best routing for 17 day trip

I'm having a hard time deciphering your posting. Are you say that you calculated it would take 8.5 hrs to go from Rome to Florence? It only takes 1.5 hrs to do that in a straight shot. Why would you go through Milan?

Hi Michael... Sorry...I know it was a mess..let me try it again..and slower! And my post was too long..I had to try to cut it down..like 5 different times. When I went to Eurorail and laid out the following plan Rome-Florence-Pisa-Vernazza-Venice - it was a total of 9.25 hours travel time and 7 trains. (it was a little more time from CT to Venice through Milan but less trains) When I did Rome-Vernazza-Pisa-Florence-Venice it was a total of 8 hours and 6 trains. BUt then someone said I should go to Trenitalia to make sure I was including all the wait time etc..and I got
9 hours Rome to CT to Florence to Venice I got 8.5 hours ROme to florence to CT to venice So I am guessing I must be doing something wrong. Of course I am not going till October..so I just picked a time in April just as an example. So basically trying to figure out the least amt of time on trains..or best route scenary wise or ease etc. Hopefully that made it easier.

First problem is using RailEurope for schedule information. That is a travel agency selling tickets on limited number of trains. Not a rail company. For good scheduling info go to bahn.de. Or use tranitalia.com which is the Italian train site but more difficult to use. You do not go through Milan to Florence.

I'm not entirely sure what you're asking, but I personally would take fewer trains even if it takes a couple hours longer total because transferring stresses me out. It sounds like you're talking a total of 2 hours extra on numerous trips, which IMO isn't worth worrying about. If each trip was 2 hours extra, that'd be one thing, but you're not talking about a significant impact on your trip. Obviously you want to maximize sight-seeing time and minimize transport time, but for a couple of hours over a whole trip lasting 17 days, I personally would not stress about that - travel is supposed to be a vacation from stress, not adding to it. I actually think a better reason to put CT in between Rome and Florence is because they're both fairly hectic cities with a lot to do in them, and having CT in the middle would break up the pace of the trip. Another thing about minimizing transport time, if that's really such a concern, is the time of day of the trips. I like to take early morning trains so I still have at least half a day when I get to my destination. Taking a 10am or 11am train is kind of wasteful because the odds of doing anything productive before that train is minimal.

Thanks Guys. Debra - My question is really which route would you take and why: Rome - Florence - Cinque Terre (Vernazza) Venice OR Rome - CT (vernazza) - Florence - Venice - I did look at Trenitalia also and mapped it all out. - but good to know that more train options are there. I guess I need to try Bahn -Frank...I knew not to go from Milan to Florence..it was Milan to Venice. - Debra..interesting a friend of mine said the same thing...Just pick one as it is not a big deal either way...I guess I was thinking when the person told me to relook at it, it would be a big deal.
I also see what you are saying about breaking up the hectic ciites.

I'm not sure I understand your problem, but doing the itinerary from south to north (Rome to Venice) or north to south (Venice to Rome) will make little or no difference in terms of train time. The trains go just as fast in either direction. However I would go from north to south (Venice to Rome) for two reasons: 1- you are traveling in October therefore you may want to visit the north first, because it gets cool and rainy sooner than south of the Apennines mountain range. 2- flying out of Venice often involves very early departures. From Venice to the airport is a long (well over one hour) and expensive (up to 120 euro) boat trip. many people in fact, change hotel to stay in Tessera, next to the airport, the night before the flight. Instead, From the historical center downtown Rome to the airport is a quick (30 min) and inexpensive taxi (50 euro) or train (14 euro p.p.) ride. Flying back from Rome is preferable for that reason.

I must not be doing a good job of asking my questions. I already have my tickets. I am flying into Rome Oct. 4th and flying out from Venice Oct 19th at 10pm I am just asking which one of these routes over the 17 days. I am stayin in each city. Rome Vernazza Florence Venice OR Rome Florence Vernazza
Venice Does that make more sense now.

Not significantly different.
I would go from Rome to Vernazza first, then to Florence and Venice last. But pretty much the two options are similar. The reason of my choice is that from Vernazza to Venice is a painstaking 5.5 to 6+ hours with multiple train changes. Stopping and visiting Florence along the way will break the trip to a more manageable duration. Rome to Vernazza is not too bad with the right train solution. Three plus hours and you are there. Still confused about Milan in your post. How is Milan fitting in all of this? Why do you want to go to Milan? Milan is totally out of the picture in your travel plan.

Thanks for the help. I will be posting with my trip itinerary to ask suggestions to make sure I am not in any town too long etc. thanks again

Stacey, This is not a difficult route. The easiest and most logical route is Rome > Cinque Terre > Florence > Venice. I'd suggest that you "bin" the Rail Europe website. Travel times of 9+ hours are ridiculous! Use either the Trenitalia or bahn.de websites for researching rail journeys. This is route I'd suggest..... > Rome to La Spezia - about 3H:45M via direct train. There are several direct trains each day, and others with changes. When you arrive at La Spezia Centrale, transfer to the local train for the short trip to Vernazza (about 15 minutes as I recall). > C.T. to Florence - the trip from La Spezia Centrale to Firenze SMN is as short as 1H:53M, usually with one change at Pisa Centrale. You could take the opportunity to stop in Pisa for a few hours if desired, and then continue to Florence. > Florence to Venice - the trip from Firenze SMN to Venezia S. Lucia is 2H:05M via Freccia (high speed) train (reservations compulsory). On that trip, you could also take the new Italo high speed train, which operates from the same stations with the same travel time (fares currently as low as €31). One point to mention. There are some potentially expensive "caveats" when riding trains or Buses in Italy. If you need further information post another note. Happy travels!

Hi do your planning in smaller bits, you are not travelling in one day.. When researching Rome to CT, direct may not always suit, It very much depends on the day, in our case there were four direct Rome to La Spezia, one departing 9.40, next 12.10, 13.29. and 13.55, ranging from 4h06min to 3h16m travel time. While I want to make the 9.40, if not, then Rome via Florence with hi speed trains every half an hour, then Pisa- La Spezia travel will take about the same time , but will get us in earlier and if like us a couple of hours is Pisa is in your plan, then , either on the way to- or from CT. Rome to CT , then Florence, Venice or Rome to Florence, CT then Venice do you think it will make any real difference ? I didn't. You can do Rome-Florence then CT, Venice
you could then route north via Genoa, then to Milan then Verona to Venice. An option if you want to see the last supper. Regarding the often quoted 9E tickets, I'm afraid I didn't see them but 19E were offered, but Cheap tickets can't be changed. You need to have your date but more importantly your time of departure nailed down. also, look up Ron in Rome for his railway posts If you are exiting Italy via Trains then the OBB portal worked for me. regards

Thanks to you both I was planning on stopping at,Pisa either way It is hard to wait for train schedules as I don't go till October but want to make hotel reservations now So I did break it down per city Seems most people are voting for Rome to ct
But I agree there are more trains from Rome to Florence. But as long as I can get the train to ct. And I would want that morning one too

A few years ago I took a train from Monterosso to Rome which took about 4 hours. It went along the coast and not through Florence. I assume the direction Rome-Monterosso is also available. I also have taken a train from Monterosso to Venice. We may have changed trains in Milan, but the entire trip was about 6 hours. Last year I took a train from Venice to Monterosso, stopping and changing trains in Florence and La Spezia. From Florence to Venice is 2-3 hours. One route might be: Rome-CT (Monterosso)-Pisa-Florence-Venice. There is no actual back-tracking there since the Rome-CT leg doesn't pass thru Florence.

stacey, "It is hard to wait for train schedules as I don't go till October but want to make hotel reservations now " There's no need to wait for train schedules. The trains will still be running, there will be available seats and the schedules probably won't have changed much. Book your hotels whenever it's convenient, and work out the train trips closer to your departure time. Cheers!