Cinque Terra transportation question...
 

Hello,

What are the most efficient ways to get to and from Cinque Terra?

1. The travelers will be traveling by train.

2. Their arrival will be from Munich/Salzburg area/direction.

3. Their departure will be towards Milan.

Also, any Cinque Terra experts out there could think about adding recommendations about hotels.

Any assistance will be greatly appreciated. Fodors always seem to come through...

All five villages have railway stations. Use www.bahn.de for schedules, entering your departure are arrival stations, for example Salzburg to Monterosso, or Vernazza to Milano.

Fisrt of all, it's spelled Cinque Terre. (Final e.)

I'll just point out for what it's worth that there are regular direct flights from Munich to Genova's Cristoforo Columbo airport. From the airport, there is a bus that connects with the train, and then it's a 2-hour ride to the towns.

Also, many people prefer to stay just outside le Cinque Terre and visit the five towns as day trips by train or boat. The most common reasons for doing this are that unless you are very keen on hiking, there is little else to do within the five towns. Also, the towns are very steep, and some people prefer to merely visit them, but haul their luggage or walk to or from restaurants on a flatter town. Last but not least, between Easter and the end of September, the five small towns can be thronged with tourists, while neighboring towns on the train line are not.

Now I went and misspelled "Colombo"! (All o's.)

Hi,

The most efficient way to travel to and from CT is via train. The other 2 options are boat or car. The car option is a long drive in and the boat option does not always work because of high seas. That being said after you come in via train it's fun to take the boat from village to village. Make sure you stop at Portovenere, which is not connected via train, but is worth a walk around

Monterosso has the largest number of rooms, but we prefer Vernazza, which is smaller and very beautiful. There are lots of tourists, but when the trains take everyone away at night it even more charming. We always stay at Gianni Franzi's rooms http://www.giannifranzi.it/ but mainly because we only stay one night and they allow for that. The rooms are clean and not terribly expensive. As you can tell by the web site, there are a bunch of steps to get to your room so luggage can be an issue.

From either Salzburg or from Munich this will take a good half day or longer. You have choices about the route of your approach. You don't say when or where, so I pick midweek in May after 7AM , and Monterosso as the target.

From Salzburg the connection with the least changes of trains (two, in Innsbruck and in Bologna Centrale) leaves Salzburg Hbf (Hauptbahnhof, means "principal station") at 8:56AM and gets to Monterosso at 9:32PM.

If you can get going earlier, there is a 6:46 departure that arrives at 7:02PM, with four changes: In Rosenheim, Bolzano, Verona, and Milano Centrale.

If you'd rather get started later, there are a two others that still get you there the same night: The 9:53AM that requires six changes of trains (Innsbruck, Brenner, Verona, Milano, Genova P.P., Sestri Levante) and gets in at 10:23PM, and the 10:31AM that requires 3 changes (Innsbruck, Verona, Milano) and gets in at 11:4PM.

My preference among these would be the 8:56, not only because it avoids more changes of trains than others but also because it avoids Milano Centrale, a huge and often unwieldy station.

If you can stay up in Salzburg, you can catch the night train that leaves at 1:34AM, has sleepers and couchettes (bunks), and gets into Venezia Mestre at 8:21AM. Now you have the choice of spending a few hours down in Venice by the canals - you take the feeder train down to the Venezia Santa Lucia station and stash your luggage at the deposito bagagli and head on out.

Then you could take any one of three trains that get you to Monterosso that same evening, all with only one change of trains en route, the 2:50PM via Milano Centrale that arrives at 9:2PM, or - much better! - the 3:43PM via Bologna that arrives at 9:32PM, or the 5:20PM via Milano Centrale that arrives at 11:04PM.

Or you skip the Venice idea and take the next train and carry on - leaving Venezia Mestre at 8:32AM, changing trains in Milano Centrale, Genova P.P. and Sestri Levante to get to Monterosso at 2:19PM.


From Munich Hbf there is one train that stands out in terms of convenience - it leaves at 9:31AM and gets there with only one change en route (in Bologna) at 9:32PM. Book early for that one!

There are quite a few others, and also night options, like the CNL 485 (City Night Line) leaving at 9:03PM with sleepers and couchettes that arrives in Bologna at 4:35 AM. Pack some breakfast because it may be too early for the services at the station - your train (via a change in Parma) leaves at 6:18 and gets to Monterosso at 10:17AM.

In addition to the German train website you have been given, use this Belgian one that is good for all of Europe (but lists no pricing):

http://plannerint.b-rail.be/bin/quer...n?L=profi&

and the Italian, of course, is
www.ferroviedellostato.it - use it for your eventual journey to Milano Centrale (from there the airport bus takes an hour to Malpensa), or use the airport bus from Genova to Malpensa.

I have been to the Cinque Terre several times, but I always stay in Santa Margherita and take the train down to Monterosso. Then I buy a day pass for the boat to all the villages including Portovenere. Approaching the villages by boat is an awesome sight. Only once have I not been able to go by boat due to rough water.