We are planning to take the train from Livorno to Rome in early October. Looking at the route on the map, it appears that some of the route may have some scenic views of the Mediterranean. Has anyone taken this route and have any insight/comments?
Thanks in advance!!
June
It’s not the Mediterranean
Ligurian and Tyrrhehian
All train travel in Italy seems scenic to me! This particular route does give views of the sea but I don't remember them being particularly outstanding.
Mediterranean Sea, an intercontinental sea that stretches from the Atlantic Ocean on the west to Asia on the east and separates Europe from Africa https://www.britannica.com/place/Mediterranean-Sea
I submit that June is correct in calling it the Mediterranean.
Long sections of the route are inland, enough to lose sight of the sea. I would say, moderately scenic but do not expect anything dramatic (maybe just the section south of Livorno), and do not expect long stretches by the sea.
As Iachera said, the railway mostly runs at least a couple kilometers inland, therefore you won’t be able to see much of the Tyrrhenian Sea. The sea is in fact the Mediterranean, however each section of the Med has also its own name to differentiate the different areas (Adriatic sea, Tyrrhenian Sea, Ionian Sea, Aegean Sea, Ligurian Sea, Sea of Sicily, Sea of Sardinia, and so on).
The only sections of that railway that are close enough to the coast to be able to see it, are south of Livorno (from Ardenza to Rosignano), near San Vincenzo, then south of Civitavecchia between Civitavecchia and Santa Marinella. The rest is a bit inland and you won’t be able to see the water.
Thanks everyone for the replies. Sorry about the Mediterranean mistake. We love taking the trains and just had not heard a lot about this route. It’s good to know what to expect.
Well, there is a single moment in which you can glimpse two rows of cypresses along the way leading to the village of Bolgheri. (I am sure you can see them from the road, but probably also from the parallel railway). Any Italian older than 50 had to learn by heart in junior school the poem by Carducci about the two rows of cypresses at Bolgheri. This is a reference going completely lost to non Italians :-)
The requirement that Italian pupils had to learn that poem by heart should have been considered child abuse. "Davanti a San Guido (Before the town of San Guido), was the longest poem I had to memorize in my life. I could have burned those cypresses.
I have a very distant childhood memory of my father driving by the cypresses and my poor mommy automatically beginning to recite the poem :-)
BTW, Carducci quotes the steam loco leading his train, so they can be seen from the railway. He got the idea travelling to the north by train.
