La Spezia Travel Forum

Hello!

We will be coming into La Spezia by train on September 9th. Question #1: Are there two train stations there?

There will be six of us, including a 2-year old and a 5 year old, plus all of the assorted luggage. We're actually staying in Tellaro. Question #2: Is a car hire necessary for us, and if so, where do we find a car hire place?

If a car hire is not necessary - we can get around by train and bus - I think we will need a taxi (or 2!) to get all of us from the train station to and from Tellaro. Would a taxi be available at the train station? And what do you think the charge would be?

Thanks!

Well, here's some info for you...

There are two train stations in La Spezia (actually, there might be commuter stations, but these two show up on the map): La Spezia Centrale (main station) and La Spezia Migliarina, which is north or northeast of the city center. I would expect that trains from across the country are likely to stop only at Centrale, but it just depends.

Tellaro is some 16-17 kilometers down the east side of the bay from La Spezia. There is no rail service there according to www.trenitalia.com. There is bus service there, although so far the only service I have found is La Spezia to Lerici, and then Lerici to Tellaro. The website for the local bus system is http://www.atclaspezia.it/ but appears to be only in Italian (how's your Italian ;-) ?).

Personally, I would rent a car or contract with a service to pick the party up at the station (i.e., a large van or small bus). But then, cost is usually not a big consideration for me (renting cars in Italy is not cheap), and convenience is (I like driving in Italy). If you are going to wander around in the countryside, I would highly recommend renting a car, but this is up to you...just know that if you get a car, you need to use it to go to places you wouldn't otherwise to justify the expense. If, for example, you went to Portovenere (across the bay), I have to believe that the trip would take a couple of hours (or more) by bus, but maybe an hour or so by car (lots of winding roads once you're outside of La Spezia itself).

Taxis? There are several companies in town - here is one http://www.radiotaxilaspezia.it/index.htm (website only in Italian, I think). Assuming that I'm right that the trip is about 17 kilometers, they appear to charge 1.51 euro per kilometer (25.67 euro) plus 0.50 to 2.00 euro per bag plus 1.00 euro for each person more than two plus perhaps 2.50 euro for the one way trip down the bay (I am not sure about this fee, but I would expect them to charge you something extra for going down there - in Rome, once you left the city limits, the fare doubled what was on the meter, to pay for the return trip), and so on. Since normally, the maximum number of passengers in a taxi in Italy is 4, you're looking at two taxis and all that.

I would look in the VT tips for La Spezia for a limo service, or, quite likely, you would be able to reserve a van with a taxi company. The taxi company above does have stands at both stations, and the Migliarina station is somewhat closer to Tellaro than Centrale...but don't let that be a make or break deal, since you'll likely have better rail service to Centrale and it's not all that much farther.

Does that give you a start?

Bill

As for "car hire", I assume that this is a function of what company you hire from. Avis, for example, has their office about 800 meters from Centrale, just off of Piazza Cavour, and I would expect that other rental companies would similarly have offices accessible to the main train station (if not other places).

If you have a company in mind, get the address of the company's office, then use www.viamichelin.com to plot the distance from the main train station (use "Piazzetta Ancona" for the location of the train station - that's close enough) to the address of that office.

Bill

Thanks for all the information. The problem with the car hire is that it appears that the two places in town close at 12:00 or 12:30 and we won't be getting in until 4:00.

The taxi cost will really add up for two taxis. A van would be ideal... Now if I can just find somebody with a van!

Hello,
If you are renting an apartment or staying at a hotel, they would probably be able to arrange transfers.