Florence to Cinque Terre to Rome
 

Hello everyone!

My fiance and I will be lucky enough to enjoy our honeymoon this fall (October 14-28) in Europe! I have been researching as much as I can for each leg of our journey but I still would love some advice and information.

1. Do I need to buy train tickets from Florence to CT in advance? I have heard it may be best to just buy them from the train station in Florence. What would be the average costs for 2 adults under the age of 24?
2. Do I want to buy tickets for La Spezia or for a station actually in CT? Ideally we want to stay in Monterosso, so is their a train station there?
3. Any reccomendations as far as accomodations for 1 night?
4. We will be brigning our luggage with us because after our day trip to CT we will be going straight to Rome, so any advice on making as painless as possible would be great.
5. Finally, what would be the easiest way to get to Rome from CT? Obviously by train but where would be the closest train station to Monterosso by and should we buy tickets day of as well?

I realize a day trip is not much time because CT has so much to offer. But we are just thankful we can make it their one day and are hoping to take full advantage!

Thanks!

Do I need to buy train tickets from Florence to CT in advance? I have heard it may be best to just buy them from the train station in Florence. What would be the average costs for 2 adults under the age of 24?>

Yes just buy them at the station in Florence - use the self-serve kiosks to avoid waiting in line - these are mainly regional trains with no seat reservations possible so you just hop on - there are some IC trains that you can reserve on but most are regional - yes buy your ticket Florence to Monterosso - you may well have to change at La Spezia Centrale to another regional train that stops at all five Cinbque Terre villages. Some trains go direct to Monterosso from La Spezia - fares are dirt cheap on regional trains - you can buy a return ticket so you need not bother buying another ticket in Monterosso - www.trenitalia.com has all the schedules and fares - for lots of great info on Italian trains I always recommend these IMO fine sites - www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com. There is never any problem getting on regional trains so do not worry about that!

You can price your tickets on Trenitalia by entering a date within the next 7 days. You must use the Italian spelling for cities (Firenze, not Florence, etc.). Tickets for R trains bought online have more restrictions than if you buy at the station (shorter validity, etc.). All R tickets must be validated before boarding.

Florence/Monterosso will require a couple of changes and take about 3 hours. Monterosso/Rome will require a couple of changes and take 4-5 hours.

>>>I realize a day trip is not much time because CT has so much to offer. But we are just thankful we can make it their one day and are hoping to take full advantage!<<<

YOu might consider just staying in Florence and booking a day tour to CT. There are some all day tours you can book. Florence/Rome is served by fast AV trains and take only 90 minutes making it much less hassle to get to Rome. CT for one night isn't practical. This tour is 12 1/2 hours, includes hiking and boat ride. The tourist board in Florence will have info on others.

http://www.caftours.com/cinque-terre...ith-lunch.html

I did a day trip to Cinque Terre from Florence not long ago and had the whole day there - try to get the faster IC trains - one used to leave Florence around 9am or so - and then you can use the train or footpaths to or boats in season to go between the five villages - going on your own is easy and no need to book some tour that will cost 10 times as much and you will not see what you want on your time frame - and if you are youngsters you will on most tours be with the senior crowd that typically dominated tour groups IME of watching many of them all over Europe.

You need to get to La spezia. From there you catch the train to ct. Can buy ticket there. have to get pass for ct which includes train rides within ct, but not to la spezia. Have to get that extra- will be cheap. On the way to Rome - you again go through la spezia. Can buy tickets at any station. There are stations in ct. Using the trains in Italy is very easy.

I think the suggestions to make this a day trip from Florence are good ones.

>>>I realize a day trip is not much time because CT has so much to offer. But we are just thankful we can make it their one day and are hoping to take full advantage!<<<

Where did you get this idea?

IMO, the CT does NOT have so much to offer. Hiking is good, views are good, but there are no other real attractions. It is undoubtedly pretty, but personally I would not go back.

Because the attraction of the CT is weather dependent, inconveniencing yourselves for this one day, seems like a poor bet. The time spent getting there and back is just too much for a single night in your itinerary. Imagine doing all that and having a rainy day. You've just spent nearly an entire day of your trip to get someplace and if it's not nice weather, it's not worth going.

There are certainly other places you could spend one night that are more directly on the path from Florence to Rome.

Also, may I ask why, with two weeks, you have just one night for the CT?

Thank you are all for your responses! I think we are going to go ahead and just do a day trip.

Tuscanlifeedit-We only have time for one day becasue we are also going to London, Paris, Florence, and Rome!