I am flying into Milan on the first of July and trying to figure out how to get from the airport to Pisa and then to Cinque Terre and then to Rome. Is it best to take trains? If so, which ones? I am looking for the most efficient travel. Also, will be traveling with bags. I would like to spend one night in Cinque Terre. Any suggestions town to stay over in?
Thanks,
Audrey
First off, Cinque Terre is a region with five towns - pick one. Generally train is the easiest and most convenient way to get around Italy unless the area is not serviced by trains. Use trenitalia.com to check schedules. Sometimes it is easier to use bahn.de for schedules but not for ticketing. Much of your travel will be on Regionale trains in CT so buy the tickets when you arrive.
As Frank has said, trains will be the best method for where you're going. This is the website for the Italian national rail service:
http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en
You will need to input the names of the destinations in Italian. I'm guessing you'll be flying into Malpensa? If so you'll want to take the Malpensa Express train to Milano Centrale, and a train from there to Pisa Centrale.
From there, you'll have to choose a town in the Cinque Terre (Monterosso, Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza) or nearby (La Spezia, Levanto). BE AWARE? This is high season in the CT and booking started filling up month ago! I would not count on just landing into one of the 5 villages and finding a place to sleep. You may need to look in La Spezia or Levanto. Try to reserve something before BEFORE you go, and you will probably be limited to whatever has an open spot within your budget.
And then train from wherever you end up to Roma Termini.
You may want to reconsider the order of your stops. From Milan it's more efficient to go first to Cinque Terre, then to Pisa and finally to Rome. I'd suggest staying in Monterosso, and consider staying 2 nights - 1 full day. Monterosso has a lot to offer, and there are 2 morning IC trains that get you to Pisa in just over an hour with no changes.
Good suggestion from Frank to re-order the trip. 👍
Second the notion of staying 2 nights at CT.
One night really isnt worth the bother, and could be better spent adding to somewhere else
cha-ching, thats my 2 cents
Pisa could be done as a stop on the way to Rome. You could check the bags at the train station while you sightsee. If you were planning on spending a night there, you could use that one for a 2nd in CT instead?
Okay! Thank you all for your help.
