Transport from south of France to Cinque Terre
Jan 14th, 2010, 04:54 PM
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Transport from south of France to Cinque Terre
My wife and I are bringing our two children, their spouses and four granchildren to France / Italy in September / October.
We are doing a week self drive canal boat along the Canal Du Midi, finishing in Port Cassafieres. From here we want to travel to Manarola in Cinque Terre, Italy.
I have accessed the www.bahn website, the French rail website and the traveleurope website with mixed success as they do not seem to give out information that far ahead.
Can any Fodorite tell me whether it is possible to travel, in one day [1st October] from Port Cassafieres to Manarola; how to access information on connections, and how to cost it for a group of ten passengers
We are doing a week self drive canal boat along the Canal Du Midi, finishing in Port Cassafieres. From here we want to travel to Manarola in Cinque Terre, Italy.
I have accessed the www.bahn website, the French rail website and the traveleurope website with mixed success as they do not seem to give out information that far ahead.
Can any Fodorite tell me whether it is possible to travel, in one day [1st October] from Port Cassafieres to Manarola; how to access information on connections, and how to cost it for a group of ten passengers
Jan 14th, 2010, 05:07 PM
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Yes it is - you have to hop the 10:10am or afternoon direct train from Nice to Genoa and then change to trains to Monterosso and then change to regional trains to Manorola - should take about six hours i'd say. Anyway just put a date into the bahn.de site that does show and the schedules for next fall should be about the same - the 10am train from Nice is by far the best bet but i think you could only catch the 13>58 train coming from PtCassafieres - and that has you changing in Ventimiglia, the Italian border town and arriving in Genoa about5pm -so could well be in Manorola by 8pm or earlier.
Jan 14th, 2010, 06:58 PM
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Thanks Palenque. I shall try those combinations.We have always found that point to point tickets are cheaper, and that it is best to buy them at the station either on the day or the day before. Do you know if this is so, and whether concessions (family, senior etc) can be used?
Jan 14th, 2010, 07:31 PM
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I count that you are a group of 10 people traveling together?
I did Nice-CT via Genova early September last year and took just that train mentioned by Palenque. It was pretty crowded that day, and every compartment was quite full. I bought the Nice-Genova ticket online at http://www.voyages-sncf.com/ and picked up the ticket at an SNCF boutique in Nice.
At minimum, look at the web site to get the idea of the prices by plugging in near future dates. The train prices are not like airplanes. The prices shown now are pretty close to what you get later this year when they do publish the schedule.
I did Nice-CT via Genova early September last year and took just that train mentioned by Palenque. It was pretty crowded that day, and every compartment was quite full. I bought the Nice-Genova ticket online at http://www.voyages-sncf.com/ and picked up the ticket at an SNCF boutique in Nice.
At minimum, look at the web site to get the idea of the prices by plugging in near future dates. The train prices are not like airplanes. The prices shown now are pretty close to what you get later this year when they do publish the schedule.
Jan 15th, 2010, 01:21 AM
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It looks as though the nearest railway station to Port Cassafières is at Béziers.
Therefore, to check schedules, use www.bahn.de for Béziers to Manarola. 1 October is a Friday, so pick a Friday in, say, March. There are connections via Chambery and Milano, which is probably more expensive than the route via Nice. If you specify that you want to go via Nice, there is a connection from Béziers at 0903, changing at Marseille, Nice and Genova to reach Manarola at 0005. You may want to consider breaking the journey somewhere.
To find fares, use www.yoyages-sncf.com for Béziers to Genova. The onward fare on a local train to Manarola will be cheap.
Therefore, to check schedules, use www.bahn.de for Béziers to Manarola. 1 October is a Friday, so pick a Friday in, say, March. There are connections via Chambery and Milano, which is probably more expensive than the route via Nice. If you specify that you want to go via Nice, there is a connection from Béziers at 0903, changing at Marseille, Nice and Genova to reach Manarola at 0005. You may want to consider breaking the journey somewhere.
To find fares, use www.yoyages-sncf.com for Béziers to Genova. The onward fare on a local train to Manarola will be cheap.
Jan 15th, 2010, 08:50 AM
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>>canal boat along the Canal Du Midi, finishing in Port Cassafieres. From here we want to travel to Manarola in Cinque Terre, Italy<<
Seems like 10 people will spend most of one entire day in train stations or on a train. And this is after spending most of a week on a boat. Have you considered spending time on the Cote d'Azur, Provence, or Roussillon ( Perpignan/Pyrenees mountains area) to shorten your travel time? Some people might even get a little bored with the CT after about 2 days if they are not big-time hiking fans. Not much to do in those villages except hike (although they are quite scenic).
We took the CT to Nice train (with connection) a couple of years ago, and it was quite crowded & a little cramped. It was not an enjoyable trip - but there was no-way I was going to drive that route in a car (have done so 4-5 times before).
Stu Dudley
Seems like 10 people will spend most of one entire day in train stations or on a train. And this is after spending most of a week on a boat. Have you considered spending time on the Cote d'Azur, Provence, or Roussillon ( Perpignan/Pyrenees mountains area) to shorten your travel time? Some people might even get a little bored with the CT after about 2 days if they are not big-time hiking fans. Not much to do in those villages except hike (although they are quite scenic).
We took the CT to Nice train (with connection) a couple of years ago, and it was quite crowded & a little cramped. It was not an enjoyable trip - but there was no-way I was going to drive that route in a car (have done so 4-5 times before).
Stu Dudley
