Train from Florence to Cinque Terre through Pisa

If you get a super-economy it will be train specific - date, time, seat. All trains in Italy - except Regional - require a reservation. So you would have to buy two ticket - one to Pisa and one later. OR just ride the regional train from Florence to where ever you are going. The ticket is good for a limited number of hours after you validate (time stamp) it in one of the yellow boxes. Get off in Pisa, spend a couple of hours, and then catch the next regional train and you will be OK. You can only do this on a regional train.

Why are you trying to buy tickets in advance to go from Florence to the Cinque Terre? They are nearly all Regional trains, no reservations necessary. Also they don't run out of seats, they are like city buses, just hop on and find a free seats to sit down. Buying in advance will save you little or nothing. The full fare from Florence to Pisa is just over 5 euro, To the Cinque Terre about 13 euro, just to give you an idea of how cheap Regional trains are. Just go to the Florence station when you are going and buy tickets on the spot all the way to the cinque terre. Just validate the tickets before you board the train. Get off in Pisa and visit for the time you feel necessary to see the tower. Then, with the same ticket, get back on the train and proceed to La Spezia and beyond to the Cinque Terre. There are plenty of trains going from Pisa to La Spezia. Once in La Spezia you may need to get on another train to proceed to the Cinque Terre. Some trains from Pisa proceed to Genoa and you don't need to change in La Spezia, however those dont stop in the smallest towns, but just in Monterosso, the largest of the Cinque Terre.

Oh ok, great. I will just buy a regional ticket when we get there then. How do I tell if I should be booking high speed trains in advance, or if I should be booking regional trains? Does it just depend on how far apart they are? We will be going from Cinque Terre to Rome after that - this is probably far enough to want to get a fast train in advance, right? Thanks for your help!

Rachel, I'd also suggest using the method that Roberto described. On the Trenitalia website, have a look at the departures in the next week or so on the same day of the week that you'll be travelling. You'll probably find that most trains are Regionale, with the occasional Freccia trains. With the Regionales, you won't be able to buy tickets in advance, nor is there any reason to do so. Simply buy at a Kiosk or ticket window at Firenze SMN station. For example, with a departure at 09:28 you'll arrive at Pisa Centrale at 10:28. That should provide a couple of hours to look at the Tower. You could then leave from Pisa Centrale at 13:44 (IC) or 13:54 (Regionale) for the trip to La Spezia (you didn't say which of the 5 towns you'd be staying in, so I used La Spezia to search, since you'll have to transit through there). If you buy a ticket from Firenze to the Cinque Terre, and one leg is via Freccia train, you'll have to be VERY careful that you board the train specified on the ticket. If you board the wrong train and are caught without a reservation for that train, you may be fined on the spot, and it won't be cheap (the fines start at €50 PP plus the reservation)! Using only Regionale trains would allow more flexibility. DON'T forget to validate your ticket on Regionale trains!!! They may provide two tickets if one leg is on a Freccia train, since one will have to show the Car and Seat No. information attached to the reservation (not sure about that - perhaps Roberto could clarify?). If you're comfortable "locking yourself" into a specific departure time from Pisa to La Spezia, they you could certainly use a Freccia train for the last leg of your journey. A Regionale would provide more flexibility in terms of timing. Happy travels!

There is only a Handful of frecciabianca from Pisa to Spezia throughout the day, but there plenty of regionals. Why locking yourself to the only two frecciabianca departing in the PM when you have a regional every 30 min? The difference in time is only 20 min. Just use a regionale. But if you want to take the frecciabianca from Pisa, you can always go to the ticket window in Pisa and ask them to get you a reservation for the 15:00 frecciabianca. You'll have to add a few euros, he'll issue you a new ticket for that reserved trip and you can take that train and get there 20 min early. Buying in advance now will save you only 4.50 euros over buying it on the spot and this way you have the flexibility of choosing any train you want. The first frecciabianca from Pisa in the pm is at 15:00, maybe you might be done with the leaning tower by noon and may want to take an earlier train instead of waiting until 3pm for the train you have advance reservation for.

The line for the ticket window at Pisa stationwas about 45 minutes long when we were there in late June. We joined a queue at one of the machines, but that one broke down before we got to the front. Everyone rushed over to the next machine and got in line but we ended up even further back than before. One person had trouble and took more than 5 minutes to complete his purchase. By the time we got out turn, 30 minutes had gone by. We didn't miss our train but it was close. Maybe this was an unusual day but I wished we had bought through tickets in advance.

A couple of thoughts. 1) Most trains from the Florence to the CT are Regionale trains between Florence and Pisa. It is possible that trains from Pisa into the CT can be either Regionale or Intercity or FRECCI to La Spezia Centrale. You will be on a Regionale train within the CT. 2) All train runs stop at Pisa. On some runs you change trains there as well. On others, you could continue on to La Spezia Centrale. 3) You can only buy Regionale train tickets online within 7 days of travel. If you are looking out more than 7 days from now, you cannot buy them online. 4) No seat reservations possible. You find your own seat. If no seats, you can stand. You will often stand on the runs between the five CT towns. The towns are only a few minutes apart so its not bad. 5) When you buy a Regionale ticket in Italy, it's good for 60 days. There will be no specific travel date, train number or seat reservation shown on it. You can take any Regionale train making the run shown on the ticket during the 60 days. This is totally unlike the Intercity and FRECCI trains that require reservations and specifc seat assignments. Since your Regionale ticket is an open ticket, you must validate it in the little yellow or gray box in the train station before boarding. The little machine puts a date and time stamp on the ticket. Once you validate it, it's good for 6 hours which is within the normal travel time for any Regionale train run in Italy. Can I hop off and hop back on at Pisa? Technically yes. When you buy your tickets from Florence to the CT, you will receive one ticket per train that you will be on. Might be two tickets but it could be 3 tickets. There is no such thing as one ticket with all 3 trains on it. As long as you remain on Regionale trains, validate your ticket in Florence but don't validate the other two. (See next message)

(Remainder of message). When you get to Pisa, get off the train. Your other two Regionale tickets are still good for 60 days. Also, Pisa has a great staffed left luggage office to store your luggage. As you face the station on the track side and with the tracks to your back, turn right and walk down to the last two buildings on your left. Turn left between them and the Left Luggage building is just to the rear. Walk 20-25 minutes to the leaning tower and adjoining Field of Miracles and visit however long you wish. When you return to the train station, validate your ticket from Pisa to your next stop and get on the next Regionale train going to that location. Don't get on any Intercity or FRECCI trains. You'll see the schedules in the train station.