I have tried looking at different train schedule site, and I am so confused. We arrive in Bologna Italy in the late afternoon and would really like to go straight to the Cinque Terre. Can someeon tell me an easy site so I can figure out how late the trains run and if it is possible?
Posted by
Carbondale, IL, USA
1201 posts
www.trenitalia.com is the official 'italian train site. There is an option for english at the top. Looks like currently the last train leaves Bologna at 19:24 and arrives at vernazza at 23:29 so about 4 hours. Depending on when you go, there re 2 or 3 train changes.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
Trenitalia.com. But you have to switch to a local or Regionale train to get to the CT villages, and those schedules are often only posted a week in advance. Find out what day of the week you will be traveling, then pick that same day of the week next week to plug into the dates on trenitalia.com. It's weird. But consider spending the night in Bologna. You can have an outstanding dinner the evening you arrive, then leave for the CT the next day. (Bologna is famous for its food.) Here are some photos I took of Bologna when we were there in May 2008, in case you're curious about it. Happy travels.
Posted by
OP
Seattle, WA, USA
24 posts
Thank you to both of you for your reply. Also, many thanks for your beautiful pictures. It had been suggested we would be better off staying in the Night in Bologna.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, USA
7737 posts
Good for you! Here's an outstanding restaurant in Bologna with reasonable prices: http://www.dalbiassanot.it/ Their English page on their website is under construction but the Italian pages all work. Here are some photos from their website. The photo of the front door makes it look as if they're in a mall, but they're actually under one of the many porticos that Bologna is famous for. (Click on the photo to enlarge.) And I just have to post my favorite photo of a food store in Bologna. My mouth is starting to water just remembering that place. :-) Happy travels.
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8166 posts
The train schedules published are just for the next 60 days. With budgetary problems, train schedules are subject to change in the future. It's just hard setup a travel schedule at this time. You'll go south of Bologna to Florence. Then, transfer trains to Pisa. Then transfer trains to go NW to LaSpezia, where you transfer to a slow local train up the coast. It's just difficult to get to the C/T, and it's a pretty long way. Have you considered staying the night in Bologna or Florence for the night, and getting an early start the next morning? I just don't like getting into cities in the middle of the night. Some accommodations around train stations are a little seedy.
Posted by
OP
Seattle, WA, USA
24 posts
Thank you for your nice reply. We are going to stay the night in Bologna and leave the next day. Do you by any chance know about how long you think the trip will take?