We arrive in the Cinque Terre around mid day and have lodging there for three nights. We thought we'd spend the first afternoon and evening and the next full day in the CT. The third day we're thinking of taking a morning train to Siena, having lunch there and spend several hours in Il Campo to people-watch. Then take the train to Pisa to see the Tower and the Field of Miracles for a few hours, then head back to Monterosso al Mare for a late supper. Will the train schedules to-from Sienna via Pisa allow this to occur and avoid the angst of "missing the last train"?
Posted by
Seattle, Wa, USA
663 posts
Eh. First off, Siena is not on a direct train route from anywhere so it involves a couple train changes. Then Siena is a hill town, so the train station is some distance from the center of town. And lastly, Siena is so much more than Il Campo that it would be a waste of all that time getting there just to sit on the brick piazza watching people for a couple hours. Lucca might be a better choice for this sort of schedule.
Posted by
Singapore
354 posts
The simple answer is, the train routes make it difficult to cover both Siena and Pisa adequately in a day. Siena isn't on a major train route (ie. changes are usually required if you travel to Siena from another city) and the train station is outside the walled city centre so you need to factor in additional time to get to/ from the city centre. Pisa is nearer to the Cinque Terre, and if all you want to see there is the Tower, then you just might have time to proceed to Lucca which is a short hop from Pisa by train. Lucca is pleasant for whiling away some time, it's also a walled city - the walls are now a city park - and quite laid back. I'm not sure if you'll still get back to Monterosso for late supper though. Check the train schedules on the trenitalia website and see if they work for what you want to see/ do.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16240 posts
Why are you staying 3 days at the Cinque Terre if you plan to take a trip as far as Siena from there?
The Cinque Terre are a bit out of the way, are served only by regional trains traveling between Genoa and La Spezia and therefore don't make an ideal base for doing day trips to Tuscany, except for maybe Pisa, which is just about one hour away from La Spezia.
Shorten your stay at the Cinque Terre to only 2 nights, if you intend to visit the Cinque Terre just for one full day. Add that saved night to another more appropriate base and do your day trips to Tuscany from there. For example if Florence is also part of your itinerary, add that night there. Florence would be an excellent base for taking day trips to Tuscany, including Siena.
Posted by
OP
Cincinnati, OH, USA
769 posts
Angela, Audrey, Roberto:
Your responses answered my question. Thanks. You raised some questions; here are the answers. The visit to Pisa from CT is a bit of an afterthought. Pisa has never been a destination for us, but we thought "why not?" since we'll be nearby. Regarding Siena: I’m aware Siena is not on a main train route (the reason for my question) and I'd read the train station is a bit of a hike from the historic center albeit a pleasant hike. But the “pull” of experiencing a few hours in the square led me to ask my question-- hoping we might just do it. We didn't intend to take in the full experience of Siena, only to have a chance to “Consult the genius of the place”, to borrow a phrase concerning Il Campo. Finally, I should explain my wife and I enjoy train travel (especially in Italy), we've met some interesting folks on the trains. In the case of this particular visit, the time on the trains would be a part of the day’s experiences--not just a means to get from point A to point B. But alas, Siena will have to be visited at another time. Thanks again.
Posted by
Singapore
354 posts
Hi Jon, I hope you'll get to Siena one day soon and "consult the genius of the place" at leisure. Enjoy your holiday!