My wife and I are looking for the most efficient travel option to get us from Corniglia Cinque Terre to Venice, on a Sat. this coming November 2017 . We're seeing train options leaving from the La Spezia Station to Venice taking around 6 hours and driving options around 4 and a half hours. Anyone recommend one way versus another, OR is there a better way to get there?
Thanks,
Cole
If you go to the trenitalia site, and plug in Corniglia and Venezia Santa Lucia, most trains will take around 6 hours ( plus or minus a few minutes) and involve 2-3 train changes. Fairly straightforward.
Going by car is more complicated. You'd have to take the train to La Spezia to get your car. Then you'd start out by driving through mountainous terrain on a regional highway for quite some distance before picking up one of the main highways. Then at the end drive carefully via the causeway to drop off at P. Roma. I think that your total travel time would be more like 7+ hours, due to unfamiliar terrain, stopping for lunch, and getting gas.
We are going from Vernazza to Venice in October. Following your replies.
Take the train - don't drive unless you have some other stops in mind in between that are hard to get to without a car. Driving probably won't save you any time. Remember, you have to GET the car first - that's going to take some extra time, in addition to just the drive itself. Take the train and you can just look out the window and enjoy the ride.
Italian trains are just fine. Some of the regional trains can be crowded, but you may not be on regional trains the whole time. If you want to go first class most of the way (not something I've ever felt the need to splurge on on Italian trains myself), go through Milan instead of through Florence. You're going to have to change in either La Spezia (headed toward Florence) or Levanto (headed toward Milan). If you stay somewhere other than Corniglia - a bigger town like Monterosso - you could skip one of the train changes, perhaps. (And the hike up and down the steep hill Corniglia is on, unless you wait for the shuttle bus.)
On that route, you can travel either via Florence or via Milan. I normally take the Florence route but it usually has more changes. The easiest solution in terms of minimizing changes would be to time your departure with one of the direct trains from Monterosso to Milano Centrale. From Milano Centrale to Venezia S. Lucia you'll use a high speed train, a trip which takes 2H:25M. The Milan solution probably won't be the fastest though. You can see all the solutions on the Trenitalia website.
I wouldn't recommend driving as there are some potentially expensive "caveats" you'll have to deal with (such as each driver requiring an International Driver's Permit) and of course the dreaded ZTL areas (hefty fines). There are also some caveats to be aware of when using trains and other public transit in Italy. If you need more information on that, post another note here.
Thank you for your replies. Extremely helpful.
Just curious why you chose Cinque Terre in November?
I was also wondering about cinque terra in November. I am scheduled to go at the end of October and am thinking that it may be too rainy at that time, thoughts?
We don't really care about the weather. We live in Seattle so rain doesn't really bother us. We're travling through italy much of November and this is just one stop along the way. Its our first time there so we want to hit it. We've been in contact with some locals there so they've informed us about what to expect. Still we're pretty excited to experience the culture during the off season.
There aren't regional and national highways in Italy. All A-something roads are divided motorways with 2 or 3 lanes in each direction and no level crossings.
Most of A motorways are also toll roads.
In La Spezia you'd take the A15 to Parma to cross the mountains. It runs mostly in tunnels and on viaducts, that's why it's both easy to drive and expensive. Easy bearing in mind you're driving through the Apennines, not the Tuscan hills. After the A15 you'll take the A1 up to Bologna and then the A13 to Venice.
Use viamichelin.com for real driving times and overall costs. It shouldn't take more than 5 hours and half.
In Parma you could exit the motorway system and use local "SS" and "SP" roads to visit Mantua, Verona and Padua along the way. The Bridal Chamber in Mantua, painted by Mantegna, has recently been re-opened.
Cole-- One thing I noticed about the Autostrada, is they quite often have a barrier higher than is usual in the US. Where here there may be the typical guardrail, there it may be a 4-5 ft high wall. Definitely areas where the view of the countryside is restricted.
The Autostrada will give you the I-90 experience, with toll$. ( When I drove in Italy in 2010 it worked out to something like 15 cents a mile) The Secondary roads will be more like US 2, free, slow and going through the middle of the towns.
When comparing costs of train vs. car, be sure to factor in tolls and fuel ( $5/gal or so) in addition to the daily rate.
