Cinque Terre Train Travel in July

I have not made a study of July crowds, but these are my general opinions:

• Take the departure with the fewest connections and that best fits your schedule. From Monterosso to Brig on a Saturday (June 4 in this example), you can choose roughly 7:00 a.m. with 1 connection, 7:30 with 2 connections, 8:00 with 4 connections, 11:00 with 3 connections, or 13:00 or 15:00 each with 1 connection. How to Look Up Train Schedules and Routes Online gives you the DB train schedule link and tips for using it.
• Except for the Cruise Ship Factor, I would not have any particular reason to believe that trains from La Spezia will be less crowded after 15:00. If travelers are coming from other parts of Italy by train, then perhaps they'll arrive at that time. Other travelers hopping between the Cinque Terre towns by train could certainly be on the move, too.

Laura, thank you for your reply. I was planning to purchase my tickets next month for our July 9th departure from Monterosso, but will I need to wait until the timetable change takes place on June 11th to buy these tickets (the trains are Intercity and Eurocity)? Also, for our connection in Milan, would it better to have a longer layover... 1 1/2 hours vs 33 minutes (by Intercity train)? Or are these trains usually on time? Thanks for the help!

Cesca,

I'd suggest ignoring the "crowd factor" when you make travel plans, as there's no way to predict what they will be like on the precise day and time that you'll be travelling. In all likelihood, crowds won't be a problem as the cruise ship groups will be heading in the opposite direction to the one you're travelling. However, there may be other travellers heading for the five towns after 15:00, but I wouldn't expect there to be huge numbers.

It will be the same situation for your trip to Brig. You'll be heading north (away from the C.T.) while groups will be heading south (into the C.T., assuming they start from Levanto. Again, ignore the "crowd factor".

However, there is one good reason to make an early departure from Monterosso to Brig. A departure at 07:33, arriving Brig at 13:16 is one of the quickest solutions on that route (time 5H:43M, 2 changes at Levanto and Milano Centrale). The next departure after that at 08:07 takes 9H:09M! My preference would be to forget breakfast at the hotel and take advantage of the shorter travel time. Two solutions to consider - you might ask your hotel if they will put together a "bag lunch" for you, otherwise you can grab a Panini and a coffee at Milano Centrale.

If you decide to use the 07:33 departure, a few thoughts regarding tickets. Buy the tickets for the first segment from Monterosso to Levanto at the station the day prior to travel. Be sure to validate them before boarding the train on the day of travel. Buy the tickets for the remaining two segments either from www.captaintrain.com or from the Trenitalia website. The latter two segments have compulsory seat reservations, and those can easily be purchased online. You should be able to print out those tickets at home.

You can buy tickets for fast trains up to 120 days out (I am counting down, too).

I would take the train with fewest connections.

At Milano Centrale, you just walk from one teain across the platform to another - no stairs. Any connection time longer than ten minutes should be fine, but trains sometimes run late. If you want more time to stop, there are plenty of places for lunch inside the terminal.

Thank you all for your advice! I think that it does make the most sense to just leave Monterosso early in the morning, even if my teenagers would beg to differ ;) Also, good advice about the crowd levels. I'm sure it's going to be crowded at all times of the day in July in CT. I was getting a little freaked out by stories about long waits in the train stations, pickpockets, etc. There's nothing to be done about that (other than take precaution).

Another question about train tickets: if I purchase the tickets for our La Spezia to Monterosso train ride ahead of time, will I need to specify the time that we'll be using the ticket, or is that ticket valid for any time that day? We will visiting relatives earlier in the week in Abruzzi and then driving up to La Spezia and dropping off the rental car there. It would be convenient to buy the tickets ahead of time, while still in Abruzzi, but if our travel time to La Spezia is longer than expected, we may miss the train (unless the tickets for any time that day).

I don't believe there is any reason to buy your ticket from La Spieza to Monterosso in advance

Just note the little commuter trains between the villages can be absolutely jam packed like sardines in a tin. When you're standing belly to back squeezing against the stranger in front of you and think that not possibly one more person could squeeze on...FIVE more will push in. Not trying to scare you, but that's exactly what happened to us. Luckily we weren't traveling with children or with luggage and my cash and credit cards were in my pouch so no worries there.

Yes - that's the part that I'm dreading - the crowded trains. There will be six of us (my four kids are older teens/young adults) and traveling with luggage (roller bag/carry one and backpack for each of us). That's the main reason I'm thinking about getting my train tickets ahead of time - to avoid the crowd in the train station while I'm trying to figure out the ticket machine.

Cesca,

Regarding purchase of tickets from La Spezia Centrale to Monterosso, those will most likely be Regionale trains so there's absolutely no reason to buy advance tickets. The price is always the same, the trains never sell out, and advance purchase tickets are awkward to buy and come with restrictions. My suggestion would be to buy tickets for that segment at a local station in Italy, using a Kiosk. The tickets are "open" and can be used anytime within a week or so, but DON'T forget to validate them prior to boarding the train on the day of travel.

Regarding what time to depart Monterosso for Brig, you might impress on your teenagers that if they don't leave on the train I suggested earlier, they will have to spend almost four hours longer sitting on a train. The 07:33 departure makes sense, so they'll need to crack on and get moving early (they can continue with their beauty sleep on the train).

Thanks Ken. I was thinking of buying the La Spezia-Monterosso tickets in Italy, a few days before we get to La Spezia so that I would have paper tickets. That way I wouldn't have to do it in a possibly very crowded train station, but it sounds like buying them in La Spezia would be the best (and recommended) option, so I can just wait and make the purchase there. Thanks for your help.

Cesca,

It doesn't really matter with Regionale tickets. You can certainly buy them a few days early at any station in Italy. Just don't forget to validate them prior to boarding the train on the day of travel. You will of course need the precise station names when buying tickets - La Spezia Centrale and Monterosso (the "full" name of the town is Monterosso al Mare).

However, one important point to mention. A few of the trains travelling on that route will be InterCity trains. The tickets for those require compulsory seat reservations which are specific to train, date and departure time, so they can ONLY be used on the ONE train specified on the ticket. That means that you would have to be at the station in time to connect with that specific train, because if you miss that train your ticket is worthless and you'd have to buy another. You can find the exact details on all the trains on that route by checking the Trenitalia website. OTOH, Regionale tickets can be used on any train on the route you've purchased within a certain time "window", once the tickets are validated (hope that all makes sense?).

Thanks Ken - very helpful information.

Hi Cesca. I hope you are not 'over worrying'. You mentioned trying to avoid the 'massive crowds'. The stations can be crowded at times, but not to the point where it's really a problem, especially since you say your kids are older. After a time or two riding the trains, you will see that even with large crowds, the trains have large capacity, are quite orderly and things go fine. Enjoy your trip!

I found buying train tickets in italy very frustrating. Many of the stations we used had only ticket machines with long lines of tourists who didn't know how to use the machines. Then throw in that many of the machines let you go through the entire process before letting you know they were credit card only, cash only etc, only for certain train lines etc. . Several times I ended up getting out of line after waiting long periods of time because my train was arriving and I didn't want to wait another hour for the next train. The good news is that most of the time we jumped on the train without a ticket we made it to our destination without having to pay for the ticket and a fine. We were fined once though, and received a long lecture, Eventually we started buying tickets the night before we were traveling. Crazy.