Tips taking the train from Rome to Cinque Terre

Be sure you take a Frecciarossa high-speed train. Your trip from Roma Termini to La Spezia will be just over 4 hours. The Regionale trains, though cheaper, take longer and are not as nice. On a Freccia you get reserved seats and a discount for advanced purchase, though the advance purchase seats are not refundable so you must take that specific train. Once in La Spezia. you can transfer to the next available regional train to the village of your choice. Buying a valid ticket, of course. Use the Trenitalia app for convenience.

Cec, it would be helpful of you tell us more exactly what "tips" you're looking for?

Essentially, you want to pull up the Trenitalia website, enter the station you'll be departing from, such as Roma Termini,
Enter the village in the Cinque Terre you want to arrive at, such as Monterosso or Riomaggiore,
Enter the date you wish to travel and approx desired time of departure.
Hit Search.
Your options will appear, some with fewer train changes and some with more, some in a shorter time and some longer.

https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html

The easiest I'm seeing is a 9:57 departure from Roma Termini, one train change at La Spezia at 14:10, and arriving at Monterosso at 14:38 with stops along the way at Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia and Vernazza, You'd get off at whichever of them you booked accommodations at. Total time: approx. 4 hours, 40 minutes.

Be sure you take a Frecciarossa high-speed train.

I'll disagree with that statement - it requires two changes - one in Florence and one in La Spezia or another city just below CT. Some may prefer that routing, but it isn't necessary.

I believe we took the train that Kathy refers to above - it is an Intercity train, offering reserved seats and advance purchase discounts. With just one stop, it's a less complex journey. The carriage was quite comfortable. It takes the western route going north, and you will be able to see the scars on the hillsides from the marble mines near Carrara.

Cec,

As the others have mentioned, the trip from Rome to the Cinque Terre is fairly straightforward. You didn't specify when you'd be taking this trip or which of the five towns you'd be staying in, so the replies so far have just focused on La Spezia, which you'll have to go through.

Using an arbitrary date, one of the quickest and easiest trips appears to be a direct departure via Frecciabianca from Roma Termini to La Spezia Centrale, departing 06:57 and arriving at 10:49 (time 3H:52M). From La Spezia you can transfer to the a local Regionale train to the village you want. You'll need a separate ticket for that. Travel times are only a few minutes to each town.

Note that tickets for the premium Freccia trains require a compulsory seat reservation and the tickets are specific to train, date and departure time, so can only be used on the one train listed on the ticket.

There are direct trains from Roma Termini to La Spezia. When you arrive, buy a paper ticket to the village of your choice. E-tickets for regional trains require internet connectivity for confirmation in advance.

Good point about that annoying check-in process for digital regionale tickets. As suggested above, better just to get directly to La Spezia via Frecce or IC train, depending on whatever price/time works, and buy a paper ticket to your Cinque Terre village of choice. Just remember to validate it in the time-stamping machines usually posted near the tracks shortly before boarding your train! Checks for valid tickets are especially common in the CT, fines for not having one are high, and the authorities are not forgiving of "I didn't know."

Alternately, how long are you expecting to the spend in the CT, and how much are you expecting to use the trains? There are also MS Treno cards that cover your journeys on regionale trains within the region (La Spezia to Levanto and all villages in between) for 1, 2 or 3 days. They also cover access to any segments of the "Blue Trail" which are open, if intending of hiking any of that, the bus that travels from Corniglia's train station to the village above, and some other goodies.

It only has to be validated the first time you use it: makes it easy! I haven't seen that they've updated the price info for 2024 yet but here's the info from last year:

https://www.parconazionale5terre.it/page.php?id=158

You can purchase it at Le Spezia or in advance sometime after March 15 when available for 2024. https://card.parconazionale5terre.it/en

I'll disagree with that statement - it requires two changes - one in Florence and one in La Spezia or another city just below CT. Some may prefer that routing, but it isn't necessary.

There are Frecciarosso trains direct to La Spezia. There are also Frecciabianca and Frecciaargento options that are direct, so no need to go through Firenze. Intercity options are not bad, but not as fast or, IMO, pleasant.