Hello! I am traveling to Europe for the first time this spring and am hoping to get advice on making rail arrangements. I am only taking three trains: 1. Milan to Venice, 2. Venice to Cinque Terra, 3. Cinque Terra to Florence. Should I purchase single tickets, a pass, purchase in advance, buy in person? Help!
Also, does anyone have cost estimates on these tickets? I just want to make sure I budget enough for rail transportation!
Thanks you oh so much!
Mary,
I'd also suggest buying P-P tickets when you arrive in Italy. With only 3 trips, a Rail Pass would not be the most cost effective option (especially as you'd have to pay separately for reservation fees which are compulsory on the "premium" trains such as the EuroStar Italia or Cisalpino).
I normally research which trains I'll be taking using the bahn.de website (it's incredibly helpful!). If you have a fairly good idea on which trains you want to use, you could perhaps purchase the tickets for all journeys when you reach Milano Centrale. These would include reservation fees, if applicable. Note that you'll normally have to validate your ticket in the yellow machine prior to boarding the train.
You'll need to check the large sign board to verify which Track No. (Binario) your train is departing from. If you have a reserved seat, the ticket will specify the Train No. (Treno), the Car No. (Carozza), the Seat No. (Posti) and whether this is Corridor (Dorridoio) or Window (Finestrino).
As this is your first trip to Europe, I'd highly recommend reading at least the "Rail Skills" chapter in Europe Through The Back Door, as it provides a lot of information on how the rail systems work. The information is also available on this website in the "Rail" section, in the PDF Rail Guide.
When you check your rail journeys, try to choose routes with minimal changes. On the trip to the Cinque Terre, you'll most likely have to change trains in La Spezia and use the small local train to whichever of the five villages you're staying in. The local trains have frequent departures (times are listed in the Italy book).
I normally pack the Guidebook along when I'm in that area, as the simple Maps make it easy to get oriented in each new town, and get to the Hotel.
Be sure to pack light (important if there will be train changes and you have to use the tunnel to get to the next track) and wear your Money Belt.
Happy travels!
You can get fares for Italian Rail from the Trenitalia website. Your fare would depend on the trains taken.
Italian rail fares are pretty cheap. I doubt that you can do better with a railpass, particularly because, for the faster trains, like EuroStar (ES*), the passholder "reservation" fee is often half of the full fare.
It is probably best to buy your tickets when you get there. If you can commit in advance, buy Amica tickets when you arrive (if still available) and get a 20% discount.
When I planned a week in CT several years ago, I bought p2p tickets from Milan to CT and back. Each day while we were there we rode the train to another of the 5 villages using p2p tickets.
Everyone I have know who uses trains in Italy always buys single tickets and avoids the pass. The cost we paid would not help you because it has gone up. If no one on this page responds, check the RR web page.
Just a reminder that some of the train platforms in Cinque Terre are really short, so the trains are half at the platform and half still in the tunnel when they stop the train to let passengers out. We had read about it in one of Ricks guidebooks, but STILL missed our stop, because we thought we were way too deep in the tunnel to be a "real stop".You only make that mistake once, but even that's too many times.
