Docking in La Spezia on a Sunday is NOT good

[resstation]

Evidently there are no trains that go to Florence from La Spezia on a Sunday morning. We will be on the MSC Divina in June and want to do the Segway Tour in Florence. They only do the tours at 9:30am and 2:30pm which makes the cruise line's bus transfer not an option. Other than paying $500 US for a private transfer, does anyone have any other ideas?? There are 3 of us and we are not comfortable driving (never been to the area).

[Hlitner]

Evidently there are no trains that go to Florence from La Spezia on a Sunday morning. We will be on the MSC Divina in June and want to do the Segway Tour in Florence. They only do the tours at 9:30am and 2:30pm which makes the cruise line's bus transfer not an option. Other than paying $500 US for a private transfer, does anyone have any other ideas?? There are 3 of us and we are not comfortable driving (never been to the area).

 

There are trains on Sunday but the schedules are not posted that far in advance. But keep in mind that taking the train from La Spezia to Florence is very inefficient and generally takes about 2 1/2 hours each way. And even if you wanted to drive it is nearly impossible to find an open rental car agency on Sundays in Italy (except at major airports). Even the early 7:07 train would not get you to Florence until 9:32 and its not likely you could make that early train.

 

To be very blunt, we know the area pretty well but have no solution other than taking a tour. Our normal advice for those going to the port of La Spezia is to spend their day exploring the villages of Cinque Terre. This port is just not well located for trips to Florence, although a fast bus/car driver can make the trip in about 2 hours (each way).

 

 

Hank

Edited May 6, 2015 by Hlitner

[euro cruiser]

There are trains on Sundays, the problem is that these are regional trains and the schedules are not posted very far in advance. If you look at the schedule for this coming Sunday you'll see that there are the following trains in the morning:

 

Depart La Spezia, Arrive Florence

7:07, 9:32

8:17, 10:46

9:23, 11:50

10:06, 12:52

 

Each of these require a connection at either Pisa (most of them) or Viareggio.

[MomentsNotice]

Is there much open in the town of La Spezia? Shops, restaurants, tourist info? I believe the Naval Museum is open 7 days/week.

 

On Sunday, Does a representative from tourist info or the town generally meet the ships to give maps, info?

 

 

Thanks.

[resstation]

We returned from our trip last week. One of our FAVORITE ports was La Spezia! We walked through town to the train station (about 15-20 minutes) and took the train to the Cinque Terre villages. They were spectacular. We went to the furthest first and took the train to each one. Great way to spend the day. Make sure you have change if you have to go to the bathroom at the train station. It costs .70 Euro.

The cruise was PHENOMENAL. The service was much improved in the YC since our trip last March in the Caribbean.

I also HIGHLY RECOMMEND Joe Banana Tour Sharing for private tours in Rome (and I believe they offer tours in other ports too). AVOID AT ALL COSTS Cruising Excursions.com

[MomentsNotice]

We returned from our trip last week. One of our FAVORITE ports was La Spezia! We walked through town to the train station (about 15-20 minutes) and took the train to the Cinque Terre villages. They were spectacular. We went to the furthest first and took the train to each one. Great way to spend the day. Make sure you have change if you have to go to the bathroom at the train station. It costs .70 Euro.

The cruise was PHENOMENAL. The service was much improved in the YC since our trip last March in the Caribbean.

I also HIGHLY RECOMMEND Joe Banana Tour Sharing for private tours in Rome (and I believe they offer tours in other ports too). AVOID AT ALL COSTS Cruising Excursions.com

 

Thanks. Glad you had a great time. Were you in La Spezia on a SUNDAY??? Were shops, many restaurants, etc open on SUNDAY in Spezia?

[resstation]

Thanks. Glad you had a great time. Were you in La Spezia on a SUNDAY??? Were shops, many restaurants, etc open on SUNDAY in Spezia?

 

It was Sunday, but as I mentioned, we didn't stay in La Spezia. There were not many shops open in the morning, but I did notice quite a few restaurants open on our way back - but I have no idea what is open during the day. We returned well past 9pm.

[MomentsNotice]

It was Sunday, but as I mentioned, we didn't stay in La Spezia. There were not many shops open in the morning, but I did notice quite a few restaurants open on our way back - but I have no idea what is open during the day. We returned well past 9pm.

 

Thanks for the clarification!

[LookingForward2]

We returned from our trip last week. One of our FAVORITE ports was La Spezia! We walked through town to the train station (about 15-20 minutes) and took the train to the Cinque Terre villages. They were spectacular. We went to the furthest first and took the train to each one. Great way to spend the day. Make sure you have change if you have to go to the bathroom at the train station. It costs .70 Euro.

The cruise was PHENOMENAL. The service was much improved in the YC since our trip last March in the Caribbean.

I also HIGHLY RECOMMEND Joe Banana Tour Sharing for private tours in Rome (and I believe they offer tours in other ports too). AVOID AT ALL COSTS Cruising Excursions.com

 

Would you mind giving me a little more details on taking the train to each of the villages. I'm trying to plan this for our day docked at LaSpezia. It seems a little complicated to DIY so am currently looking for a tour. thanks!

[slidergirl]

Would you mind giving me a little more details on taking the train to each of the villages. I'm trying to plan this for our day docked at LaSpezia. It seems a little complicated to DIY so am currently looking for a tour. thanks!

 

Not sure why you think it is complicated. Going from La Spezia to the CT via train is surprisingly easy for anyone. The local trains runs pretty frequently, about every 15-20 minutes. If you can read a train timetable, you're good to go. You can either buy each ticket separately when you get to each station, or you can buy a Cinque Terre train card at La Spezia so you can hop on/hop off without buying each time. You'll pay a little premium for it (aprox. 12 EU for an adult ticket). The train stations are in each village, so you just walk maybe a minute or two to get to the "tourist" section. In La Spezia, it's about a 15-20 minute easy walk to the station.

 

No need to spend hundreds of dollars for someone to drive you. And, honestly, there isn't anything in CT where you would need a guide to interpret for you what you are seeing. It is just the beauty of each village that you are going for, not a specific tower, painting, building, ancient artifact. Enjoy (well, enjoy the best you can now that thousands of cruisers "invade" CT now ;) )

[euro cruiser]

Even closer than the train station is the ferry dock where you can get a one-day pass to go by water to all five of the villages: http://cms.cnpstudio.it/USER_CONTENT/49/pdf/tratte_pdf_eng_7.pdf?cache=114315,211772919

 

It's a lot more expensive than the train but a nice way to travel.

Edited June 26, 2015 by euro cruiser

[computerworks]

It's a lot more expensive than the train but a nice way to travel.

 

...as long as the weather cooperates. :p

 

They cancel often.

[tickets]

I am so happy to see this thread. We will be at la Spezia this September on the Divina and want to see CT by train. Can you give me directions from the ship to the train station? Also, how late can you return to the ship--it is in port until 2am. On Royal Caribbean we had to return from Florence by 10pm even though the ship wasn't leaving until 2am. Thank you for any help.

[euro cruiser]

It's about two miles from the port entrance/exit (Via Palmaria, 4A, 19126 La Spezia SP, Italy on a google map) to the train station (Piazzale della Stazione, 19122 La Spezia SP, Italy).

 

Just outside the port exit on Viale S. Bartolomeo you can get the #17 bus to the station. The bus schedule is on page 3 of this pdf: http://www.atcesercizio.it/images/orari/est/Linea15-27.pdf

[tickets]

Thank you so much Euro Cruiser for your train advice at le Spezia. I had no idea how far the station was from the port. It sounds definitely doable.

[resstation]

It didn't take us long to walk to the train station, maybe 15-20 minutes - no bus necessary (unless you can't walk) - which would also make walking the villages VERY difficult.

[suec12]

A day in the villages of the CT is a great port stop - just want to tell cruisers that the trains along the CT line do not necessarily run on a tight schedule. Just give yourself margin to get back to LaSpezia and the ship!

[vacationlady]

You could also visit Portovenere from La Spezia. This is another beautiful town along the coast. I did a post on my blog from Cinque Terre to Portovenere, we took the train to La Spezia and then took the bus to Portovenere. This is just another option for the day. We took the bus to Portovenere because the ferry was not operating that day due to weather.

 

It is very easy to get around once you learn to ride the trains.

 

http://winenchocolate.com/getting-from-cinque-terre-to-portovenere/

[Blue Elephant]

A day in the villages of the CT is a great port stop - just want to tell cruisers that the trains along the CT line do not necessarily run on a tight schedule. Just give yourself margin to get back to LaSpezia and the ship!

 

I agree with this comment. Most of Trenitalia's trains leave on time to the exact minute. But the trains between the villages of the Cinque Terre are a bit vague about adherance to a timetable.

 

If you get a really bad day for train timetable adherance, you may find you lose some time and are only to get to four out the five villages. So have a bit of a look which villages you wish to visit the most. There is one village in the middle that involves a walk of a couple of kilometres from the station, so you may wish to think twice about this one - Corniglia I think.

 

For those that have already seen the Cinque Terre, taking the ferry to Portovenere is good. There is also a bus service to Portovenere, but I haven't used it. We were fortunate that the ferry was running when we were there in June. However, the ferry was cancelled on the day we were there in 2013 due to sea conditions.