Our family will be taking a whirlwind tour through Italy over 2 weeks. We're almost certainly trying to cover too much ground, and I'm hoping that high speed train travel will help us maximize our time. What's the best way to identify faster trains and or fastest routes? For example, we need to get from Florence to Monterroso to Rome within less than 48 hrs. I looked into renting a car to increase our flexibility, but RS recommends against trying to have. Car for both Florence and CT. Thanks in advance for suggestions!
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32462 posts
Ginny, The "best way to identify faster trains" that I know of, is to check the Trenitalia website and compare the travel times for each train on a particular route. The EuroStar Italia / Alta Velocita / Freccia trains are the fastest (reservations compulsory) and the Regionale trains are generally the slowest (tickets MUST be validated to avoid expensive fines). The trip from Florence to the Cinque Terre is fairly short (about 2H:15M), and the type of train won't make much difference in the overall travel times. On the trip from the C.T. to Rome, the quickest route is usually the direct train from La Spezia Centrale to Roma Termini, which has a travel time of 3-4 hours, depending on which train is used. There are only a few Freccia trains each day, so you'll need to adjust your departure time accordingly. The other trains take slightly longer, and have numerous changes. A car will NOT be the quickest travel method compared to the Freccia trains, which travel at up to 300 kmH when they get going. Also, having a car in the C.T. is not practical, as it will sit in a car park in La Spezia (or elsewhere) gathering dust. Happy travels!
Posted by
Arctophilia, Northamptonshire, England
35023 posts
When you go to a trenitalia or Bahn website to look at the trains it will show the amount of time for each combination of trains. If you look at those the ones with the least amount of time shown will be the faster routes.