Prague to Cinque Terre

Cheryle,

IMO, travel via rail would be the best method of transport for the trip you described. You didn't specify the time of year you'd be travelling, but I did a brief search of the rail schedules. Using an arbitrary date in Sept., here's a few examples:

> Praha (Prague) - Rothenburg ODT - there's a train departing Praha hl.n at 09:16, arriving Rothenburg Bahnhof at 15:49 (Time 6H 33M, 4 changes, reservations required for first leg).

> Rothenburg ODT - Munchen (Munich) HBF - train departing at 09:06, arriving Munchen HBF at 12:33 (Time 3H 27M, 2 changes).

> Munich HBF - Glacier Express - you didn't indicate where you wanted to board the Glacier Express? One route you might consider is to board in Chur. There's a train from Munich to Chur departing 07:12, arriving Chur 11:38 (Time 4H 26M, one change, reservation compulsory).

Ride the Glacier Express as far as Brig (Time 3H 47M, cost €48.65 PP, subject to change). From there it's an easy trip into Italy and the Cinque Terre.

> Brig to La Spezia - an example, train departing 09:20, arriving La Spezia Centrale at 15:18 (Time 5H 58M, one change in Milano, reservations compulsory).

At La Spezia you can change to the frequent local CT train. If you'll be staying in Riomaggiore, the trip is only 8 -10 minutes from La Spezia.

These are approximate schedules for you to consider. You'll have to be quick with some of the train changes, as some are fairly short. I'd recommend reading Rick's "Rail Skills" chapter in Europe Through The Back Door.

It will still be necessary to coordinate the departure times so you'll be able to meet connecting trains (ie: Munich to connect with Glacier Express, G.E. to connect with train to Italy). I used departure times that are similar to my normal practise (I like to arrive in a new town in the mid to late afternoon).

Hope this helps. Good luck with your planning!

Thanks for the info. My research says the Glacier Express is 7 and a half hours would we therefore miss a lot by doing what you suggested what about going to Zammitt spending the night then going back to Brig to continue down to Cinque Terre??

Cheryle, if you want to go to Zermatt, continue on past Brig on the G.E. Spending the night there is a great idea. The mountains are best viewed in the morning hours before they cloud up. You'll need to return to Brig to pick up the trains heading south to Milan. From Milan, you pick up the trains heading into the Cinque Terre.

Have changed things a bit Going to Berlin picking up a car( hopefully can drive it into Prague) will drop car in Munich spend 2 days there at Oktoberfest then train down to Switzerland. However we only have 2 nights in Switzerland really want to see the best of the Glacier Express would we be able to connect from Munich to St Moritz stay the night then train to Zemmatt or will we not miss too much by going from Chur??? This plan is for 2009 !

If you are on a limited budget, consider this.
After I rode the Glacier Express I learned that one can take the same route for much less by buying point2point tickets and ride the normal train.

You can buy a ticket from where you are to any one of the stations along the GE route, thereby shortening your trip if needed.

Only difference is the big windows on the second level on the GE. I wouldnt pay for that convenience.