Getting around by train

Go on Trenitalia and do some searching for tickets, if your trip is out a ways, just pick a date a month in the future to get an idea of routes. The most common route is from the main train station in Milan, head to Genoa, from there you will likely change trains to a regional train that will take you to Vernazza, the trip is usually 3 to 3.5 hours. Beyond that there are several options that may be better, but less frequent. One thing to look into is to look at trains going to Monterosso. No Intercity or Fast trains stop at Vernazza, but some will at Monterosso or at Sestre Levante, from there you can catch the frequent regional trains for the short ride to Vernazza. Looking at those, you can get a direct train from Milan to Monterosso in under 3 hours, so about the same to get to Vernazza. There are also a couple other route variations, but nothing that is significantly better than these.

thanks....great ideas!