Italy By Train - Travel Tips To Help Your Journey Go More Smoothly
- elleno1962
- 21 hours ago
- 7 min read
Almost everyone I know who has visited Italy returns home saying, “Loved it, can’t wait to go back!” Several friends of mine have returned three, four, even ten times. When Pete and I started planning for our own dream Italy trip, my hopes were high. My Venetian vacay in 2021 was magical, but probably because my travel buddy Kristin and I visited during Covid. Venice was virtually empty. This trip in 2025, there would be no masks, no travel restrictions, and given that the month was September, there would certainly be lots of fellow tourists. Still, I imagined experiencing “the trip of a lifetime”.
Every European trip for me starts in Amsterdam. My son Phil has lived in the Netherlands for 10 years now. It only makes sense to fly in and out of Amsterdam to include a visit to see him. This trip was no different.
A trip to Italy seems to mean either visiting the Northern or Southern regions. Having been to Venice already, my focus was on northern towns and villages including Cinque Terre (Five Terraces). Because of a past garden club project, Cinque Terre located in Northwest Italy on the Lingurian Sea, piqued my interest.
Pete’s only request was to tour Florence, 288 kilometers southeast of Cinque Terre. An acquaintance once shared with me how fabulous Lake Como is so I put that on my travel list too. Instead of circling back to Florence, I determined via Google maps that we could exit Italy via the Bernina Express back to our favorite Alps hotel, The Walther in Pontresina Switzerland. All by train! We had heard about the nightmares of relying on the notoriously late Italian train system but I planned on building in enough wiggle room between trains legs to reduce travel stress.
Travelers Tip: When planning a DIY itinerary, it often works well to write down the key places you’d like to see in a region, figure out how many days in each city you’d like to spend, use a tool like Google maps to approximate mileage and available transportation. Viola! Before you know it, you have a blueprint. I use a paper calendar and a pencil to start all my planning, adjusting things as I look at schedules.
Florence, Italy; the birthplace of the Renaissance Period. If you are an art lover, plan on spending at least four days to fulfill your art appreciation needs. For us, two full days sufficed. Planning months ahead, I was able to secure tickets for one of the most popular attractions, a guided tour to see Michaelangelo’s David.
Travelers Tip: Small group tours to visit the Museum of Academia including David sell out fast. Look online to see when tickets become available and put the date on your calendar in BOLD. Yes, the hefty ticket price is worth it.
If you can’t snag a guided tour but still wish to visit David, the following are a few facts our guide told us:
Michaelangelo was only 24 years old when he sculpted David in 3-D.
As your circle the almost 17 feet likeness, you can see David’s expression change from confidence to worry
Michaelangelo did not sculpt “in the round”. He more or less guessed how much stone to leave for David’s back and buttocks. When you are in the presence of this magnificent sculpture, you can’t help but be totally bewildered how he did this.
David’s hands and head are oversized because he was originally planned to be installed atop a building.
Take special note of the vein details in David’s hands. Simply mesmerizing.
The sling is only seen from the back, where you also see the appearance of David’s expression change to that of a troubled boy.
Florence is a cacophony of sights and smells. While many folks rave about Italian food, during our stay in the city, we didn't experience any meals that stood out. Our hotel, Rosso 23, oozed Italian charm but rooms are small and if you carry a bit too much weight, you may not fit in the shower. The location, bed comfiness, and included breakfast make it a recommended hotel choice.
Travelers Tip: Our most magical experience in Florence was having a cocktail at the rooftop bar of the Hotel Bagliano. By all means, find your way there for a sunset view worthy of a thousand paintings.
Feeling satiated with art, Pete and I checked out on Sept 8th and headed back to the train station to continue our journey to my most anticipated destination of the trip - Cinque Terre.
Traveler’s Tip: Friend Bill, who has traveled extensively all over Europe swears by the train app Trainline. We downloaded it easily and had no trouble purchasing our tickets during our trip. Great app!
Traveler’s Tip: Pisa is on the way to the northwest Italy region. No need to spend a night, just include about three hours to take the bus to the leaning tower and back to the train station. Taxis are available but the buses located directly outside the station will deliver you directly to the Leaning Tower plaza. Keep this in mind when thinking about luggage. With any train trip, keeping luggage to manageable sizes and weights (including backpacks) is important, especially for your back.
Traveler’s Tip: I have watched multiple tourists drag their spinner bags on three wheels or carry them by hand when a wheel gets broken on the cobblestones commonly seen in Europe. We travel with two-wheeled bags; Travel Pro being my most recommended brand. The wheels are very durable and the luggage weight is one of the lightest you can buy.
So far, Italian trains were running on time. All those tales of late trains had so far been just a myth. After Pisa, our train delivered us to Monterosso (the topmost of the five terraces and the only one accessible by regional trains), right on time. Upon disembarking, Pete and I gasped. Cinque Terre is incredibly beautiful!
Google Maps sent us on a path to our hotel up and down many uneven cobble stoned cliff side steps. We kept waiting for the wheels of our rollaways to fall off. Finally, sweat soaked and a bit grumpy, we arrived at our hotel, Stella Della Marina.
Travelers Tip: Make your walk easier in Monterosso by using the designated pedestrian path directly through the car tunnel located to the left of the train station. We discovered it the day after our arrival.
Charming and energetic Gabriele greeted us at check in. I loved the hotel immediately.
Which is good since Gabriele went on to inform us that the room I requested with a water view was located a mere 88 winding steps up. And nope, there is no elevator.
Travelers Tip: After finding my favorite hotel in Cinque Terre online (The Stella Della Marina), I discovered I could not book directly online. I wrote to the hotel manager with my lodging request almost ten months in advance with a response within two days. It’s a great hotel for the money but be warned, you will get a workout if your room is located on the upper floors. We saw a couple of children but there is no play area except the nearby Ligurian Sea.
Traveler's Tip - Bring your water shoes - the beach is rocky.
Unfortunately, we had two rainy days and I could not imagine what parents of kids under 14 did to amuse their children when flags on the beach displayed red. Our wine sunset cruise was canceled because of high waves, greatly disappointing me. I hoped to see the colorful terraces at their brightest best from a bobbing catamaran with a glass of wine in my hand.
But when the sun does shine and the winds die down, Cinque Terre is spectacular!
Despite losing a day and a half to rain, we enjoyed our time in Monterosso. We purchased a day pass to take the dedicated train from village to village which I highly recommend.
Traveler’s Tip: The five terraces of Cinque Terre are literally built on cliffs. Walking will require you to navigate multiple steps if you wish to explore the individual villages down to the water's edge. We saw multiple tourists trying their best to get around with trolleys and wheelchairs. It looked extremely challenging. If you have a difficult time with uneven surfaces or steps, bring along walking sticks. Taking a tumble on the steep stairways and walkways could certainly ruin your vacay.
Other highlights of our time in Cinque Terre were: tasting the best seafood pasta I’ve ever eaten anywhere at Ristorante Il Moretto, trying out our cooking skills at the Cinque Terre Cooking School (transportation is provided from Monterosso by the school),
and taking in another spectacular sunset with a cocktail at the nearby Rock Hotel.
Travelers Tip: While I recommend Stella Della, for a higher end stay with a more Italian resort feel, I suggest the Rock Hotel. We explored the property a bit and what we saw blew us away. The hotel provides transportation to and from the train station.
We checked out on Sept 11th and this time ignored Google maps to get ourselves back to the train station.
And this is where I am going to take a break. In my next installment, I will take you along to Stresa and Torino, Italy, before embarking on the Bernina Express to Pontresina Switzerland. If you’re not yet tired imagining us carrying our luggage on and off trains 23 times, hang in there. We are just getting started!
My husband Pete was 67 and I was 62 at the time of this trip. Would our bodies hold out? Stay tuned for my next blog post coming soon.
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