Train from Rome to Monterosso (Cinque Terre)

That is just 1 stop in La Spezia. You don't book the tickets separately, but as Rome to Monterosso. Then choose your routing and departure times. Looks like there is a very early departure at 6:57 and another at 9:57 with a single change in La Spezia that take 4 hour 41 minutes. The fastest way is actually through Florence, but with two changes, at Florence and Pisa.

Thanks. I'm not finding any available times. I'm putting in Roma Termini to Monterosso on July 1, 2017 for 3 adults and 1 child. Perhaps all are already booked?? That would be a problem.

Hi. For July 1, full schedules all the way to Monterosso are not yet shown. But it doesn't matter for you because you should only buy the Roma to La Spezia leg in advance anyway, and those are shown. (For the La Spezia to Mont leg, they run every half hour; it is to your advantage to wait and buy a 'regional' ticket in Italy.) As you can see, for Intercity and Freccia trains, if you are willing to commit to an exact date and time, you can buy in advance for a big discount. If you don't want to commit to an exact train, and wait and buy at last minute in Italy you will pay the 'base' fare. We love the CT - enjoy your trip!

I think your problem is that you're trying to book too early. The train from La Spezia to Monterosso will likely be a regionale, and I believe they'll be updating regionale schedules around June 10th. So, no worries that the trains will be sold out. Pick a same day of the week as the one you'll be traveling, only earlier than June 10th, and that'll give you an idea of what's going to be available, and schedules rarely change.

That last leg (if changing in La Spezia to get to Monterosso) will also be very inexpensive - 4 euro or so if purchased individually - and you won't have reserved seats so don't worry about trying to get a price break on that piece.

Yes that is the correct way to get to Monterosso. I would plug into your search "Roma Termini" to "Monterosso" and make sure the time is set to "O" so you see the most solutions. You will see many options. Chose an option with "Changes 1" which should have you traveling on a Frecciarossa (fast train) for the first leg (about 3:47 journey) which will get you to La Spezia Centrale then showing you switching to a "Regionale" to Monterosso (a 15 min journey). Your tickets will come by email which you print and bring. You can just board the train with the emailed tickets. When you actually purchase your tickets in Rome at the station you will need to validate before you board the train (the little machines are all over in the train station).

Do not look at it confusion/chaos...it's an adventure! Get an early start and if anything goes wrong you spend some money and get on the next train, all is not lost and maybe have an unexpected experience you would not otherwise have had. Your trip will not go perfect, pre-planning (as your doing) helps to ease some anxiety but stuff happens. I know it is a lot of pressure when the whole family is putting the planning on you, you want it to go well!

The direct trains from Rome to La Spezia are Feccia or Inter City trains and you don't validate tickets as they come with seat reservations. Further, if you book on-line and get emailed tickets, the Regionale tickets will have a date and a time window when they can be used. There is no way to validate them as they are a piece of 8 1/2 by 11 paper and will not fit in the stamping machines. The only tickets you must validate are Regionale tickets you buy in Italy and come on old IBM punch-card stock. So if you opt to buy the Rome to La Spezia now on-line to get the best price, and wait until you get to Italy to buy the La Spezia to Monterosso tickets, they will need to be validated. If you go that route, buy the tickets at a train station before you board the train in Rome so you will have them in hand when you make the change in La Spezia, validate your Regionale ticket and board the train to Monterosso.

Many thanks to all your responses; they are all extremely helpful and I now know what to do. We are looking forward to this trip/adventure and trying to just get the logistics out of the way. I'll probably have more questions as our trip gets closer. Letizia, you are absolutely correct, we will likely run into some issues and we just need to embrace it and take it all in. I just need to keep the males in the family well fed and not let them get hungry!!

tdurfeevt- NOOOO never let them get hungry!! LOL..I have twin boys (Adults now) and that was rule #1. For Europe travel for me and hubby, I always take the Costco size twin pack of Jerky on the trip and baggies to pack some for each day, that usually keeps the extreme Hangry at bay...or we land up in some tourist trap restaurant eating some overly prices horrible meal.

Just chiming in, as my family did the exact same run in July a couple years ago. We found the best route was a 11:57a dep from Termini, connecting in La Spezia, to arrive in Monterosso just before 4:00p. It times' out perfectly for hotel check-in (typically 16:00) and allows for stretching the legs before dinner. Kudos for monitoring your options early. We did same and were able to book First Class at a 'Super Economy' rate on the day fares were released, which ended up being the same fare as a would-be Second Class ticket (if purchased closer to travel date). The First Class cabin works well for a family of four, as its' configuration has two-on-two (facing) seats with a small table in the middle. Good for cards or sharing snacks while watching the countryside.

While regional train schedules are the last to be published before the June 11 schedule change, some faster trains are also not yet available. But the 9:57 or 11:57 departures to La Spezia probably would be the most attractive for a family and are already for sale .

Ok just starting this process.. I buy the Eurail pass for 4 of us so that we can travel from Rome to Florence to Rio Margionne to Nice to Marseille to Lyon to Paris right? And then book separately for Rome to Rio Margionne and Rio Margionne to Nice and Marseille and onto Lyon and Paris? Do I book all of this ahead of time so that I can assure we get our seats? Thanks for help!

If you have Eurail pass, you can only reserve (and pay for) reservations if the trains accept reservations. Italian Regionale trains do not have reservations, you just board and look for a seat. Freccia and Intercity trains require seat reservations and you pay for those separately. French TER trains are like Italian Regionali, TGV trains need reservations and you have to pay for those as well. You might want to make those early as there are limits on each TGV.

For instance, Rome to Florence is by Freccia train and needs a seat reservation to board, Florence to Riomaggiore (assume that is what you mean),is by unreserved Regionali, just board.

tdur,

The easiest and quickest way to get from Rome to Monterosso is to use one of the direct (no changes) trains, which have a travel time of about 4 hours. There are numerous trains on that route, but others take longer and have changes. Assuming the schedules don't change much, I'd probably use a departure via Intercity train from Rome at 09:57, arriving La Spezia at 14:03. Note that you'll need to know the specific names of the stations in Italian, as most cities have more than one station. Your trip will be from Roma Termini to La Spezia Centrale. When you arrive in La Spezia, you'll transfer to the local Regionale train for the short 23 minute ride to Monterosso.

Note that the Intercity and Freccia trains have compulsory seat reservations, so you'll have an assigned Coach (Carrozza) and Seat No's. (Posti). There are no seat reservations on the Regionale trains so just take any seat or stand if it's crowded.

When you buy tickets, specify your end destination and the system will determine the best tickets for that route. There's a Regionale departing La Spezia Centrale at 14:15, so that would be the one to use. If you wish to buy tickets online, you can buy either on the Trenitalia website or at www.trainline.eu. Note that Regionale tickets purchased online do not have to be validated. Locally purchased Regionale tickets DO need to be validated prior to use on the day of travel.

tina,

As Sam mentioned, your Rail Pass does NOT include the compulsory seat reservations on the fast trains. You'll have to pay separately out-of-pocket for those. Do NOT be caught without a valid reservation for the train you're riding on or you'll risk hefty fines which will be collected on the spot! Rail Passes are rarely cost effective in Italy.

Compulsory reservations also apply to high speed TGV trains in France. SNCF has a quota for passholder reservations on each train, so once the quota is reached you wouldn't be able to buy reservations even if there were seats available. If that's the case, your choices are to take another train that does have Passholder reservations available, or just buy a regular ticket and don't use the Pass.

Could you clarify what you're referring to as "Rio Margionne"?