Train travel from Milan

in july we were in Florence, did a day trip to pisa, and then went on to Milan. that was easy. someone else will weigh in on cinque terre. (our group spoke little to no italian) from Milan we went to Varenna, (on lake como) an easy trip, if you are open to that instead of CT. then we went thru Milan to venice. (Milan is the hub for the north half of Italy)

Thanks for your response. The fares into Milan seem to be more reasonable from Dallas and it looks like a major hub. We are planning a loop around Italy, starting at Milan going to Cinque Terre and Pisa, Rome, Florence and Venice with side trips to Pompeii and a Tuscan town. We want to use public transport and have read the trains are good in Italy. I am hoping to find someone that has traveled some of this route by train and has some comments. I hope you enjoyed your trip to Italy!

Thanks. I have my Florence and Tuscany and Rome books. I love all the wonderful information included. I have looked at the train maps and know that the trains travel to my destinations. I was hoping that someone that has traveled on these trains would let me know of their experience.

Your itinerary is easy to do by train. Smaller towns in Tuscany canbe more efficiently visited by rental car, since public transport to small villages, especially those not along rail lines, is less frequent (but still doable).

English is widely spoken by younger Italians.

Example of Italians likely to speak English:
http://www.arnon.it/Data/Files/HtmlEditor_Files/file/San%20Miniato/100_6049.jpg

Example of Italians not likely to speak English
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-WQbWxoOz2NY/T1nQqRp52XI/AAAAAAAABuw/jPG_yuFameo/s1600/Snapshot+2012-03-09+09-30-35.jpg

Example of Italian who looks like might speak English since he's the Prime Minister, but doesn't:
http://video.corriere.it/inglese-renzi-stile-grease-l-irresistibile-parodia/cb374852-0ced-11e4-b4c9-656e12985e4f

We have travel those routes a number of times. I am not sure what type of comments you want. Trains work fine in Italy. As suggested the trenitalia.com web site with the Italy speaking of the cities will show you your travel options available. What were your difficulties in the Netherlands? We have found those areas very easy to travel via rail so would like to know your difficulties. Perhaps we can make some suggestions to reduce future difficulties.

We did the trip from Milano Centrale to Manarola (CT) last month (26 July). As you know you can see the train schedule on TrenItalia.com

My only comment is to pre-buy the longest possible trip. We made the mistake to only pre-buy from Milano to Genova Brignole - and then had to buy a new ticket on Genova Brignole Station (because that looked like the shortest trip). It would have been easier to buy to La Spezia and then buy the last ticket there - even if that meant back tracking a bit :-) Because:

• It's nice to stay in one seat for as long as possible. And since I bought the tickets as soon as possible I could ensure window seats
• La Spezia is smaller and easier to find your way around

The problem was that I could not pre-buy the local train from Genova to Manarola.

But if you pre-buy make sure you have enough time to catch the train in Milano since a pre-bought ticket is for one specific departure. I would plan with a meal on the station. It may not be the gastronomic center of Italy, but that way you have a buffer.

Have a nice trip :-) We absolutely loved Cinque Terre and we are sure to come back someday

On the Trenitalia site. click on the British flag icon and the page comes up in English. You need to enter station names in Italian and know which station you want, but there are pull-down menus to help with station names.

Take a look at the RS book for help reading the timetable for trains.

Trains between major stops are fairly frequent, occasionally there may be a delay.

I take trains and buses in Italy often, you should be fine with the cities you are visiting. Some places in Tuscany are easier to reach by bus, you should get a good choice of cities without renting a car if you prefer not to drive.

Also look at roninrome.com for detailed explanation of trains in Italy.

I did that route earlier this year. Except it was Milan - Venice - CT then the rest that you have there. All the train connections were easy. I had no issues finding my train and bin (platform) using the departure paper and board. The Ron in Rome website has some good information at the 2 links below.

http://www.roninrome.com/transportation/train-connections-in-10-minutes-or-less

http://www.roninrome.com/%20transportation/riding-the-trains-in-italy

Thank you to all of the responses. You have given me some very good information and I will explore all and let you know. I think the forum is a great way to get information from recent travelers and find out what has and hasn't worked for others.

Using trains in Italy won't be any harder than you've already experienced. Milano Centrale station has a few floors, but the layout of the track area is a simple, open room, on the upper floor. After that, you'll get a look at each station on the way into town, and return to the same station on the way out.

Train tickets are pretty affordable, and you can buy them from ticket machines that speak English, or ease communication with a live agent by putting a few notes in writing. In addition to Trenitalia (which sells tickets) I prefer to view and print schedules from the DB site. If you have some printed in advance, you can just highlight or point to the departure you want to buy from an agent.

When traveling on a regional train, where the ticket is not for a reserved date and time, don't forget to validate the ticket in a date-stamp machine near the entrance to the tracks (see also the appendix of Rick's Italy book, e.g., pages 1170-74.

Roberto, you crack me up!

FWIW, it's been my experience that Trenitalia personnel often don't or won't speak English. This has been true of the ticket inspectors in particular, when there's a problem with a ticket. They also have all been older, so that does match up with what Roberto's saying.

But the trains in Italy are great. Trains and buses are the only way we travel anymore, having decided that rental cars are way more trouble than they're worth, at least until we run out of places to go that are accessible that way.