Rome Travel Forum

I will arrive at Flumicino at 9:00 A. M. on a Sunday. Then my daughter and I plan to travel by train to Cinque Terre (Monterrosso) My questions are:

What is the quickest transportation to the train station and what train station should we use?

Should we make a reservation for the train and If so how much time should we allow to go through customs, getting baggage and transportation to the train station?

My concern is if my plane is late and I miss the train reservation.

Elly Kelly

Ciao! The quickest and easist way is to take the train from Fiumicino to Roma Termini - cost is 13 euros and trains leave every half hour and it takes about a half hour to get to Rome.

I personally wouldn't bother to buy your tickets ahead of time. If your plane is delayed, you'll just have to stand in line to change them and you'll most likely lose some money to boot.

I took a quick look at the schedule (you can check the English language version of the site here: http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html).

There's a train that leaves Roma Termini (the main train station) at 11:46 for La Spezia (the "large" city at the southern end of the Cinque Terre), so if your plane is on time, you have plenty of time to catch this.

Let's say it takes you an hour to get your luggage and get through passport control. Go to the airport train station and if the lines isn't very long, you can get in line at the ticket office and buy your ticket through to whichever town in Cinque Terre you like.

If the line is long, just buy your ticket to Roma Termini from the automated machines, (don't forget to time-stamp you ticket in the yellow machines on the platform, just watch everyone else and do the same) and when you arrive at Roma Termini, buy your ticket to La Spezia or whatever your final destination is from the automated machines there...the automated machines are easy to use and have instructions in English.

There's always another train, so don't worry! If you have an hour or two, just go to the Roma Termini ristorante upstairs, have something to eat, a glass of wine, people watch and wait for the next train.

You will LOVE the Cinque Terre. I had seen photographs, but when I went for the first time, I was AMAZED! I really loved it!

You make me feel so much better. You make it sound so easy. The other part I am meeting my daughter in Rome. I should probably have her come to the airport to meet me. I just have to make sure I know the correct terminal.
Thanks so much. We are staying in Monterrossa.
Any suggestions for Cinque Terre. We both love water and the outdoors.

If you love the outdoors and enjoy hiking...try some of the higher "sentieri" (trails) between the towns. The lower trails are a bit crowded in high season. Take the time to wander through all the towns...they all seemed quite different to me.

We stayed in Manarola and loved it because it seemed to us to be the quietest and least touristy of the towns.

When you buy your passes to the trails (which also give you access to the local trains) buy a map and ask about the higher trails. The high trail between Manarola and Corniglia was especially spectacular.

Oh, I'm so jealous! I want to go back!

Hi Elly

Just follow lacristina's excellent intructions and you'll be on your way. The 11.46 intercity service follows the coastal route and takes a bit over 4.5hrs with only one change to a regional (local) train at La Spezia.

If you love water and being outdoors then the Cinque Terre will be a slice of heaven. Of course you must hike the trails between the five villages. You can buy your pass to do so from the train station office in Monterosso. If you are pretty fit you wont find the Monterosso-Vernazza trail a challenge but a lot of people, including me, struggle with its steepness. My personal opinion is that hiking towards Monterosso from Vernazza is easier and the views nicer from this direction, but thats up to you to decide.

The walk between Vernazza-Corniglia is also reasonably strenuous but the other two Corniglia-Manarola and Manarola-Riomaggiore much less so. All offer stunning views so its a win/win situation.

People with limited time hike the entire trail on the same day. You havent said which month you will be there but it can get very busy in the summer months. Many of the hoardes of tourists are daytrippers so the evenings are especially pleasant when the villages shrink again.

Cristina's suggested itinerary will almost certainly work for you. There are 2 unlikely downsides: first, that your plane may be some hours late, and second, that the ICPlus at 11:46 is sold out. All seats must be reserved on this train; normally, most trains are not sold out, and they'll sell you a ticket at the last minute if there is space.

But if indeed you are unable to get on the 11:46, not only is there a later train (several actually) as Cristina said, but at 13:46 and 15:46, the trains to La Spezia are IC (InterCity), not ICPlus. IC trains have a mixture of reserved and open seating. This means that for the carriages that have open seating, that you can get on with your tickets, even if there are no free seats. In this case, you sit down on pull down seats in the aisle, or on your luggage, or wherever you can. It's rare to have to stand, but it's possible.

My point here is that assuming you can get to Termini, you will absolutely be able to get on a train that day...note that the regional trains from La Spezia to Monterosso don't have reserved seating, either...just validate your ticket and hop on!

Bill