Train travel

Cindy, you missed our monthly Sacramento travel meeting yesterday. 11 people there. Third saturday of each month at Panera's in Natomas. 10:00am. Second, you don't indicate when you will be traveling. This helps with the answer. From Milan Malpensa, you can take the train directly from the airport to Milano Centrale. No need for the bus but you can take that as well. With the bus, you have traffic. A cab will be a bit expensive. For Milan Centrale to Vernazza, it's a 3.5hr train journey with 1-2 train changes depending on the run. Fare is 26Euro. You can buy these tickets 120 days out but right now, you won't be able to see past June 8 until Trenitalia u-p-dates their schedules beginning in May but officically on June 12. Best run is Milan/Sestri Levante/Vernazza. 1 train change. From Vernazza to Florence and from Florence to Siena and most likely from Siena to Rome, you will be on Regionale trains. You cannot buy these tickets online farther out than 7 days from the time of travel. You'll need to buy them when you are in Italy. It's not like the nice high-speeds where you need seat reservations. It's more like the Sacto light rail where you buy your ticket, get on and find your own seat. But, in Italy, you have to validate your ticket first in a little machine before you board. You can see all of these runs on www.trenitalia.com. Just put in dates that are 2-3 days out from the time you look and put in a time of 06:00. You'll see all of the trains for the day and you will see the fares. You won't see the fares for the Regionale trains more than 7 days out.

Larry, Thanks for your reply! Wish I had known about the travel meeting, I would certainly be interested in this in the future. As for our dates of travel we will be in france from 6/15-6/28, then Italy from 6/29-7/8. We have our hotels mostly planned and flights but still working on trains and cars. Thanks Again!
Cindy

Cindy, I have a few thoughts to add to the excellent information from Larry..... Your best options for travel from Malpensa to Milano Centrale are either: > Malpensa Shuttle (Bus) - the trip is easy and about an hour (subject to traffic). If you arrive via Bus, you'll have to walk around the corner and up the stairs to track level. > Malpensa Express (train) - there are two destinations possible, Milano Cadorna or Milano Centrale. Be sure to specify the correct one. You should be able to buy your tickets to Vernazza at the same time. That would be preferable to buying at Milano Centrale, as there's usually a LONG queue at the ticket office (you could use Kiosks though). Each of the routes you've mentioned will use a combination of Regionale / Intercity / Freccia trains. You won't be able to pre-purchase tickets for Regionale trains, nor will there be any savings. It's just as easy to buy tickets when you arrive in Italy, either from the Kiosks or from a staffed ticket office. You MUST validate tickets for Regionale trains prior to boarding or face a hefty fine! You can research departure times and other specifics of your trips using the Trenitalia website that Larry mentioned. Your trips...... > Milano to Vernazza - if you can connect with the 12:10 departure, you'll arrive at 15:26 and only one change. > Vernazza to Florence - a 09:34 departure will get you there by 13:07 (2 changes at La Spezia & Pisa). > Florence to Siena - this is usually easier by Bus, as you'll be dropped right in the centre of town, rather than the bottom of the hill. Travel time about the same as train. > Siena to Rome - travel time about 3.5 hours, usually two changes (Florence or Chiusi). Ask you hotel to pre-arrange a Taxi to the station. Happy travels!