We are having trouble making train reservations to get from Montorosso to Florence for Sunday, June 10. Not sure if there are no Sunday trains or if they are all sold out already? (There appear to be several options on other Sundays...) I am considering a hired car and driver...does anyone have info good or bad on this option? The only trains I can find are 6+ hours via Eurail sites or a late night train (8:00pm) via Trainitalia...(La Spezia to Florence stations). Would prefer to travel in the morning and arrive Florence by early afternoon. Thanks for any suggestions!
Posted by
Portland, Oregon
5687 posts
I think the train schedules may change that day and are still to be updated. I see there are trains showing for the previous Saturday but not for Monday June 11th either. No, the trains aren't all sold out - some of them are regional and can't sell out. Just check again later.
Posted by
Fort Lauderdale, FL
1245 posts
If you do a search on Trenitalia there are multiple trains going to Florence. The schedules may not be posted yet for your date, but you can search an earlier date and find many options. No need to worry.
Anyway the trains are 2 1/2 - 3 1/2 hours, depending on which you choose.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32398 posts
jr,
You won't have any trouble finding trains, but don't be too concerned about making reservations. Many of the trains on that route are Regionale and these don't require reservations, nor are they available. One other point to note is that the schedules may change slightly on 10 June, which is why you're not finding information.
Checking the Trenitalia schedule for Sunday, 3 June, should give you a good idea on what trains are available. You'll have to use the Italian names for the stations - Monterosso and Firenze S.M. Novella. Given your departure criteria, the best option is probably the departure at 11:07, arriving 13:32 (time 2H:25M, 1 change at Pisa Centrale). The first segment of that trip is via an InterCity train, which does require reservations, but it won't save you much to buy that segment in advance since it's a fairly short route.
My suggestion would be to simply buy your tickets the day prior to travel at the full service ticket window at the Monterosso station. However, be sure to validate the Regionale ticket for the segment from Pisa to Florence prior to boarding the train on the day of travel.
I wouldn't bother using the Eurail website for finding train schedules, as it doesn't have all the information that Trentitalia has. Don't bother hiring a car & driver unless you have a very generous budget.
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23653 posts
Ken is absolutely correct. No point in hiring a car unless you want to door to door service for a couple hundred euro. Train schedules have not posted for summer and the Regionale train schedules are always the last to post. You will have lots of options. Buy you Regionale train ticket at the station or local travel agency in CT. Ignore the Eurail site as Eurail is a travel agency selling train tickets for not all trains.
Posted by
OP
3 posts
Thank you, everyone! This is just the kind of information I needed!