Andrew

I seem to think the boat ticket from Riomaggiore to Vernazza was 10 Euro (they may accept only cash - the ticket seller is not a big operation). I have the ticket at home, can tell you for sure later.

I hiked between Vernazza and Monterosso (and all of the others) years ago. It's a nice hike, great scenery, lots and lots of steps up and down as I remember. Plan to take lots of pictures! Moderately difficult hike but much easier than the scary hike I did a few weeks ago near Camogli to San Fruttuoso - yikes!

As mentioned above, I highly recommend the Trenit app for your phone, so you can check train delays and know platforms before you arrive at a station where you might have a quick change. If you have to run for a train, it's nice to know you have to get to say Platform 3 before you hop off the train, instead of dropping your bags, looking for a reader board, and trying to make sense of it while you are in a rush. FYI, the platform you need to get to may be a lot closer than you think; when changing at Verona for a train to Milan on my recent trip, I had to get from I think platform 6 to platform 8 (or something like that), which I assumed meant I'd have to go down some stairs and up others really quickly, but it turned out they were two opposite-facing platforms, so I hopped off one train right on to the other.

But the good news about the trains in the CT is that they have added many more trains than in recent years. And Monterosso is a larger station than say Vernazza, so there are more intercity trains stopping there too as well the regional trains. Just plan to arrive early enough in La Spezia to give yourself time to absorb a modest delay and you should be fine. An hour layover is probably longer than you need. 30 min or so is probably safe.

PalenQ

nor is the beach but would like to experience both while we are there>

Only sandy beach I saw in CT was in Monterosso-the new seaside part of town has a wide sandy beach.

excited_confused

Andrew, that makes me feel better, will be sure to give myself a little more than half hour. I'm assuming La Spezia does not have any lockers or else we could have got there and walked around.

Thanks Palenq, then that's the beach we will head for!

palatino82

My recollection of the hike from Monterosso to Vernazza was a lot of steps at the beginning and the end, but once up high I was surprised at how flat and easy it was.

PalenQ

Thanks Palenq, then that's the beach we will head for!>

I saw one rating a few years ago that said it was one of the best beaches in Italy.

excited_confused

Wow!

Good to hear that Monterosso has more train options. I know the regional trains do not need tickets purchased in advance but what about the inter-city trains - in case we do take one of those from Monterosso to La Specia.

excited_confused

What has made me nervous is a recent TR I read which said the train just chilled for about 30 minutes at a station along the way and again for a shorter time at another one. Is that more likely with certain trains rather than others?
Thanks!

PalenQ

These are regional trains meant to give priority I suppose to fast trains which may not stop at CT stations - I took several of them and no problems. Boats are available too. Delays are always possible on trains but not common I believe.

Andrew

That happened to me, too, on my recent trip. On the regional train from Milan to Genoa, we spent almost half an hour stuck at a station. But I got the idea that all the trains had stopped, not just the regional train I was on. I didn't experience any long days like that over the next few days, but a few of them were delayed 10-15 min. Sometimes they were right on time or even a minute early.

You can be over-conservative and plan to arrive really early at La Spezia if you want. Or you can just take a chance and enjoy more of your time in the CT instead of waiting at a train station longer than you need to - and know what your contingency plan is. Is there a later train on to Rome from La Spezia? If not, how would you get to Rome? Rent a car one way? Take a taxi? A taxi would be really expensive, but would it be the end of the world?

It could be that you wind up arriving back at Monterosso earlier than you expect anyway, so you can just get the first train back to La Spezia (as there are plenty of them) to get there earlier. But I wouldn't freak out worrying about it. I wouldn't plan for more than an hour layover at La Spezia - probably closer to half an hour.

HappyTrvlr

You can use a water taxi to travel from one town to another too. Only Corniglia is up in the hills but has a shuttle.

PalenQ

I know the regional trains do not need tickets purchased in advance but what about the inter-city trains - in case we do take one of those from Monterosso to La Specia.>

Yes anything save regional trains needs a seat reservation before boarding and costs more - the reservation is done at time of sale automatically. Not that many IC (faster) trains serve Monterosso I think so even if the train is doing Genoa to Pisa it could well be a regional train.

And faster trains could be delayed too - this area sees a rail line along the sea and though mainly in tunnel things like rock slides and repairs caused by such could delay any train. I'd just hop the first train at a station to La Spezia or buy the IC train ticket a day ahead to be sure it is not full.

excited_confused

Yes, there is one later train to Rome from La Spezia 2 hours after ours, at 8.15pm I believe. Though it will get us to Rome REALLY late, at least it is a backup option! Hopefully it will not be a problem to get tickets last minute on that if necessary, given the late hour.

I will plan to buy our tickets from Monterosso to La Spezia the day before when we buy our tickets from Pisa to Monterosso.

I would have loved to take the water taxi but it does take a looong time!

Thanks everyone for all your help! Will let you know how it goes!

Any recommendations for must-try restaurants/food in Monterosso & Vernazza? Nothing too expensive, DD & I are on a budget, $ or $$ range. Thanks!

excited_confused

Just wanted to report back and thank everyone for all their help. Cinque Terre was absolutely breathtaking, both DD and I LOVED it! Yes it was crowded but nowhere close to that video I saw so I guess expecting the worst made it seem not bad at all! Besides, all the people in the world could not take away from the amazing views! We liked Monterosso and Manarola the best. We did get in some beach time in Monterosso and Levanto.

And we loved the B & B that we stayed at - Locanda il maestrale, though we did have a bit of a hard time finding it.

Most of the regional trains had 15-30 minute delays and the day pass did not work on the inter city trains but we left in good time so had no problem reaching La Spezia in time for the train to Rome.

Finding a bus from Rome Termini to the airport was another story! I had read online that the last bus was at 11.30pm, however when I asked Information, I was told that there was no bus operating so late. Luckily a good Samaritan, (who I must admit, I was quite suspicious of), came up to us while we were asking a taxi how much it would cost, and told us there was a big white bus around the corner that went to the airport. Very sceptical, we went around to the side of the station and lo and behold, there was the bus just about to leave! That was really lucky! Though it did not have the name of the busline on it, it was a TAM bus. So all was fine!

massimop

So glad you ignored the scare stories & scare videos & went to see for yourself & had a great time. hat's a fun story about Rome. Some times little travel angels come out of nowhere to your rescue.

Thanks for reporting back. Hope lots of people find this thread who are trying to figure out whether going to le Cinque Terre is "worth it" for them.