We are travelling by train to CT, from Venice, and it seems that there are several ways to get there. They all seem to be somewhat out of the way, which was somewhat surprising and I hoped there was something more direct. It seems that we can go via Milan or Florence or other cities, all taking us on a less direct route. What would you suggest we do, what is the most efficient route?
Posted by
Pa and Italy
4152 posts
Well, the trains that go from Venice to Milan and Florence are the high speed trains. From there you transfer to the slower regional or inner city trains. I don't think there are any direct routes.
I suggest picking the route that take the least amount of time.
donna
Posted by
12 posts
I traveled from Cinque Terre to Venice and found that there truly is not an extremely convenient/efficient route. I went from CT to Florence and took the high speed train from Florence to Venice. I agree with the post above. Look at routes on either raileurope.com or eurail.com and select either the fastest route or the one with fewest train changes. Good luck! It will be worth your effort!
Posted by
California 🦋
5225 posts
M,
You are correct, there is no direct train route to CT from Venice.
You could spend a couple of days visiting Florence then go to CT.
I'd use this website to check train schedules & purchase tickets: http://www.trenitalia.com
Happy planning!
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15204 posts
I apologize on behalf of God for having put a major mountain range between Venice and the Cinque Terre. Unfortunately there are only a few rail lines that go through those mountains. One is between Bologna and Florence, one between Milan and Genoa, and one between Parma and La Spezia. None of them are along the most direct trajectory between Venice and the Cinque Terre, as they all require some looping around. Also only the mountain rail between Bologna and Florence is a high speed line.
So take your pick. Those are the only choices. Driving isn't much faster either as you have to go through the same mountain passes.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
Those are the two fastest routes; either via Milan or via Florence. On maps that show rail lines, you'll see that there's no other train line from Venice toward the west. Several of the departures via Milan require only one connection to get to Monterosso, so those would be simplest if Monterosso is your destination. Breaking the trip in Florence also makes sense.
Posted by
Providence
28 posts
We went through Milan. Great train from Venice to Milan. The train from Milan to CT was extremely hot, cramped and over flowing with passengers and bags. But, it was easy to get there and we were able to relax on the train to Milan, I think it even had wifi.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32214 posts
mh,
Actually, travel by rail from Venice to the Cinque Terre is fairly straight forward and not a difficult trip at all, although it will take several hours. As the others have mentioned, there are two main routes, one through Florence and one through Milan. Which route to use will depend to some extent on which of the five towns you'll be staying in. You can view all the train options using the Trenitalia website. Your departure station will be Venezia Santa Lucia and your arrival station will be the C.T. town you'll be staying in.
Using Monterosso for example, one of the quickest and easiest trips will be a departure at 07:25, arriving Monterosso at 12:41 (time 5H:16M, two changes at Firenze SMN and La Spezia Centrale, reservations compulsory on first leg). There's another departure at 09:25 that's only 11 minutes longer, arriving Monterosso at 14:52.