Venice to Cinque Terre on June 10, 2012

Hi Meg. I wonder if when searching you accidently set the 'hour' setting to 17? I see several trains that day, most with connection in Florence (firenze) and La Spezia. For instance, leave Venice (venezia) 2:27 pm arrive Manarola 7:40 pm. The only leg you might want to buy in advance is the Venice to Firenze leg; if you buy online and are willing to lock in an exact time, you can get the mini fare. But if that is only a few euros lower than the base fare, I would suggest just wait and buy in Italy; it will be the base fare of 43E. For the other legs, they are a regional train; do NOT buy these tix in advance; it is easier and same price to buy there. Your questions: 1. there are several routes that day. 2. yes, most you will pay is 43E+11E that is a good deal. 3. if seat res (venice - florence), they are automatically included in your tix whether you buy online or there.
4. train transfers are easy and fun. just like at an airport; look for the display showing which track your outgoing train is on. one more idea if interested. take a morning train to florence, spend a few hours walking around florence (easy luggage check, sites are an easy walk from train station)., then take a later train to CT. Ping me if you need more info. Enjoy your trip!

I think that maybe the schedules that far out haven't been loaded. When I look at a Sunday in May, lots of options work. In general you'll take a high speed train form Venice to Florence then a regional train to La Spezia and then, most likely, a local train that stops at the towns of the Cinque Terre. Usually the schedules don't change that much, just make sure you check so it is on the same day of the week.
Lee

Meg, While there will be fewer trains on Sundays, you should have no trouble getting from Venice to Manarola on 10 June, so no reason not to book a room. As the previous reply mentioned, it's possible the schedules for June haven't been loaded yet. What time do you want to arrive in Manarola? Here's one example. I checked trains departing Venezia Santa Lucia on Sunday, 15 April, with a starting time of 10:00. One of the shortest trips is a departure at 10:27, arriving Manarola at 15:36 (time 5H:09M, 2 changes at Firenze SMN and La Spezia Centrale, reservations compulsory on the first leg). There are numerous other departures later in the day, with various travel times, some with more changes. In order to get the lowest possible price, you can try and pre-book a "Mini" fare on the net, but that will only be valid for the premium trains. There are usually no discounts with the Regionale trains (DON'T forget to validate your Regional ticket prior to boarding the train!). You could also try buying your tickets as soon as you arrive in Italy or perhaps when you arrive in Venice, either from a staffed ticket window or a Kiosk. "How do I deal with all of the train transfers?" What information do you need? Have you travelled by train in Italy before? Happy travels!

Trying to find an evening schedule may be the problem. Since the trip takes about 5-6 hours with one or two train changes, it works better earlier in the day. I recently caught a morning train from Venice to CT with only one train change (in Florence). I bought my ticket in Venice for about 55E.

Meg,without a reservation you should plan on arriving in the CT by early afternoon to assure getting a room. For your stated date of 10 June, I would suggest making a CT area reservation asap.