Italy - Changing Trains?
 

Will be soon travelling by train from Venice to Cinque Terre and it appears we may have several stops along the way - and maybe even some train switching.

Are each of the train stops announced?

Are there any announcements in English (don't speak Italian)?

Wondering how we know when, and where to get off the trains?

Any advice appreciated.

I suggest having a map to know the various stops along the way, and recognize those that are coming up just before yours. You will be able to understand the word as long as you know the name of the city in Italian.

Go to www.trenitalia.com and type in Venice and your Cinque Terre destination (say, for example, Vernazza), and dates and times. It will give you the schedules. Click on the Details button (far left column) of any schedule, for more detail. In that screen, click on the light blue colored train number in the left column, and you'll get all the stops and times for that particular leg.

You should note the stop before your stop to change trains, so you'll know when yours is coming up. Don't count on any announcements; some may be announced, but not likely.

You can watch at the various stops, because usually the name of the station will be somewhere you can see from on the train.

Some trains make announcements (yes and in English), others don't. We were okay and managed fine, even though we don't speak a word of Italian either. If you are unsure of where you are, all train stations have names on posts - just look out for them. If you are on say the Eurostar - they will make announcements - it's normally the slower, local trains that don't.

We traveled from Florence to the CT by way of a transfer in Pisa (just wanted to see the leaning Tower)-La Spezia might be another option. As suggested, use the search feature to see where your transfer options are. The "through" train north we used, Pisa-Genoa, only stopped at the first and last of the 5 villages. We saw flashes of sparkling water through tunnel "windows" and then people with swimwear started going to the door area! Having a very detailed map, I will "second"- it sure relieves the stress, because you can reference that and see the station names as you pull in and know how many more stops before you should gather your things to go stand by the door. In the CT there is a "milk train" that just goes back and forth between the villages.