We are five people staying in an apartment in Florence right across from SMN in August. We are going to take the train to Cinque Terre for the day. I realize the best train to take is the fast train from Campo di Marte at 7:36 am which arrives in La Spezia at 9:11 am. My question concerns getting to Campo di Marte. With five people I assume we would probably have to take two taxis. An alternative is to take a five minute train ride from SMN to Campo di Marte. There is a train at 7:18 which arrives at 7:23 am. Would this give us enough time (13 minutes) to transfer trains? I don't think the station is very large and we don't have any luggage. The earlier train is 6:40 arriving at 6:45 am. This option gives us 50 minutes at Camp di Marte which seems to negate the time savings with the fast train. Going home we will just take one of the slower trains that ends in SMN as the fast train is not until 8 pm. Opinions would be greatly appreciated.
Posted by
Green Bay
20135 posts
13 minutes should be plenty of time. Given it is only 5 minutes, don't even bother sitting down, just stand in the vestibule and be ready to get off the train as soon as it pulls into Campo di Marte. Check the departure platform for the Frecciabianca to La Spezia and head there, probably through the connector tunnel under the tracks. Should take 3 or 4 minutes. The 7:18 train from S.M.N. originates there, so it should leave on time.
Since the Regionale schedules are not out yet, check back after June 10 to see if there are any changes.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
15819 posts
There is a train at 7:18 which arrives at 7:23 am. Would this give us
enough time (13 minutes) to transfer trains?
I'm not currently seeing a 7:18 train from SMN to Campo so I'm not sure what website you're using? On Trenitalia, I am seeing a 7:08 Regionale 6637 train: arriving Campo at 7:13. You'd then catch Frecciabianca 8602 at 7:36 arriving in La Spezia at 9:11.
You could very easily spend 11 hours in the CT, what with mutiple villages to visit, dinner and whatnot so I wouldn't necessarily discount taking a later train than you are planning to.
Posted by
OP
26 posts
The date we are going is August 12th. I was on the Trenitalia website as they sent me an email saying the schedule was out. The 7:18 train is Regionale 6725. I guess they have updated their site earlier than June 10th. I originally wasn't going to book in advance because I believe there is no benefit cost wise for a regional train but the Frecciabianca from Campo to La Spezia seems to be quite inexpensive right now and is not a regional train so I will definitely buy now.
Posted by
Green Bay
20135 posts
The 7:18 is Sunday only, It is 7:08 the other days of the week.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
15819 posts
The 7:18 is Sunday only, It is 7:08 the other days of the week.
Ah, that explains it. Was using a random date as the the OP didn't include actual date in the original post.