We are going to be staying in Murren, Switzerland before heading to Italy. We plan on our first stop in Italy to be Cinque Terre for a couple of days. As we haven't been to Cinque Terre before, where is the best place to take the train into? La Spezia, Genoa, Monterosso, other?
When we leave Cinque Terre we will be heading to Florence. Where should we leave from? Is it best to take the train or drive? How long?
Typically you change trains in Milan. Go to the Swiss Rail web site at www.sbb.ch/en Type Lauterbrunnen in the "from" box and type in your final destination in the Cinque Terre in the "to" box. You'll see exactly what connections are needed.
The best train timetables for all of Europe are at www.bahn.de. Click on the drop-down menu for English. Enter Muerren BLM as your departure point and Monterosso as your arrival point. After you get summary timetables, click on "Details for all" to see the connecting points.
For Monterosso-Florence enter Monterosso as your departure point and Firenze as your arrival point.
The best place to begin is the Lauterbrunnen train station. The Swiss website shows several runs from Lauterbrunnen to Monterosso so you should be able to buy your tickets there. Next, you will change trains 3-4 times before arriving at Monterosso. The CT is a bit out of the way. You will definitely change trains in Interlaken Ost, Spiez and Milan. The 4th change could be at Brig or Genova all depending on the run. Note that aside from your cog train/gondola ride down to Lauterbrunnen from Muerren, it's just short of an 8.0hr. journey. The Muerren BLM (cog train/gondola runs begin at 6:06am in the morning).
From the CT to Florence is just over a 3.0hr. journey with 1-2 train changes. From Monterosso, you will most likely change trains in La Spezia and Pisa.
CLICK HERE to see a typical afternoon train schedule.
