Venice to Vernazza/ Train travel through Italy in general

Some people are stressed out by not having a ticket and a plan, while others are stressed out by having to show up on time for their nonrefundable reservation. You don't need to book Italian train tickets ahead, but you've seen on Trenitalia the discount that is available when you book up to three months ahead for the faster, longer rides. You can't buy a ticket more than a week ahead for regional trains, such as Florence-Pisa-Vernazza, and they mostly are not reserved, so I would buy those tickets at a train station.

gina,

Venice to Vernazza is a very easy route, but it will take about six hours, with two or three changes. You'll generally travel either through Milan or through Florence, and not necessarily through La Spezia.

That route will likely involve a combination of both "premium" trains (Freccia or InterCity) as well as Regionale trains. You can save a few dollars with pre-purchase of tickets for premium trains, but there will be no savings for Regionale trains. It's important to remember that tickets on premium trains are specific to a train, date and departure time, and tickets for Regionale trains MUST be validated prior to boarding on the day of travel. Those who don't have valid tickets on either class of train are subject to hefty fines, which will be collected on the spot!

For the few trips I make, I normally just buy tickets a day or so before I'll be travelling either at a staffed ticket office or using one of the automated Kiosks. The cost with that method is slightly higher since I'm paying "base fare", but that offers some flexibility in terms of travel times.

Thanks Ken!
I think I would like to purchase my ticket ahead just for peace of mind (or at least the leg of it I am able too). How would I go about doing so? Lets say I went the Milan route, would I have to book a single ticket from Venice to Milan and then Milan on or can I book everything all together through Trenitalia?
Thank you!
Gina

gina,

The first thing you'll have to do is choose which train you want to use for the trip from Venice to Milan. Keep in mind that the schedules for August won't be posted yet, so check trains in the next week or so that travel on the same day-of-the-week to get an approximate idea of the travel times, number of changes, etc. You won't be able to purchase the tickets until (I believe) 120 days prior to your travel date. Remember that tickets on the premium trains such as the Freccia are specific to a particular train, date and departure time so choose carefully.

For the trip from Milan to Vernazza, you may be travelling via InterCity or Regionale trains, depending on which train you choose. InterCity tickets will be much the same as Freccia, and you should be able to buy those at the same time. AFAIK, Regionale tickets are difficult to buy on the Trenitalia website, and there's no reason to do so as there's no price benefit. With all Regionale tickets, they MUST be validated prior to boarding the train on the day of travel, or you'll be subject to hefty fines.

For information on how to buy tickets, have a look at the excellent Ron In Rome website. You could also try Italia Rail as they may be able to provide tickets for the entire journey.

Just to add to the excellent information you've already gotten:

1. If you are buying tickets in Italy, you can buy any domestic ticket anywhere in the country. For instance, you don't have to wait until you are in Florence to buy your Florence to Rome ticket.

2. Even if you are buying tickets as you go rather than online in advance, it can be a great time saver to buy tickets a day or two in advance, so you don't miss a train waiting in any lines (although the lines at the ticket machines are usually short, the line at the windows can be very long).

Hi Gina. I used the website www.seat.61.com to get information about booking tickets in Italy. It was recommended by others on this site. I booked my train tickets from Venice to Vernazza using the Italiarail website mentioned by Ken. Since I was going to need a reservation for the Venice-Florence leg of the trip anyway, and we knew which day we would be traveling, we wanted to buy all of the tickets in advance. The trip is a less than 6 hours and the total cost for the four of us was €179.90
Here is our itinerary (we are going in June):
1. Venezia S. Lucia - Firenze S. M. Novella, Departure: 11:25 - Arrival: 13:30, 2nd Class, 4 Adults
This is an eTicket, no paper ticket is needed prior to boarding the train. Simply provide the ticket number (PNR) above to the Conductor for validation.
2. Firenze S. M. Novella - La Spezia Centrale, Departure: 13:53 – Arrival: 16:19, 2nd class ticket, 4 Adults. Print a paper ticket at the self service ticket machine located at the train station with your PNR number, along with your surname. Once you have received your paper ticket - validate the ticket at a validation machine PRIOR TO BOARDING.
3. La Spezia Centrale - Vernazza, Departure: 17:03 - Arrival 17:23, 2nd class ticket, 4 Adults
This PNR is a Self Service Ticket. Print a paper ticket at the self-service ticket machine located at the train station with your PNR number, along with your surname.

Be sure to let your credit card company know when you will be purchasing the tickets, otherwise they may reject it. Hope this helps.

Ben

Wow, thank you all so much; Such helpful information. I've looked at the links you both provided and those sites really help. As well as your detailed itinerary ben. I want to do a little more research about Italiarail site but it seems like the easiest way to book. Any additional information about that site? Pros/ cons?

Thanks again!
Happy travels

Hello everyone, i'm back with more questions! Thank you all for being so helpful and patient.

Regarding tickets getting to Vernazza From Venice: I am able to type in Venice as a departure point and Monterosso as an arrival point and the website creates a route through Milan. The price seems very good and I would like to book this but I am hesitant because I was told that the regionale trains cannot be booked in advanced? Can someone explain to me how this would work? Would it be better just purchasing the leg from Venice to Milan now and then buying a ticket from Milan to Monterosso when we arrive? We will be departing Venice on the 19 th of August

After our time in Vernazza we are headed to Florence. I have similar concerns about purchasing ahead for this part of the trip as well. Trenitalia won't let me put Monterosso as a departure point and Florence as a destination and I assume that is because parts of the trip are regionale and can not be booked in advanced. Is this true? Will I not be able to purchase this leg in advanced? We will be departing Cinque Terre on the 22nd of August.

Thanks!
Gina

gina,

Could you provide some further information on which days you plan on travelling, and your preferred departure times to each of the locations you'll be travelling to? It would be easier to offer more specific suggestions with that information at hand.

Hi ken,

Sure. We will be departing from Venice on August 19th which is a Tuesday. From there we will head to Vernazza. We have to be checked out of our room around 10 and this seems like a pretty long trip so ideally we would like to leave around 9 or 10. After Vernazza and the Cinque Terre we will be headed to Florence on the 22nd of August which is a Friday. We are flexible with this departure time but leaving around 10am-12 pm would probably work best. From Florence we will be headed to Rome on the 25th of August which is a Monday. However, I was able to find an easy route and don't think I need assistance on that leg of the trip. I am a 21 year old college student traveling with my friend. This is our first time in Italy and our first time using public transportation this extensively. Because we saved up the entire year to pay for this trip we are trying to be pragmatic and plan things out in advanced so we can get the most for our money!
Thanks again for any information!

Gina

Venezia Santa Lucia to Milano Centrale is a Frecce train and Milano to Monterosso is an IC train and both can be booked now for August 19 with great savings. Here is the schedule I see:

https://www.lefrecce.it/B2CWeb/search.do?parameter=searchOutputViewer&cFID=rJmwGdxMGmcl

Hopefully that comes through. Basically, you can depart at either 9:25 or 10:25 and take the inland route with two changes! for around €43. Or you could depart at 10:50 and make only a single change in Milan, for €18( advance price so it will go up at some point). There are later departures as well, but I only listed the ones around 10 am.

Although it takes slightly longer, the Milano route would be my choice as the route along the coast is quite pretty and the trains are very comfortable. I also dislike extra changes when carrying luggage if can be avoided. Even when you have reserved seats, you can have trouble finding a place for your luggage.

Buy the Regionale ticket from Monterosso to Vernazza later, within a week of your travel date. You can do this at Venice using the machines.

Thanks lola! Great advice. I agree, we will be taking the Milan route. I have purchased my tickets for 10:25! Do you have any tips for the route from Vernazza to Florence? My only concern is that If I book ahead I would have to time out the regionale trains that I can't purchase in advanced perfectly so I do not miss my train departing from La Spezia or whichever route I take. Maybe this isn't as difficult as i'm imagining.

Thanks again!

A related question. Rick talks about storing a suitcase in the train locker in Venice but he doesn't say how long. Can you checke one at the Venice train station for three days?