Train from Riomaggiore to Portofino?

Portofino is not served by train. You can catch a tourist ferry at Rapallo or Santa Margherita Ligure. Portofino looks a lot like a Cinque Terre town, but with designer shops and yachts. But Rapallo or Santa Margherita Ligure (both similar) are also good stops with a different architectural style and long harbor promenades, to make the trip more worthwhile.

http://traghettiportofino.it/en/

http://www.smlturismo.it/it/servizi-turistici/tipologia/18-98-6/servizio/397

No, Portofino doesn't have a train station, You'd take the train from Riomaggiore to Santa Margherita Ligure-Portofino. and take a bus from there. We haven't been there but really didn't think it was going to be different enough from the CT to take the time.

But have you been to Porto Venere? I've seen some love for that one on the Italy forums, and you can take a ferry there from Riomaggiore. You can also take a bus or taxi from La Spezia but it doesn't have a train station.

https://www.apathtolunch.com/2013/01/getting-to-portovenere.html

Take the train to Rapallo, a pleasant walk through town to the ferry. Leaving Portofino [unless disinterested in the hiking trails]
walk to Santa Margherita on the coast road. Have lunch at Dal Alfredo [closed Monday. Return on the train.

another vote for Santa Margherita Ligure. Nice pedestrian-only area to walk around in, scenic. You can walk to Portofino from there if you wish (about a 3 mile walk, but scenic on a road next to the ocean). Personally I think Portofino is overrated. Look at the picture on the web. Done? You've just seen about all there is to do in town; you can walk along the harbor and visit about 200 yards worth of shops, that's it. There isn't much of a town inland to visit.

For a half-day trip I'd suggest Portovenere instead of Portofino. While not as large as Santa Margherita Ligure it has several lanes to wander down, as well as an old church and fort. You can get there via ferry from some of the Cinque Terre towns, or by bus.

Another worthwhile full day trip (it wouldn't really be easily done as a 4-5 hour half-day trip) is Lerici, largely undiscovered by English-speaking tourists. They have ferries to the CT during the summer. It's where the Italians go for vacation along the Ligurian coast. If you want to see what the CT was like before word spread from Rick Steves and others, this is the town for you. It does have hiking, although not to the extend the CT does. It has the charming shops, a castle, locally owned businesses, nice restaurants. You'll need to be comfortable in a place where many locals don't speak English. The NYT had an article about it several years ago: https://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/20/travel/20next.html

Unavailable how amazing this forum is as a travel resource!! Thank you all for your speedy responses. We’ve had an unbelievable vacation (started in Rome — Val d’Orcia - Florence - Riomaggiore — and eventually Lake Como) and we cant wait to now check out the new towns listed above. Sounds like we’ll be going to either Lerici or Porto Venere instead. Thanks again!

Hope you all have a great summer!

jared,

A few thoughts....

You can absolutely take the train from Riomaggiore to Portofino, using the route outlined by the others. If you take the train to Santa Margherita, walk down the steps to the harbour and take the Ferry (a very pleasant trip, about 20 minutes). There will likely be a few Yachts in the Portofino harbour. Unless you're interested in some shopping in the posh shops, you may find the trip a bit "underwhelmng" as there's not a lot to do there. There may be some kind of event happening at Castello Brown, which is an easy hike up the hill from the harbour. The trip could be done in a few hours, but will probably take the better part of a day.

As the others have mentioned, you could also visit Porto Venere, which is a closer and easier trip from Riomaggiore. There may be a few yachts in the harbour there also. Depending on when your trip will be taking place, the local Ferries may be running and that's the easiest and most scenic way to reach Porto Venere. Be sure to note the time of the returning Ferries, as it will take longer to get back to Riomaggiore using Bus / Taxi and the train. This website should provide information on the sights to see there - https://www.porto-venere.com/en/ .