Struggling with Trenitalia

Not sure about what you were doing wrong but there are plenty of options from Florence to Vernazza. You will be traveling primarily on Regional (commuter) trains not Frecce, although some solutions may include a Frecciabianca between Pisa and La Spezia. The solutions you will find require two changes, one in Pisa and one in La Spezia. Remember to validate your Regionale train ticket before boarding. You don't need to buy separate tickets to Pisa then from Pisa to Vernazza. You can get off and on with a single ticket. However the trip from Florence to Vernazza is less than 200 km, therefore from the moment you validate your ticket in Florence, you must complete your trip within 6 hours. If you plan to stop in Pisa for several hours, maybe you should buy separate tickets. Price won't be that much different and Regional trains are really cheap.

Regional trains offer no discounts, even when pre-purchased, in addition they don't sell out, they are like city buses or the subway(at most you have to stand up if all seats are taken). As such there is no reason to purchase tickets in advance. Just buy them at the station in Florence the day you want to go.

Kim,

YES, Trenitalia absolutely DOES run to Vernazza. I know that for a fact as I've travelled that route.

As Roberto mentioned, I'm not sure why you're having problems and not able to see the trains from Florence to Vernazza. Using the Tutti I Treni screen, I just tried a "test" using this Thursday and was able to find NUMEROUS trains on that route. I normally use the Italian part of the website, so perhaps there's a problem in the English screens? You might also try clearing the Cache and Cookies on your computer, as something may be "hung up".

As you want to stop in Pisa, I'd follow Roberto's suggestion and buy separate Florence-Pisa and Pisa-Vernazza tickets. That will allow you to spend as much time as you want in Pisa, without worry of your tickets expiring. As you'll probably be packing your luggage at the time, using Pisa Centrale will probably be necessary as they have luggage storage, although I believe Pisa S. Rossore is closer to the Tower.

One caveat with that approach though.... after leaving Pisa, if the train from there to La Spezia (and then Vernazza) involves travel on a Freccia train, you'll have to be VERY careful to board ONLY the train printed on your ticket. Using a Regionale would allow more flexibility, as the ticket won't be in effect until you validate it. Once you get the problems sorted with the Trenitalia website, you can choose the specific rail journeys that will work best for you.

Happy travels!

I am not sure, but your problem may be that the schedules for next near are not complete yet. They may not be posted until Dec 14 (or later).

You can only buy Regional train ticket one week out. So if you are selection a Regional train to see the price more than week out, you will not Not Available because the ticket is not available for purchase. HOWEVER, never buy Regional tickets on line because there is no advantage to do so AND the Regional train ticket comes with restriction of you purchase on line. Buy them at the station. They never sell out because it is open seating. You can buy a Regional train ticket from A to D and get off and on at B and C provided that you complete the journey within six hours from the time you validate (time stamp) your ticket. If you need longer, then buy two tickets. There is little to no price difference if you buy a ticket from A to B and B to C instead of A to C. Think of Regional trains as a local bus on a track.

I wish I could add a screen shot. I seriously feel very foolish & frustrated and I'm usually excellent with computers! I have entered from Firenze SM Novella to Vernazza and picked Nov 24 (so not too far in advance). It defaulted to Frecce trains but I have changed it to the other two options as well... Tutti e Treni & Treni Nazionali. It is still saying no trains available. I have no problem finding all the times that the trains run from Venice to Florence. I've now tried on my Mac, PC and now my work computer.

SO... I think that what I am hearing is that it would be okay to purchase the Venice to Florence tickets online because we would get a bit of a discount if we buy in advance. The tickets from Florence to Vernazza (with a stop at Pisa) could just be purchased when we are there because these are regional trains and there is no advantage to pre-purchasing?

The last two trips will be from Vernazza to Rome & a return day trip Rome/Pompeii. Is the first a regional train to LaSpezia and then the highspeed to Rome? Any tips to doing a return day trip to Pompeii?

Thanks for the help everyone. I really appreciate it.

Kim
Prince George, Canada

Hi Kim,

If you're just in the exploring stages, save time and go to the rome2rio.com site where you just put the start/stop locations, and it will give you train, bus, etc. times & approx. cost.

Kim, the difficulty you are having in researching fares for the train runs from Florence to Vernazza is because all of these trains - Florence/Pisa, Pisa/La Spezia Centrale and La Spezia Centrale/Vernazza are Regionale trains. Trenitalia will not show you fares farther out than 7 days. In fact, you cannot but Regionale train tickets by themselves online farther out than 7 days from the time of travel (you can if the Regionale train is coupled with an intercity or Freccia train).

If you want to see all of the runs and all of the fares, go onto the Trenitalia website and select a date that is within 7 days from the time you are on. Also, select 00 as the hour. The first ten runs will show with fares. Select Next Solution for the next ten runs. Note that you may not see lots of runs if you enter Vernazza as the destination as Vernazza gets fewer trains a day than does Pisa and La Spezia Centrale. If you entered Firenze SMN to La Spezia Centrale, you would see more runs. Once at La Spezia Centrale, you simply catch the next train to Vernazza. There are no direct trains to the 5 CT towns.

Kim,

Regarding your last post.......

Yes, you can certainly purchase tickets online for the Venice to Florence trip, which will save you some money. Your departure station will be Venezia S. Lucia and your arrival station Firenze SMN. One point to note is that you can travel either via Trenitalia or the new Italo service, as they both use the same stations on that route. Both will be high speed trains (300 kmH).

For your Florence-Pisa-Vernazza trip, it's probably just as easy to buy your tickets using a Kiosk in Florence. One IMPORTANT point to note is that the trains you use on that trip may or may NOT be all Regionale. You'll have to check the Trenitalia website to determine exactly which trains you'll be using for the departure times you choose. The train from Pisa Centrale to La Spezia Centrale may be a FrecciaBianca, which has compulsory reservations. If you are using a Freccia train on that leg, you'll have to be absolutely sure that you plan your time in Pisa so that you connect with the train specified on your ticket.

Regarding your trip from Vernazza to Rome, the best method is to use the local train from Vernazza to La Spezia Centrale, and then connect with one of the direct trains to Rome. There are several direct trains each day (travel time about 3H:45M) as well as others with multiple changes and longer travel times. You can purchase the ticket for the La Spezia-Rome trip in advance. Travel on that route will either be via FrecciaBianca or InterCity (compulsory reservations). You can see the departure times of the direct trains on the Trenitalia website.

For your day trip to Pompeii, you'll travel via Freccia train from Roma Termini to Napoli Centrale, and then Circumvesuviana to Pompeii. To access the Circumvesuviana, you'll need to go downstairs to the Garibaldi station. You can buy your tickets there (they're cheap). Be sure to watch your valuables closely on the Circumvesuviana, as it's got a bit of a reputation for pickpockets.

The visit to Pompeii will likely be a LONG day trip! If you're willing to commit to specific departure times from Rome to Naples, you can purchase those tickets online. If you'd like a bit more flexibility, just purchase at a Kiosk at Termini the day prior to travel.

Cheers!