We went to the Cinque Terre last year and wanted to include it on our trip to Europe this year.
Our trip will be 2 weeks long. We wanted to fly into Frankfurt and fly out of Milan. Any ideas on the best way to get from either Munich or Salzburg to the Cinque Terre affordably/quickly?
try these 3 websites for discount flights from Munich to Milan, Genoa or La Specia:www.skyscanner.net/www.sidestep.com/www.whichbudget.com/
The train isn't quick, but it can be affordable if done this way: Take the night train leaving Muenchen (Munich) at 21:03 and arriving in Firenze (Florence) at 06:18, saving yourelves the cost of a night in a hotel. Then go to La Spezia and on to the Cinque Terre. See the timetables at www.bahn.de. After you get summary timetables, click on "Details for all" to see the connecting points. Book the night train leg separately ASAP (up to 90 days allowed) at www.bahn.de to get cheap SparNight fares. The layover in Firenze is long enough that you could buy your tickets there to go on to the Cinque Terre.
Amanda, the wife and I did almost this exact same trip in 2005. There isn't a quick/efficient way to get from Salzburg to CT. One possibility is to take the night train from Salzburg to Venice. Then rent a car in Venice and drive there. Otherwise there are going to be a lot of train connections, and it's going to be a long trip. Taking the train over the Alps is the easiest and least-stressful way to go, but driving isn't out of the question either.
We flew into Munich and then took a train (no train transfers) to Venice. The ride through the mountains is nice. After 3 nights in Venece, we took a train from Venice to CT (Monterosso al Mare) with a train change at Milan. You can also go from Venect to CT and then go from CT to Milan. It is fun learning about the trains and meeting people on the trains.
We drove with multiple destinations between the two. It's not a difficult drive but would be too much without dividing it up.
An overnight train is a good option for covering a lot of ground and not having to worry about a hotel
Amanda,
Your best bet might be to travel from Munich to the C.T. via train. It's going to be a long journey, so you'll have to allow a full travel day in your Itinerary. It would help to know which of the five villages you plan to stay in, as the travel time might be slightly different depending on whether you access the C.T. via Genova or La Spezia.
One route to consider would be:
Dep. Munich 09:32, Arv. La Spezia 21:13, Time 11H41M, 1 change in Bologna, compulsory reservation. From La Spezia, use the small local train to whichever town you'll be staying in (check the schedules to make sure they'll still be operating at that time)
I looked at some of the night trains, but that wouldn't be my choice as these seem to have 3-5 changes - you wouldn't be getting much sleep!
Hope this helps? Happy travels!
Thanks Everyone!
We're booking our tickets this week and I'll let you know what we decided to do.
Since you mention speed... have you considered flying from Munich to Florence or Pisa, and then getting the train to CT? It's quite a ways over the mountains from Munich and flying is definitely the fastest way to cover that part of the journey if you don't have time for a long train trip.
Lufthansa flies to both Florence and Pisa out of Munich.
You could even fly to Milan (lots of flights from Munich to Milan) if you want to get the train from there to CT.
Mathew
We decided to start our trip in Munich and hook down to Salzburg, go through Bavaria, the Rhine, and end up in Frankfurt.
From Frankfurt we are flying on Ryan Air to Pisa- it's 20 euros on sunday and 13 euros on Monday, where we'll take the train to the CT.
(I did consider flying Munich to Pisa- but much more expensive)
Thanks Everyone!
