Hello
We (family of 4) are flying into Milan in early June from Honolulu and will be staying in CT the first 4 nights. I had originally concluded after consulting all of your suggestions here that taking a car fro Milan airport would be the most efficient way to get to CT, parking the car in Riomaggiore for 4 days, and driving on to Tuscany for the duration of the trip until ready to head into Venice at which time turn car in outside Venice.

We will eventually need to take train from Venice to Paris.

Still cannot decide whether this is better than taking train from Milan to La Spezia/Riomaggiore, pick up car in La Spezia when ready to travel to Tuscany for 5 days,drop car in Florence and train to Venice .

With 4 of us the train fare adds up. On the other hand, a railpass will help with cost of the overnight train from Venice to Paris.

I would appreciate any thoughts before I proceed to purchase the railpass/reserve car.Thank you.

Okoshi - You probably won't need the car in the CT - so it would work out much cheaper to go there by train - and then hire a car in La Spezia when you leave that area.

[There is also a bus service between Malpensa airport and Genova - which may be convenient depending on your arrival time ...]
www.volpibus.com

................


Have you thought of flying from Venice to Paris? This might be cheaper than overnight train.

The budget airline Myair flies Venice-Paris (Orly) twice daily:
www.myair.com

Hope this helps ...

Steve

Any other comments? Car VS. train?

I"d train from Milan to CT, get the car on the way out, why pay for 4 days and not use it? and turn it in in Venice

Hi ok,

2 adults and 2 children qualify for the "Family Railcard" and the "Young Person Railcard". Total for 4 is 56E.
See www.trenitalia.com

This is cheaper than parking a rental car for 3 days.

Before you buy railpasses, enter your itinerary at www.railsaver.com.

As noted, check the cheap airfare.

Thank you all for your thoughts.

Does the railpass I can get from Trenitalia also qualify for travel among the 5 villages of CT or is that a separate system requiring different tickets ?

Do we change trains in La Spezia (from Milan) in order to get to Riomaggiore (which is where we are basing in CT)?

Thanks for the cheap airfare suggestion- however, I think we have settled on the night train.

If I remember there is a cheap local day-pass for rail travel between the Cinque Terre villages.

Point-to-point tickets between the villages are dirt cheap anyway, so you really don't need to worry ...


'Do we change trains in La Spezia (from Milan) in order to get to Riomaggiore?'

Most trains require one or more changes (- in Genova, La Spezia, Sestri or Rapallo) - depending on what time you travel. You can find details on:

www.trenitalia.it

Hope this helps ...

Steve

hello SJ
Thanks- I have looked at Trenitalia. It looks like a non-stop train leaves Milan around noon to La Spezia. Is Sestri in CT? It appears a transfer from La Spezia to Riomaggiore is simple.

Since we will be using the train only on two days of our travel (Car in Tuscany) a rail pass which might cost about $275 pp seems a bit high, plus the additional cost of supplement to night train from Venice to Paris ($50 pp for 4 berth couchette). Am I doing this math correctly ?

Hello-Steve

You mentioned Myair. Have you flown with them ? I am a bit worried about these super-saver flights- 9 Euros one way from Venice to Paris ! It is unbelievable. I notice that Volare Air which was being recommended here last fall has since gone under.

Anybody with experience flying Myair ?

Myair sounds like a good deal until you look at the details. The fare is 9-10 Euro but the taxes are 34 Euro. Fare is now a total of 44 Euro. Also, they have very stringent baggage limitations - two bags with a maximum total weight of 15 kg. Additonal kilos and bags are 10-20 Euros extra. Take the train and enjoy the ride.

We are going in May, and I have discovered, and rediscovered a couple things not mentioned to you yet...
1. Call CIT 800-223-7987; There are several special rail passes for NorAm citizens especially the Flexi-rail passes for 4, 8, or 12 days, unlmtd klicks, in a month. Also there is a rail-drive pass that can work for an interesting combo trip. But it takes some planning to fingure it all into a travel schedule.
2. There is another pass I used on a previous trip called The Chilometrico. it is good for 3000 kilometers, up to 5 people, and 20 journeys. If you figure out the K's you are going this is a goodie. It's under E120s total! At that price, you can buy 2 of them, and pro'bly have klicks to spare... Call800-848-7245---for this next one too.
3. There is another pass called "Rail n' Drive...4 days rail [fixed] and 2 days driving. More drive days cost about $50 daily adds. If you combine 2 rail/drives with a kilometrico I bet you can make something like this work. We are combining the rail/drivex2 [=4 car days + 4 rail days for 2 peeps] to cover Milan-Firenze-Cinque Terre-Firenze/Tuscan day trips-Milan in 12 days. That should cost us about $420 in ground trans expense. 4. The best price for independant car hires I have found thru a site www.carrentals.co.uk. I've used them twice in Portugal and have been VERY pleased with cars and their costs. Buon viaggio! Tony

Hi Feltoni-

Thank you all the information.

How are you getting to CT- by car or train ? From Milan or Florence ?

I will check the carrental.uk.Thanks.

>2. There is another pass I used on a previous trip called The Chilometrico.<

This pass is no longer offered.

Hello Ira

I have not been able to find actual prices of point-to-point rail tickets on the Trenitalia page and I also am having trouble finding the information about the family card. Have also looked at www.Bahn as somebody suggested- still no actual prices. I feel a little silly-sorry.

Hi Ira

I did go to railsaver and it appears a pass would not save us money.

Therefore now trying to figure out whether to rent a car for 10 days Milan-CT-Tuscany-Florence-Venice and then overnight to Paris, or train from Milan to CT , car to Tuscany, train from Florence-Venice, then overnight to Paris.

The cost of the car I have been quoted by Hertz for 10 days is 755 Euros. The cost of overnight to Paris from Venice without a railpass is about $650 for 4.

The 5 day car rental is about 350 Euro.

If the point-to -point tickets cost about 350 Euro for the 4 of us , then the question is which is more hassle-free, ie, getting to train station from Malpensa Airport, Florence, Venice etc or picking up car at Malapensa.

I realize driving will have its share of challeneges- plus parking cost.

Thank you for your thoughts- good to learn from those of you who have done this before.

Hi Okoshi! We will be training from Firenze to CT area, I think. Since the 70's when I lived as a low-rent traveler in the back of a VW van for 3 years around the Med, I have been back 3 times to IT, & particularly Florence. Even in the old "Truckin' Van" Lucca was only about a long hr's drive out of Firenze, so CT can't be more that another hr. or so on the train, I think. Besides the Italians are past masters at train travel. There are better uses for a car there than merely getting from here to there. The train works best for that...

This trip is going to mostly focused around Firenze. We have decided to float in and out of Fir. for most of our 10 days. Our daughter is taking her Spring qtr in Siena [she just got there a few days ago], so we'll catch up w/ her somewhere along the line... I have spent weeks in Firenze b-4, & it is simply the favorit-est of all cities to me. Art to-die-for, architecture at the same level, street scenes galore, food, ahh, the food!!! Shopping, lots of different mercatos all over town, and of course David and the Prisoners! Its a damn treasure trove of sensual experiences. I've spent weeks in Camping Michaelangelo just across the river, as well as Fiesole. I heartily recommend staying a little out of the hustle & bustle of the citte centrale, so as to gain a break from the touristic intensity that can build up in the piazzas in the hub... I like to be just across the Arno, a little upstream or down. This time

Hi Okoshi! We will be training from Firenze to CT area, I think. Since the 70's when I lived as a low-rent traveler in the back of a VW van for 3 years around the Med, I have been back 3 times to IT, & particularly Florence. Even in the old "Truckin' Van" Lucca was only about a long hr's drive out of Firenze, so CT can't be more that another hr. or so on the train, I think. Besides the Italians are past masters at train travel. There are better uses for a car there than merely getting from here to there. The train works best for that...

This trip is going to mostly focused around Firenze. We have decided to float in and out of Fir. for most of our 10 days. Our daughter is taking her Spring qtr in Siena [she just got there a few days ago], so we'll catch up w/ her somewhere along the line... I have spent weeks in Firenze b-4, & it is simply the favorit-est of all cities to me. Art to-die-for, architecture at the same level, street scenes galore, food, ahh, the food!!! Shopping, lots of different mercatos all over town, and of course David and the Prisoners! Its a damn treasure trove of sensual experiences. I've spent weeks in Camping Michaelangelo just across the river, as well as Fiesole. I heartily recommend staying a little out of the hustle & bustle of the citte centrale, so as to gain a break from the touristic intensity that can build up in the piazzas in the hub... I like to be just across the Arno, a little upstream or down. This time we are at the Hotel David, a pleasant 15 min. stroll to the Duomo/Uffizi area of town.

In '81 I spent 2 months mopedding through IT & the Yugoslavian Adriatic coast. At 15 mph & 50-75 k's a day one really sees the countryside. That's when I got the opportunity to hang in Chianti and slowly absorb the vibe...Pro'bly had a lot to do with my living here in the Sonoma Valley in CA. Anyway, THAT is the place for a car, or bike,

Hello
Thank you all again. Have decided to train from Milan to La Spezia and from Florence to Venice point-to-point fares.

Will rent a car in La Spezia and drive around Tuscany for 5 days based out of Siena.

Spend 2 days in Florence.

Venice for 3 nights then overnight train to Paris.

Cost of land travel about the same with or without Railpass (probably a little less without).

Thank you again for helpful insights.

Please let us know how it turns out. I am interested in a similar trip minus Paris. This would be two people not 4. You have done a lot of valuable research, thanks.