Rome to Riomaggiore

We were just there in late May; hopefully you'll be there on a weekday, which I'm guessing will be much less crowded than when we were there. We stayed in Riomaggiore; there's a high road above the church, accessible by an elevator; we were up on that road in a very small hotel (3 rooms).

A note of caution: even though train tickets are almost never checked, they DO go through the cars from time to time, catching out people who get on the local train without tickets. The fine is hefty--instead of 5 euros per person, it's 55--so make sure to have a ticket each time you get on the train!

It had just rained when we were there, and my brother, with whom we were traveling, had torn his Achilles tendon, so talking the paths was out of the question. Not a town for a guy with a bum ankle, that's for sure.

Use the site www.Trenitalia.com and look for Roma Termini to Riomaggiore. (Italian spelling essential.) Then look for the high speed Freccia trains which require no changes until La Spezia where you will transfer to a Regionale train.

For example, there is Frecciabianca at 11:57 am arriving La Spezia at 15:44. From La Spezia, transfer to a Regionale train serving Riomaggiore which departs at 15:50 and arrives at 15:57. If you are uncomfortable with the tight connection, just book to La Spezia and on arrival there, buy tickets on the train to Riomaggiore which requires no advance purchase nor reservation.

The earlier you buy, the lower the price on the fast train, but it is a non refundable fare.

Riomaggiore is served by Regionale trains.

So if they buy a through ticket from Rome to Riomaggiore on trenitalia.com and they miss the 15:50 Regionale for whatever reason, they can freely take the next couple of Regionales going from La Spezia to Riomaggiore.

In this situation a tight connection is not a reason to waste time in line at the ticket counter in La Spezia. You can take a later train anyway. More, a paper ticket purchased at la Spezia must be time-stamped before gettin' on the train.