Travel from Vernazza to Parma and to Florence

Andrea, For your trip from Vernazza to Florence, train would be the best option (IMO). Travel time will be about 3H:15M in each direction, usually with two changes in La Spezia, Pisa Centrale or Monterosso. Current one-way fares on that route are listed as low as €13.90 PP so it will be just as easy to buy the tickets when you're there, either from a ticket office or ticket Kiosk. You can research train times and other details on the Trenitalia website. Depending on which train you choose, you'll be travelling via a combination of Regionale, InterCity or Freccia trains. When riding on Regionale trains, YOU MUST validate your tickets prior to boarding the train on the day of travel, or risk hefty fines which will be collected on the spot! With the Freccia and other trains, reservations are compulsory and if you're caught without a valid reservation for the train you're riding on, again expensive fines on the spot! The reservations will be provided with the tickets you buy, but these are specific to a particular train and departure time, so you can't just board any train heading in the direction you want to travel. I'm not too familiar with Parma or the Ham & dairy factories, but I'm sure one of the others will be able to provide information on that. Note that there are also some potentially expensive "caveats" when driving in Italy. If you're not aware of those and need further information, post another note. Happy travels!

Ken thank you for the train information, i've been going over the trenitalia website and mainly was concerned about there being room on the train, should i prebook etc. but it sounds like we won't have a problem. George thank you for the helpful links and restaurants! we are very excited as this is our honeymoon, italy for 3 weeks!

Andrea, Congratulations! There should always be room on the train, unless it's a major holiday or other special occasion. If it's crowded, you may have to stand but that sometimes happens. Be sure to watch your luggage on the trains!

Andrea, for your trip from Vernazza to Parma, it's close to 3hrs each way. You would be on a local Regionale train from Vernazza to La Spezia Centrale. You would change trains at La Spezia Centrale for Parma. There are two runs early in the morning to Parma from La Spezia that have no train changes. The fare one-way from Vernazza is 11.85Euro. Here's a link to the early morning schedules as they appear now. http://gyazo.com/3f7350aa42da591a2ea7698209d23369 Note that the trains are all Regionales. These are the locals. Like buses, there are no seat reservations. You buy your ticket, validate it, get on and find your own seat. If no seats you can stand. However, this is unlikely. Also, you cannot buy Regionale train tickets online more than 7 days out from the time of travel. You can easily buy these tickets 2-3 days before travel when you get to Italy. Yes, you will need to go to the train station but it's Italy. That's the way it works there. For your trip to Florence, this journey is most commonly done on Regionale trains as well. But, you could encounter the occasional high-speed from La Spezia to Pisa as part of your journey. Seat reservations would be required on the high-speeds. Plus, you can buy these tickets online even though the high-speed may be coupled with Regionale trains. It's the all-Regionale runs that you cannot buy online.

Thank you everyone for the helpful information!