I just went on the Italian train site, but it doesn't seem to like the parameters I typed in. I don't read Italian, really, but at least I could tell that!
I am trying to get from Vernazza (Cinque Terre) to Rome on Wednesday, Sept. 12. Mid to late morning departure. Has anyone out there done this trip? Is there another website with an English translation of the train schedules? Grazie mille!
Trenitalia's English site is at http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html. However, you can only book 60 days in advance, so while a September 12th journey will show you the schedule, it'll show NO in the buy column. If you want to see approximate prices, enter a similar day of the week in early August...that'll give you a good idea.
We didn't have any trouble getting train routes from Monterosso (northern most CT town) to Rome.
Plan on taking the local train to La Spezia and catching a direct train from there to Rome. If you search the route from La Spezia, more options come up. You shouldn't have to book it more than a few days in advance, so do it when you arrive in Vernazza. You can book any ticket in any station - either at the kiosk or the ticket windows. One tip for the Trenitalia website - type the city names in Italian - Roma for Rome, Milano for Milan, etc... Also, the date is day, month, and then year. The time is the 24 hour clock.
Thanks everyone! I went on the English site and yes, it was much easier. (The link I had been given by the hotel was the Italian one with no options for English on their home page.)
We are now all booked for our trip:
-Seattle to London, London to Venice (cheaper than direct!), staying at Pensione Gueratto in Venice.
-Venice to Vernazza, staying at Martina's there.
-Vernazza to Rome, staying at Gulliver's Place there.
All in 10 days. Yikes!
When planning train connections ANYWHERE throughout Europe, I would suggest looking at the excellent German rail web site at:
http://bahn.hafas.de/bin/query.exe/en
If you can't book your particular itinerary through this web site, you may need to turn to the specific country's rail site or talk to a travel agent. But the German page is an invaluable search tool for the detailed information it provides.
Good luck and enjoy.
