What is the most efficient route to take when one wishes to include the Cinque terre, Tuscany, Bologna, Venice, Sorrento and surrounding areas (ie. Amalfi coast) in 2 weeks? Also, where can I find information on local train travel in Italy? RailEurope seems to only provide information for major train stations. Lastly, would it be more cost efficient to purchase a rail pass (which one?) for the entire trip ( not renting a car) or pay as I go? Thank you!
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
Olivia, a rail pass will not be less expensive than the train fares in Italy. Also, one specific train that you will want from Naples to Sorrento and also the SITA bus or ferry down the Amalfi coast does not accept the Eurail pass. First of all, the website you want is www.trenitalia.com. This is the Italian train website. They own and run the trains in Italy. Just the English (EN) button at the top center of the page. I don't know how you intend to get to the CT but once there, there is a great 7:52am train from La Spezia Centrale to Venice that makes one stop in Bologna. If you ticket properly, you can stay there as long as you wish and then proceed to Venice. The train trip from Venice to Naples will take close to 6hrs. Then, you have the Circumvesuvia local train to Sorrento (about 75min). For this train, you need www.vesuviana.com Most of the trains that you will be on will be inexpensive Regionale trains. The only high-speeds based on the above would be Bologna/Venice and Venice/Naples. There could be others out of the Sorrento area that you have not identified.
Posted by
Seattle, WA
17435 posts
Use trenitalia.com, the Italian rail website, for schedules and routes in Italy. RailEurope does not show all the trains, and does not show the correct prices.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32353 posts
olivia, That's a fairly wide area to cover in 2-weeks, so you'll need to plan transportation carefully. Which areas will you be visiting in Tuscany? It's a somewhat large area, so you probably won't have too much time to spend there. Visiting six locations (which includes the unspecified "surrounding areas") in that time frame allows only about 2.3 days per stop, with NO allowances for travel times. You might consider dropping some of the locations on your list, as this Itinerary is going to provide somewhat of a "blink & run" trip, which will be tiring. The other replies have provided good details on where to find the best train information for Italy. Happy travels!
Posted by
OP
toronto, ontario, canada
3 posts
Thanks to everyone who replied! Much appreciated!
Posted by
lexington, il
4105 posts
The most logical would be CT, Bologna, Tuscany, Venice.
I would then consider flying Venice to Naples (Easy jet.com) prices in april and may seem to be running 26E-29E ($52/w 1 bag) then the Curreri Coach, about 10E, takes 90min from Naples "Capo" airport to Sorrento. bus is right outside the airport , airport is very small, easy to navigate a few sites you may want to visit: italylogue.com summerinitaly.com sorrento-online.com