Help? Venice to Cinque Terre (Riomaggiore)

Visit http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html and enter your departure city and destination. There are no direct trains between the two towns. You will have to change trains twice. The stations you change in will depend on what time you leave Venice. The trip will take over 6 hours.

Kathy, that's a fairly easy trip, but as the previous post indicated it's about a six hour journey.

You didn't indicate which day you'd be travelling, but I checked using an arbitrary date. One train you might consider departs Venezia S.L. at 08:43 and arrives Riomaggiore at 15:08 (total time 6H 25M, 2 changes in Firenze and La Spezia).

When you arrive in La Spezia, you'll be using the smaller "local" train. Note that the ride to Riomaggiore is only about 8 minutes, so be prepared to disembark promptly! The train may stop in a tunnel, but if 8 minutes has elapsed, it's time to get off! From the small Riomaggiore station plaza, walk through the tunnel that runs beside the tracks to reach the "main" part of town.

Happy travels!

I'm planning on leaving on July 31st.
If I take the 5:43 VE S.L., will I get there okay?

Kathy, I'm not sure what the "5:43 VE S.L.," is, but I'm assuming that's the train departing Venezia SL at 05:43, arriving Riomaggiore at 12:30? Travel time is 6H 47M, with changes in Firenze and Pisa. The first train (ES 9391, Venezia-Firenze) requires compulsory reservation, however the other two are Regional so this shouldn't be a concern.

Be sure to pack light so that you're able to navigate the sotto passagio's (tunnels and stairs) quickly when you change trains.

Happy travels!

Unless either the first or second train is running quite late, you'll have plenty of time to change trains in both Firenze and Pisa. Leave Venezia Santa Lucia at 05:43 and arrive at Firenze S.M.N. at 08:15. Leave at 08:57 and arrive at Pisa Centrale at 10:10. Leave at 10:33 and arrive at Riomaggiore at 12:30.

Thanks Ken & Tim for your detailed message.
Would you recommend that I "reserve" the (ES 9391, Venezia-Firenze) train before I leave, or when I get to Europe?
Kathy

Kathy, I normally make my reservations for my outgoing journey either when I arrive in a particular city (since I'm at the station anyway), or at least a few days prior to departure. I've never booked train reservations before a trip, and don't plan on ever doing that.

On my last trip to Venice, I used one of the travel agencies close to Piazza San Marco to book my reservations (listed in Rick's book), but of course Venezia S.L. is good too.

I was last there during the fall shoulder season, and didn't have any problems getting a reservation. I'm not sure if the "lead time" would be different at other times of the year?

Happy travels!