explore all over the rest of the time. Mid day, the crowds in main tourist areas (esp tour groups!!!) will drive you crazy. It's hard to move.
Posted by
Medford, OR
31 posts
Dave: We just completed this journey a little over a week ago.
Monterosso > La Spezia > Pisa > Florence > Venice. Left Monterosso a little after 9am and arrived Venice a little after 2pm. At a little over 5 hours this was the fastest route we found. We purchased our tickets the day before for the entire journey and the trip itself was very easy. We were happy to get to Venice early afternoon and have time that day to do some sightseeing. Side note: We chose 2nd class seats on the fast train from Florence to Venice and struggled with many others to find luggage space. We were traveling with only carry-on suitcases and there was limited storage. My suggestion is to board the train early to ensure you have a spot for your suitcase. This train was completely full on a Friday morning.