Train to Cinque Terre

Alex - Don't worry - the local train from La Spezia to the five villages is always running on time and that means about every 30 minutes. Enjoy!!
Oh - And since I've been there every year for the past 25 years - YES - It is a fair statement - not speaking about the middle of the night !!! The question was " to and from Manarola !!!!!!!!!!!

Ciao, Greg

But if you are starting in La Spezia, don't you have to distinguish between the northbound trains that do stop in the 5 towns, and the ones that don't? Or do all the northbound trains from La Spezia make stops in all 5 villages?

It's not accurate to say that those trains run "about every 30 minutes." Throughout the day the time between trains ranges from around 30 minutes to two hours.

See the timetables on either the Trenitalia (Italian Rail) site or the Deutsche Bahn (German Rail) site.

You are right Lola, not every train travelling through the Cinque Terre stops in all five towns so you have to be careful which train you get on. Some will stop only in Riomaggiore and Monterrosso and others in all five. At the stations there is a large sign with all departures listed and the towns in which each train will stop along with the time of arrival (the five towns are minutes apart).

Tim is also right, there seems to be no particular logic to the schedule. Sometimes there's four or five trains in an hour and then not another for an hour or more. We once spent over an hour waiting in Manarola for a four minute train ride to Corniglia - the trails were closed.

It's been 3 years since I last visited CT. The local trains ran about once an hour. I did not find these local trains to be "always on time." I would say they were usually late. Don't plan to make any tight connections using these trains.

Some other trains are "through trains" and stop at one or two of the towns. With the CT pass, it is ok to use these non-local trains, just be sure they stop where you want to get off.

Monterosso gets some of the longer distance or international trains. That's one reason I like to stay in Monterosso. From some of the other towns it is necessary to go to La Spezia to catch these trains.

Printed current schedules were available at the train stations for the local trains.

We were in Manarola last month, and the lady renting us our (very lovely) room handed us a train schedule along with our keys. Failing that, I imagine you can ask for one at the information centre at the train station.
We left on a Wednesday, on an early (approx 8 am) train because the next train wasn't til after 12, but, as I recall, that was a situation peculiar to Wednesday travel. When you get the schedule, study the headings carefully, so that you know which are daily, which are daily except Tuesday, which are Sundays only, that kind of thing. Don't worry, it's not as complicated as I'm probably making it sound!
And of course there are partenza boards (the yellow ones) at the station--as long as Manarola is mentioned on the list under the train number you're looking at, the train will stop there.
Enjoy Manarola---it was actually our favourite Cinque Terre town, loved the vineyard walk out to the cemetery, as described in Rick's book.

Was wondering what the "CT" Pass was ?

Hi Cheri~
The Cinque Terre Card is good for one day of hiking, including trails and shuttle buses and 3 hour use of a bike. The CT Treno Card includes the above plus local trains. Per Rick, this one is not a good value because you would have to hike and take three train trips every day just to break even.

I have to disagree with the statement that the trains are always on time. I got completely screwed by a late train running from Monterosso to La Spezia. Give yourself a big buffer if you have a connection!