How to get to La Spezia train station from La Spezia port?

Our Celibrity Solstice will dock at La Spezia. We decide to do Cinque Terre for a day. I would like to know how to get from the port to the La Spezia train station. I did searh on this topic but I did not find the answer anywhere. Is it in walking distant or we have to take a taxi? I am also plan to buy a Cinque Terre pass.

La Spezia is a tender port; it's a mile to a mile and a half from the port area to La Spezia Centrale, which is located at Piazzale Medaglie d'Oro al Valor Militare.

You buy your CT Day Pass which includes Park entry (needed for all walks trails including the Lovers Walk between Rimaggiore and Manarola) also includes rail travel between La Spezia and all 5 villages of the CT . The CT Passes are sold at the CT Tourist Office on the main street side platform at La Spezia Centrale station . The CT Pass also covers the Shuttle Bus between Corniglia Station and Corniglia Village way up above .

CT train info here : Caveat Emptor get copy of latest tt at CT Tourist Office on Binario 1 as train tt change regularly :

http://www.cinqueterre.com/eng/information/cinque_terre/where_train.php

If you are not going to access the walking tracks of the CT but are just visiting the villages then it is cheaper just to buy ordinary rail tickets from the separate rail booking office, or from vending machines.

We have done this twice. The walk to the train station will take about 15 to 20 minutes. Once you get off the tender go to the left and walk down the street until you see the IT across the street. You can get a map there. Behind the IT and across the street is a predestrian street which will go through the city to the train station. keep to the right until you get to the main street with cars and the train station will be across the street.

We have been to CT three times in the past few years so I hope this info hasn't changed.

There are two trains that are the earliest that you can take. One at 10:00 and one at 10:07. The 10:00 train will be very crowded and just stops at Riomagorri and Montorosa while the 10:07 train will stop at all the CT towns. The 10:07 is a local train and will be waiting at the platform (this is the begining of the line for this train) and can be boarded as soon as you get your ticket. It will be much less crowded and you might even get a seat. It is a short trip so either train will do. The 10 o'clock train will be arriving on track one and there will be hundreds of people waiting for it. If you walk under the tracks for the local train there will be less people just ask where to get the local train. Your ship will have to tender so plan on leaving the ship as soon as you can to give you enough time to tender, find your way to the train station and buy your CT ticket at the National Park office at the train station.

Read as much as you can find on these boards about doing CT on your own. The train schedule can be confusing so study it before you leave. We very much enjoyed walking between Riomagorri and Manarola, having lunch than walking to Cornigula. We then caught the train to Vernazza looked around before taking the train to Montorosa.

You will have to check to see which trails are open since the floods of last fall.

Here is the link to my pictures. http://cid-1e98e90214e77bf9.photos.l...browse.aspx/CT

We walked to and from the train station last year. It is about a 20 minute walk. You should talk a look at Google Maps and try to plot your route. You will likely find that when you get off the ship it is really early and not too many people will be around to ask directions, and most of them will not speak English, so it might be helpful if you can say "station" in Italian. My recollection is that you cross a small park and stay to the left of the tender port area (although this might depend on where your tender ties up) which takes you to the pedestrian area. Once the pedestrian street ends, keep walking straight for about 3 to 4 blocks and you will get to the train station. You will be walking uphill at this point, and can either take the stairs on you right or walk up a sloped road to get to the station.

We had planned on taking a cab to the station but there were none by the time our tender got in. There were lots of cabs at the station!

Have fun hiking the Cinque Terre. We had the best gelato in Monterosso (even better than Florence) and really great pizza in Vernazzo (I think).

Useful railway words English / Italian :

La Spezia Centrale station is the main station .

Railway station - Stazione ferroviaria

Platform / Track - Binario (and numbered in English numerals)

Sottopassagio - Underground subway or tunnel .

Train - treno Train ticket - biglietto

The order of train stations departing from La Spezia and (correct spellings) is Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso .

(Ten minutes to first stop and 25 minutes to the furthest.) The ferry arrives in Old Monterosso, the train arrives in New Monterosso . The two halves of Monterosso are linked by a shared use pedestrian/road tunnel .

In season (April to October) a ferry service also links Monterosso , Vernazza, Manarola, and Riomaggiore via Portovenere to La Spezia .

So another option (if your cruise boat is in port in La Spezia for sufficient time) would be to travel by train one way and by ferry the other .

IIRC the ferry leaves La Spezia at 10.00am and arrives in Monterosso around 12.10PM. The return ferry trip leaves Monterosso late afternnon and takes 2 hrs 15 mins to La Spezia.

There is a bus service (30 minutes each way) between La Spezia and Portovenere (Gulf of Poets & Lord Byrons Grotto) . The bus marked P departs from a stop P (in La Spezia) in Via Garabaldi (near Corso Cavour) at 25 and 55 minutes past the hour .

This is the site for the CT ferry service :

http://www.navigazionegolfodeipoeti.it/home.asp?lang=eng

This is the site for the CT train timetable :

http://www.cinqueterre.com/eng/information/cinque_terre/where_train.php

So another option (if your cruise boat is in port in La Spezia for sufficient time) would be to travel by train one way and by ferry the other .

IIRC the ferry leaves La Spezia at 10.00am and arrives in Monterosso around 12.10PM. The return ferry trip leaves Monterosso late afternnon and takes 2 hrs 15 mins to La Spezia.

 

There is a bus service (30 minutes each way) between La Spezia and Portovenere (Gulf of Poets & Lord Byrons Grotto) . The bus marked P departs from a stop P (in La Spezia) in Via Garabaldi (near Corso Cavour) at 25 and 55 minutes past the hour .

 

This is the site for the CT ferry service :

 

http://www.navigazionegolfodeipoeti.it/home.asp?lang=eng

 

This is the site for the CT train timetable :

 

http://www.cinqueterre.com/eng/information/cinque_terre/where_train.php

Thank you so much for all the help and useful information. We are thinking about stop at the first town by train and go down to the last town and come back by the ferry, so we can look at the view and town from the ocean. I didn't realize that it took over 2 hours to come back to La Spezia.

What is the most efficient way to do this? As I know you can take a shutte bus, train and hike between town. We should use which transportation/way between these town to get the best out of it.

We did the reverse, took the ferry to Monterosso and then hiked to Vernazza, had lunch, trained between the rest of the towns. I believe the pathetic from Monterosso to Vernazza is still closed after last falls rain damage, but the train back between the villages would still work. You would have time to stop in each village.

The safest way would be either to take the 10.00am ferry from La Spezia , (11.00am from Portovenere - take 0925 Bus P from La Spezia at stop P in Via Garabaldi near Corso Cavour to reach Portovenere in time for 11.00am ferry departure. ) NB: It is in fact the same ferry, but you can leave La Spezia a bit later by bus P and still connect at Portovenere with the ferry that left La Spezia at 10.00am !

You will arrive in Portovenere around 12.10pm in the Old town. Have lunch in the Old town. Then walk though the tunnel and do a quick explore of the New town and its great beach (and icecreams !). Catch an early afternoon train from the New town waterfront up to Manarola station . Alight there and Manarola is actually behind you through a pedestrian tunnel . Do a quick explore then back through the tunnel and behind the station up a ramp to the Lovers Walk an easy 20 minute stroll along the rugged coastline to Riomaggiore.

On hitting Riomaggiore you will have no option but to head inland and up some stairs. At the top of these stairs turn right for Upper Riomaggiore or head straight ahead through an attractively decorated sottopassagio for the train station . Then take a late afternoon train from Riomaggiore back to La Spezia Centrale. From the station it is 20 minute walk to your cruise tender boats . That should have you back in La Spezia around 5.00pm.

Check ferry & train times as advised and posted in my earlier post; as schedules change frequently . Something else that seems inherently Italian , everchanging train schedules !

The coastal path between Manarola and Corniglia has been closed for some years owing to a landslide, and in typically Italian fashion there seems to be no great haste to re-open it .

For day trippers give Corniglia a miss it is high up on a hill 365 steps above the station .

Vernazza has a very spectacular waterfront, but it is difficult to fit in 4 villages within a day that cruise boat time allows.

There is no shuttle bus along the CT that links the towns. Access is by train to all 5 villages, and by sea to all villages except Corniglia.

The shuttle bus is from Corniglia Station up to Corniglia Village above . A fare is charged, or the CT Daily Pass covers travel on this shuttle bus .

Trust this helps .

The safest way would be either to take the 10.00am ferry from La Spezia , (11.00am from Portovenere - take 0925 Bus P from La Spezia at stop P in Via Garabaldi near Corso Cavour to reach Portovenere in time for 11.00am ferry departure. ) NB: It is in fact the same ferry, but you can leave La Spezia a bit later by bus P and still connect at Portovenere with the ferry that left La Spezia at 10.00am !

 

You will arrive in Portovenere around 12.10pm in the Old town. Have lunch in the Old town. Then walk though the tunnel and do a quick explore of the New town and its great beach (and icecreams !). Catch an early afternoon train from the New town waterfront up to Manarola station . Alight there and Manarola is actually behind you through a pedestrian tunnel . Do a quick explore then back through the tunnel and behind the station up a ramp to the Lovers Walk an easy 20 minute stroll along the rugged coastline to Riomaggiore.

 

On hitting Riomaggiore you will have no option but to head inland and up some stairs. At the top of these stairs turn right for Upper Riomaggiore or head straight ahead through an attractively decorated sottopassagio for the train station . Then take a late afternoon train from Riomaggiore back to La Spezia Centrale. From the station it is 20 minute walk to your cruise tender boats . That should have you back in La Spezia around 5.00pm.

 

Check ferry & train times as advised and posted in my earlier post; as schedules change frequently . Something else that seems inherently Italian , everchanging train schedules !

 

The coastal path between Manarola and Corniglia has been closed for some years owing to a landslide, and in typically Italian fashion there seems to be no great haste to re-open it .

 

For day trippers give Corniglia a miss it is high up on a hill 365 steps above the station .

 

Vernazza has a very spectacular waterfront, but it is difficult to fit in 4 villages within a day that cruise boat time allows.

 

There is no shuttle bus along the CT that links the towns. Access is by train to all 5 villages, and by sea to all villages except Corniglia.

 

The shuttle bus is from Corniglia Station up to Corniglia Village above . A fare is charged, or the CT Daily Pass covers travel on this shuttle bus .

 

Trust this helps .

We want to do CT per this description.

Question #1: Will it be fairly obvious where the ferry is after our cruise ship docks at La Spezia? Is there a ticket office we should look for?

Question #2: I had surgery a few months back but I'm still having problems walking (but I can walk). Is there a village that is easier to visit than others, considering our goal is to ferry there, then train back?

Thank you very much!!

We are looking into DIY Portofino, Rapallo and Santa Margherita. Can someone provide insight on the trains and ferry (if need be)? We will be in port for 12 hours so have the time. TIA