Please help buying ticket from Monterosso to Varenna

Train tickets for this route are not on sale yet. If you want to see your options, look at a date in the next week. There is a Europe wide schedule adjustment on June 12, and many local schedules are not published yet. They usually don't change a whole lot. Wait until you are at least 3 months away to buy tickets, and it might be a bit longer due to the schedule change.
www.trenitalia.com

Thank you. I just purchased Rome to Florence tickets for June 12 and since that is more than 3 months from now, I thought they had been loaded early. I appreciate your help!

Be a little careful. I just glanced at the schedule for next week and noticed that many of the trains are Regionale train. A few intercity and a fast train. The intercity and fast train should be available but if you opt for a Regionale train DO NOT buy the ticket on line. First there is no discount for a Regionale ticket and - if purchased on-line - comes pre-validated with restrictions. Regionale train tickets should always be purchased at the station because they are more flexible.

You might get the Monterosso-Milano Centrale IC train sooner, but the connecting train to Varenna-Esino is a Regionale. Regionale trains are cheap because they are subsidized by district governments where they operate, and this subsidy is the subject of negotiations with said governments. I'll go out on a limb and speculate that the subsidy money comes out of the sky-high fuel taxes that Italian drivers pay to fill their tanks. So like most negotiations, they sometimes go down to the wire.
The fast Freccia trains are available to buy now, as you have discovered. Since they are more on a profit basis, and are competing with private operators like Italo and airlines, they are more on the ball.

Edit- to Frank's post. There are direct IC trains from Monterosso to Milano Centrale. It is better equipment, makes fewer stops, takes less time and you don't have to change trains along the way. I would use that one. If you buy that one for the trip to Varenna-Esino, it will include the connecting Regionale with a time limit to use after you arrive in Milan. If you buy the two legs separately, you would have to wait in line to buy the connection in Milan or use a ticket vending machine. Or also buy the time-limited Regionale ticket on line. Easier to do it in one shot, however, if the IC train comes available before the Regionale schedule is finalized, you might get a cheap 9 euro SuperEconomy fare on the IC train. In that case, I'd grab it, and buy the advance (no discount) time limited ticket on line when it becomes available. Since that one is operated by Trenord, you might use their site. www.trenord.it
Just keep checking for both the Monterosso-Milano Central leg, and the Monterosso-Varenna regularly until it shows up.

Very interesting and helpful information! I really appreciate it. Is the train station in Monterosso al Mare just called Monterosso. When you type Monterosso in several Monterosso choices are available to choose from.

Also, I bought Rome to Florence tickets online at Trenetalia as an unregistered user since USA was not a choice for country. I got an e-mail confirmation. Do I just print that out? How do they get validated before boarding the train?

Thanks again!

twg,

To begin with, the station in Monterosso is listed with just that one word on the Trenitalia website. Also, the "official" name of the station in Varenna is Varenna-Esino.

The quickest trip from Monterosso to Varenna will be to start with one of the direct trains from Monterosso to Milano Centrale. There are several of those each day, with departures including 06:54, 10:54 & 12:54. From Milan to Varenna, you'll always be using a Regionale with a travel time of 1H:03M. The first segment will be via Intercity train (not necessary to validate tickets), while the second will be via Regionale (locally purchased tickets MUST be validated to avoid hefty fines). Check the Trenitalia website for all the details.

The tickets you received should have a PNR number, and that's all you'll need to board the train. However, I always feel better having a printout. You can also purchase tickets for trains in Italy on both Trenitalia and Italo by using the www.captaintrain.com website. It's very user friendly.

With the tickets you've already purchased, if any of them include segments on Regionale trains, those will be pre-validated and must be used within four hours of the scheduled departure time. Tickets for Freccia or Intercity trains will come with the compulsory seat reservations, which will specify your Car No. (Carrozza) and Seat No.'s (Posti). Tickets for the fast trains can ONLY be used on the one train, date and departure time listed on the ticket.

On the Trenitalia site, Monterosso al Mare is list as "Monterosso", Monterosso Marche is on the other side of Bologna, not the one you want (I assume).
Freccia tickets are reserved seat, so print out the ticket and show it to the conductor when he comes around and you are in your seats. He will scan the barcode and may ask for your passport. Since you did not register, save the image of the ticket on your computer in case you loose the ticket and you can reprint it. No "validation" required.
I registered several years ago and had no trouble. USA may be listed as Estados Unitas or what ever the Italian word is for United States.

"USA may be listed as Estados Unitas or what ever the Italian word is for United States."

I'm not sure it's required by the website but if so the Italian wording for the United States is gli Stati Uniti.

HI everyone! I am still trying to buy these tickets and it is less than 3 months before my travel date of June 20th, but nothing comes up when I try to purchase. What am I doing wrong? Thanks!

Read reply #1, it's too early. Don't worry, these are regional trains tickets that can't sell out and there are no discounts for advance purchases.
Get them on June 12 online, at the station before boarding (do not forget to date stamp!) or at any trenitalia station/tobacconists/travel agency you'll pass by in Italy.

I certainly did read reply #2 - several times, in fact. It is less than 3 months away and tickets are still not for sale. Thanks

Sam wrote "at least", but I could have missunderstood his post.

twg,

Which website are you using to buy tickets? That's a VERY easy trip!

I'd suggest using one of the direct InterCity trains from Monterosso to Milano Centrale, such as the 10:54 departure, arriving 13:50 (time 2H:56M). For a trip on June 20th, you should be able to purchase that on the www.captaintrain.com website now.

For the trip from Milano Centrale to Varenna-Esino, you'll be travelling on the TreNord rail network. There are no price breaks form buying advance tickets, so you can easily purchase those when you arrive at MIlano Centrale. However, if you wish to buy advance tickets, you should be able to do so on the TreNord website. You may want to buy your outbound ticket from Varenna as well, as there's no ticket office there (although you can buy tickets in Varenna at the helpful Tivano Tours office, which I believe is located in the station now).

Travel time from Milan to Varenna will be ~1H:03M. I'd suggest sitting on the left side (when facing front) as you'll have a better view of the lake as you approach. Be prepared to disembark promptly when the train arrives in Varenna, as it doesn't stop for long.

Happy travels!

I too have been watching the Milano Centrale to Monterosso trip - we are travelling June 15th to Monterosso...they are still not showing up??? 2 months out???

jsschumacher,

The reason you're not able to find information for June 15th is likely because there will be a schedule change at about that time. That's a Wednesday, so I'd suggest just researching the same trip in the next week or so on the same day. It's not likely there will be significant changes.

Keep checking the Trenitalia website if you intend to buy advance tickets.

Well, the schedule is finally out for June 20th and even though I was checking several times a week, I have missed the Economy and Super Economy fares. Drats!

Oh well, I still need to buy train tickets. There are 3 of us traveling together and I was thinking of getting us each a window seat.

I don't understand the seating on this intercity train from Monterosso to Varenna-Esino.

Is the seating configuration 6 seat compartments?

If I choose 3 window seats on the same side of the train, would 1 person be in a different compartment?

Thanks in advance for any help you can provide!

There is always time to pay the BASE fare, wait a couple of days or more: I bet Trenitalia will load some more Economy and/or SuperEconomy tickets. Last night they were working on the site.

You probably already know it, but there are no direct trains from Monterosso to Varenna-Esino. You'll take an Intercity to Milano Centrale (where you can select your seats) and then an open seating one from Milano Centrale to Varenna-Esino (where you can't).