I need some help in getting from Milan to Cinque Terre return by train.

i have gone to www.trenitalia.com but could not fine what i am looking for.
perhaps i don't know how to navigate that site.
i need train times in june and am unle to fine them

if you can help me, i would really appreciate it

thank you
helaine

Cinque Terre means literally "five lands". It is the name for a coastal strip that starts in the sizable town of La Spezia (also a train hub), and encompasses the tiny villages of Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosse.

The town of Levanto can also be counted as belonging.

Go back to Trenitalia and select one of the above as your target. You will probably have to change trains in La Spezia, from a fairly fast train to the local. It's not a big station, making the switch will be easy.

Sorry, typing mistake - Monterosso

Missing crucial info.
You must specify one of the town. Which one?
The scheduled is published only up to June 10th as of now. You cannot find schedule June 11 or later. How did I find these dates? Enter June 30th, no schedule. Enter June 1, schedule shown. Trials and error shows you how far you can book.

As said above, you need to name the town you're going to, and you have to enter Milan (station name) as "Milano (Centrale)". If you're leaving directly from Malpensa airport, you should enter "Malpensa Aeroporto".

There are direct trains from Milan as far as Monterosso, and if that's where you're going, I would choose a direct train. If you're going to any of the other towns, I would prefer changing trains before before arriving in the Cinque Terre, because the crowds trying to get on the trains at the Cinque Terre towns can resemble the Tokyo metro at rush hour. That could be in Genova or La Spezia if you're going to Riomaggiore, or in Levante or Sestri Levante if you're going to any of the other towns.

The trip will take from 3 to 4 1/2 hours, depending on which town you're going to and the connections you choose. If you're starting at Malpensa, you'd have another change of trains (at Milano Centrale), so you'd have to add about an hour and a half to the journey time.

From Milan until the town where you're changing trains, you may take a fast train from Milan Centrale to the station where you change trains. The schedules for the fast trains may already be published. The slow regional trains that serve the actual Cinque Terre towns may not be published until quite close to the changeover. If you want to see journey times and approximate costs, you can use a date before the changeover.

I wouldn't bother buying tickets in advance online for these trips. There are discounts available on tickets between Milano Centrale and the first change of trains, but the difference in cost is not very much (maximum about €15), and it's not worth (in my opinion) the loss of flexibility in journey times. For the other trains, there are no reservations, no discounts, and no risk of sold-out trains.

I am sorry bvlenci you have such horrible memory of le Cinque Terre, but it is better to go to the town in le Cinque Terre straight from Milano and not to change trains before Monterosso. It is especially not good to change in Genova or La Spezia, because then you must carry all your luggages up and down stairs just to change trains. It is better to change trains in Santa Margherita Ligure or Rapallo or Chiavari if you must change trains because then you can stand there and wait for the regional train to come without going to other tracks, using stairs.

It is also possible from Malpensa airport to take the bus to Milano Centrale, which can be nicer than the train because then you don't have to carry your luggages so much or you have elevators or escalators.

Also, Levanto is a nice town but it is not part of le Cinque Terre. La Spezia is a city and it is not the beginning of le Cinque Terre. There are only 5 villages.

If you only went to le Cinque Terre once and it was crowds, then maybe you think it is always crowds. But it is not. It is a UNESCO World Heritage site so many people want to visit. If you want to go swimming, then it is better to go to other places. Sestri Levante is nice. But if you want to have beautiful views and like mountains, then le Cinque Terre is nice. Other places you need to have a car, but in le Cinque Terre you can arrive by train.

I've been to the Cinque Terre twice, and both times it was crowded beyond my tolerance level. However, most importantly, I live in Italy and have been hearing news reports about the enormous overcrowding there. Trenitalia employs people to shove passengers into the railway cars. The train platforms aren't large enough to hold the number of people waiting for trains, so they line up in the underpasses of the station, and even outside the station. This is why I suggested changing trains before arriving in the Cinque Terre, if possible.

In fact, you really don't have much chance to be picky about where to change trains. Let's say you're going to Vernazza. There's a train at 8:10, with a change in Sestri Levante. At 9:10, the next train requires two changes, at Genova and Sestri Levante. After that the next chance is at 12:10, with one change, at Levante. At 13:10, you could get a train with one change at La Spezia. The next two have one change, at Sestri Levante, the next one has two changes, and after that we're talking about trains that arrive late in the evening.

I don't know why you'd suggest taking the bus to Milano Centrale. I often fly into Malpensa, and have been taking the Malpensa Express ever since direct service to Milano Centrale was opened. As soon as you come out of immigration you take an escalator down to the train level. The train arrives at Milano Centrale on the same level as all the other trains that are leaving for various destinations in Italy, so I don't understand the comment about dealing with bags. I suspect Massimop hasn't made the trip in a number of years. I used to take the bus myself, to avoid having to change trains before getting to Milano Centrale.

I live in Italy too and I don't know what journals you read. Are they in English? I have read nothing about Trenitalia hiring people to push people on trains. They don't have money to hire people for years.

So you are wrong what you suspect. I prefer to take the bus to Milano Centrale because I prefer to only walk outside, but I am not coming from America to go through immigration, so maybe it is different for you But too many times the train from the airport is late. Just stops and does not move.

I don't know what you are talking about "Levante". Is this Sestri Levante or is it Levanto? When people come from America usually the come in the morning, so it is not possible to take the trains in the morning from MIlano Centrale. Why are you trying to make it very complicate? So you sound like an expert? The trains in the afternoon, you make one change to go le Cinque Terre villages.

I am sorry to have tried to help, but since I live in Italy, and go swimming in the Mediterranean and walking in the hills, maybe I have a better attitude about sharing.

I don't read about the Cinque Terre in English language journals. About Trenitalia personnel pushing people on the trains, I read it in La Repubblica, which is one of Italy's most reliable daily newspapers.

You can read it yourself in the first paragraph of this article:

http://www.repubblica.it/venerdi/rep...uso-142059965/

I can furnish articles from many other newspapers which address the problem of overcrowding in the Cinque Terre.

http://www.ansa.it/web/notizie/canal...7abdc3fcb.html

http://genova.repubblica.it/cronaca/...ri_-133505391/

http://www.levantenews.it/index.php/...numero-chiuso/

There's even satire about it, where they propose sterilizing the tourists in the Cinque Terre to keep them from multiplying:

http://sentimentispezzini.cittadella...erilizziamoli/

Of course I meant Levanto; I accidentally typed it wrong because I had also written Sestri Levante in the same sentence.

I don't only go to Milan when arriving from America. We go there several times a year, but the only time I fly into Malpensa is when I'm arriving from the US, because the fares from the US recently have been much more favorable flying into Milan. Usually we fly into Rome or Ancona; that's what we prefer even when flying from the US, unless we get a big fare advantage from flying into Milan.

Flights from the US arrive in the morning, often very early, so it's totally possible to take a morning train onward from Milan Central Station. In fact we usually do that.

I used to take the bus to Milano Centrale from Malpensa, and I can assure you that it's more likely to be late than the train is. Ever since the train goes directly to Milano Centrale, I wouldn't consider taking the bus.

I <b>said</b> that it was possible to take trains to the Cinque Terre with only one change, and in fact that's what I recommended. I don't know why you think I said otherwise. I advised <b> not </b> taking one of the trains listed on the Trenitalia site that had two changes of train.

I looked at morning as well as afternoon trains, and listed their departure times, up until the 13:10 train, as well as the number of changes required. I just stopped at the trains that arrived late in the evening, because I don't think anyone would want to arrive that late. In fact, I have no reason to think the person is leaving from Milan Malpensa, and I included that information just to be complete. Anyone leaving from central Milan would almost certainly want to leave in the morning.

I have been sharing information on the internet about Italy for over 15 years, but I don't pretend that things are delightful when they aren't. Even when writing about my own region (Le Marche) I mention the problems as well as the wonderful things.

It's very nice that you have just joined this group to help other people, but it's not necessary to criticize and belittle the people who are already here. You obviously disagree with me, but I'm entitled to my opinion. As I said above, I've been to the Cinque Terre twice, and wouldn't have gone back the second time except that we were with friends who wanted to go there. I myself prefer the coast in Campania. It can be crowded on the Amalfi Coast, but there's a lot more room to spread out.

thank you all for your responding to my inquiry.
we are going to manarola and have not made up our minds as to whether to go there from lake como, where we also plan to visit, or upon arrival at Malpensa.
we will be arriving from Barcelona on a flight that should land at 10:20
it seems like it is likely to take the better part of a day to get to Cinque Terre.
can you share your thoughts with me about which area to go to first,Lake Como or Mararola?
i will try to navigate the train schedule again, this time with better luck i hope.
i will try and figure out both options but would dearly love input as to which you think is best.
i am planning this trip as a surprise for my husband and would like it to go as smoothly as possible
AGAIN, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR HELP
Helaine

You think expert poster bvlenci is exaggerating about train station crowds?! This is in May:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p7fa-7uR1hc

Visiting the Cinque Terre in May is not likely to fall under the Things Going As Smoothly As Possible category.