Hello Fellow Travelers! I am planning a week trip to Italy in May/June 2013, My plan is to my wife and i to meet up in florence around 2ish on a saturday and take a train to Riomaggiore, I understand that we need to take a train to pisa, then to la spezia then to riomaggiore, Has anyone made this trip, could you let me know roughly what you encountered with train schedules, frequency and cost? I'm hoping that we get there by sundown on that day. Thank you all for your help, it is much appreciated!
Happy and safe travels my friends!
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32219 posts
Ryan, The others have provided good advice. Your trip may or may not involve a change in Pisa (or elsewhere). It will depend on which train you can connect with. Current schedules show a direct train departing Firenze S.M. Novella at 13:53, arriving La Spezia Centrale at 16:19 (time 2H:26M, current fare €11.30 PP). If you miss that one, the next departure is at 14:28 but that requires a change in Pisa (but travel time is only 2H:12M). As the others mentioned, you'll be travelling on Regionale trains, so tickets MUST be validated or you'll face hefty fines which will be collected on the spot (and they're not cheap)! When you arrive at La Spezia Centrale, you'll transfer to the local train for the trip to Riomaggiore. The trip is only about 8 minutes. When you buy your ticket in Florence, specify Riomaggiore as your destination so that you don't have to buy an extra ticket. If you can connect with the 13:53 direct train, you'll have a ~40M wait in La Spezia (there's a McDonalds at the station - have a coffee). Current fare on that route to Riomaggiore is €12.20 PP. The train for Riomaggiore departs at 17:00 and you'll arrive there at 17:07 (keeping in mind, this is Italy so trains don't always operate on a "precise" schedule). Bottom line - it's not a difficult or a long trip. Happy travels!
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
You really don't have to ask if any of us have done this trip. Thousands of us have. The train journey takes about 2.5hrs overall. Most runs have the train changes you mention but some have different changes. Depends on the run. Expect a fare of 12.20Euro 2nd class one-way. Most trips are on Regionale trains. No seat reservations permitted. Train runs are just fine. At least 30 trains a day go from Florence to Pisa. The frequency from Pisa to the CT is also very frequent. You can see the schedules on www.trenitalia.com or www.bahn.de. You won't be able to buy the tickets online from either. Just buy the tickets, validate them in the little yellow box in the station, get on and find your own seat. If no seats, you can stand. It's like a bus on tracks. You won't have any problems with these trains.
Posted by
OP
Nashua, NH, USA
9 posts
Thank you Larry, most helpful!
Posted by
Napa, CA
3580 posts
Check the train schedules for a trip from Florence to La Spezia without train change in Pisa. I travelled from Florence to La Spezia, then to Riomaggiore (on the local train) in a few hours last April. Trenitalia should provide the schedule to La Spezia. The local trains have their own schedules but run about every hour.
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
Swan has a good idea. You can either buy a separate ticket from La Spezia Centrale to Riomaggiore when you buy your Florence/La Spezia Centrale ticket or wait until you get to La Spezia. Any tickets you have on a Regionale train, including those to and from Florence, will be "open" tickets. They are good for 60 days for any train making the run. That's why you have to validate the ticket before boarding. The process activates the ticket. In La Spezia, you can board the next train to Riomaggiore.