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Early AM Trains from Vernazza to La Spezia (and then to Rome)

Posted by (Atlanta, GA, USA) on

We're taking the train from La Spezia to Rome for our trip in September after a 5 night stay in the Cinque Terre - there's a 6:50 am fast train that gets into Rome by around 10 am from La Spezia that we want to aim for (so that we don't spend the better part of a day on the train and get to Rome early). Are there early AM trains that would get us from Vernazza to La Spezia to catch the 6:50 am train to Rome? I did some web search on the CT timetables (most of the websites listed vintage 2004 CT timetables) and the earliest one started from Monterroso around 6:30 am and woudn't put us into La Spezia in time to catch the 6:50 am. I then searched Trenitalia - looks like there is a 5:00 am (yawn) train from Vernazza that would get us to La Spezia at 5:20 am. Am I looking at these timetables correctly? I suppose these are two different rail services, which is why I don't see the early AM trains posted on the local CT timetables?

http://orario.trenitalia.com/b2c/nppTravelSolutions.do

We had also considered checking out of our Vernazza hotel early and staying in a hotel in La Spezia the night before near the train station, which might be the other option, although it almost seems getting up earlier would be a bit easier than packing up a family of 3 for another hotel for one night (maybe?)

Any advice from Cinque Terre/train/Trenitalia experts?

Posted by
4555 posts

Neal....Many of the local tourism sites don't update their train/bus/plane schedules on a regular basis. I would only trust the Trenitalia schedules. It looks like, at this point, the connection you mention is the only one available to get you into Rome at 10 a.m. The regional train tickets Vernazza-La Spezia can be purchased any time (do it the day before, maybe, just in case the ticket agent is a little late in arriving that early morning!;)) But if you go to a train station ticket office as soon as you can after your arrival in Italy, you may be able to get Amica discount tickets for the La Spezia-Rome ES train. Amica fares, at 20% off, are available up to midnight before the day of travel,providing they all haven't been snapped up beforehand. 40 Euro is the standard price....32 under the Amica fares.

Posted by
8700 posts

The CT trains are Trenitalia trains so the CT timetables you saw must be out of date. Yes, you can take the 05:01 regional train to La Spezia.

Posted by
6898 posts

Tim is correct on the first train out of Vernazza for La Spezia Centrale. It gets there at 5:22. There is a second train that gets in at 6:44 but I wouldn't chance it with 7 minutes to catch the Eurostar at 6:51.

CLICK HERE to see the current morning schedule. It will be about the same when you travel.

If you don't get breakfast at your hotel before departure, there is a McDonald's in the La Spezia train station. There is also another place there to pick up morning food. It's a lot less expensive than buying food on the train.

Posted by
120 posts

We too planned on taking the early train out of Vernazza to have lots of time to meet our connecting train. Imagine our surprise when the early train did not arrive - the only notice being a note on the screen beside that departure and only once the time had passed when it was expected. Just because something shows on the schedule does not guarantee it. We were lucky that the next train still got is in with just enough time to make our connection. The tension only added to the sense of adventure!

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