my family is taking a trip, rail only, through Paris, Venice, Florence, and Cinque Terre or a nearby town. We know which train we are taking to get from Paris to Milan, but are unsure which route to take next. we want to go to Cinque Terre somewhere in the middle of our trip to relax and refuel, and are also considering Verona or Siena as a day trip. Help!
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32198 posts
Anne, given the destinations you've chosen, one possibility would be:
- Paris train to Milan train to C.T. via La Spezia
- Cinque Terre train to Florence Day trip to Siena while in Florence (use Bus, if schedule allows - it will be a long day!) Train to Venice (with stop in Verona?)
It would help to know where you're going after Venice - flying home? This will likely have a large bearing on the order of cities.
Happy travels!
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
The big question is where are you headed after visiting these cities. Are you flying home? If yes, from where? Are you traveling to another Europe location or returning to Paris? If yes, where? Milan is centrally located to the CT, Florence and Venice. Answers to the above questions would help posters offer suggetions on which way to go.
Posted by
Anchorage, Alaska, USA
46 posts
We'll be flying back to Seattle out of whichever city we visit last, venice or florence. But we're not sure which airport would be better to fly out of. Milan might work too if we visit garda or verona on the way there from venice. I hadn't thought of that.
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
Given either Florence or Venice, Venice has the larger and more international airport. I think Pisa's airport may be larger than Florence's. (We flew into Florence and it's not too large). Given that you want a CT break in the middle. You can easily get there from Milan. Trenitalia will most likely route you through Genova. If you are staying in La Spezia, the route will be the same (Genova, CT and then La Spezia). La Spezia to Florence is a 2.5 hour train journey. Florence to Venezia Santa Lucia is just under 3 hours on the Eurostar. If this routing is your choice, make sure that you don't book your plane to early in Venice as it could take 1-2 hours to get to the airport from the main tourist areas. Alternatively, you can (1) Milan/Florence, (2)Florence/CT and (3)CT/Venice. Total train time is about the same.
Posted by
Anchorage, Alaska, USA
46 posts
Thanks for the advice everyone!