Thinking of doing this starting off in Venice and ending up in Genoa. Possibly a short detour to Trieste. Has anybody ever done this either parts of or in full. What would be the best ticket especially if we wanted to stay for say three nights in various places. At the moment it is just a long term dream as various family issues make it impossible this year.
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Round the Italian coast by train
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I'm here in Genoa right now. I can certainly recommend it as a destination; it's less of a tourist trap that many cities but becoming more so, though it's big enough to absorb the crowds. Because of its comparative geographical isolation, on a narrow strip between mountains and sea, there are few fast rail connections but that's probably not what you want. The coastal route from Rome via Livorno and Pisa is beautiful, though the most beautiful stretches are interrupted by tunnels. You could stop off in the tourist honeytrap of Cinque Terre -five villages linked by the rail line, steep footpaths and the sea - but there are many almost equally beautiful towns and villages that attract fewer crowds. Genova has plenty of history, fine architecture and a great atmosphere. Public transport nerds will appreciate the variety of funiculars, lifts etc which are necessary as awayfrom the 'Centro storico' the city is almost vertical. The main line functions as a virtual metro, since the city is about 30km long - there is also a very small (one line) metro system
Snow1964
Established Member
Lecce in Puglia (the heel if you consider Italy as a leg on a map) is worth an overnight stay. Often called Florence of the South. It is where many of the longer distance and regional semi-fast trains on Adriatic side finish anyway. There is also a small railway museum there.
Brindisi is interesting as a port town, as is both Galipoli and Taranto, actually lots of places in that part of Italy worth visiting (although whole coastal area in Puglia gets very crowded in high summer). Go in shoulder season.
Definitely worth exploring the area, even if you wizz through most the Adriatic side south from Venice (a lot of which is quite similar, and miles of same thing, coast and beaches one side, hills the other side, and as you go further south more olive trees.
Brindisi is interesting as a port town, as is both Galipoli and Taranto, actually lots of places in that part of Italy worth visiting (although whole coastal area in Puglia gets very crowded in high summer). Go in shoulder season.
Definitely worth exploring the area, even if you wizz through most the Adriatic side south from Venice (a lot of which is quite similar, and miles of same thing, coast and beaches one side, hills the other side, and as you go further south more olive trees.
If you're planning such a trip, I would say start in Trieste (on the border with Slovenia), and go all the way round to Ventimiglia (French border)... or if you're in the mind, carry on along the French Mediterranean coast and into Spain.
A lot will depend on how closely you want to hug the coast, whether when the main line is away from coast you want to go down branches, how long you want to spend in places (there's probably >100days of stop worth making as you go - study your favourite guide book) vs keeping going, are you railfanning or sightseeing, do you want to plan or just drift... As to ticketing, it's the sort of trip Interail was made for.
A lot will depend on how closely you want to hug the coast, whether when the main line is away from coast you want to go down branches, how long you want to spend in places (there's probably >100days of stop worth making as you go - study your favourite guide book) vs keeping going, are you railfanning or sightseeing, do you want to plan or just drift... As to ticketing, it's the sort of trip Interail was made for.
Lecce is the end of the FS/Trenitalia Adriattico mainline. Beyond it, going round the spur on the heel, it's the FSE (Ferrovia Sud Est).
Which used to be an independent concern (you had to buy tickets from the station buffet and not the ticket office!) but I think it is now integrated into FS, or at least more so. I don't expect its rather casual way of operating has changed much though. Otranto makes an interesting trip for a day out; or heading in the other direction, the 'trulli' (beehive houses) of Alberobello.
Lecce is a beautiful and elegant city with much understated baroque architecture in honey-coloured stone. The railway museum is indeed fascinating. Among its exhibits are a few ancient posters advertising destinations such as the Yorkshire Dales.
AlbertBeale
Established Member
All true. However, given the hilliness visitors might well need to use the buses to get around too - but there's no city bus map published ... this (not having the information I needed to plan my movements round the city) was one of the reasons I didn't stay on in Genoa, but spent my time elsewhere in Liguria. (Incidentally, there's an interesting local Ligurian language - fairly distinct from Italian, and spoken by a significant minority, including in Genoa. It's spoken also in nearby areas including the coastal strip in France; its western dialect is in fact the national Monégasque language of Monaco.)
Maybe. But if you're in the Centro Storico everything is within walking distance anyway. Bus route 36 (Circonvalmonte) is good for getting a view of the city over the rooftops.
nwales58
Member
Did Campania/Puglia down to Calabria and back last month and Veneto-Emilia Romagna last year.
Others have covered Trieste down to Lecce. I would go via Ravenna (roman mosaics). In Emiglia Romagna local trains need the Trenitalia planner, they are not fed into international ones.
+1 for Taranto, old town is very Italian mix of crumbling next to renovated.
Between Reggio di Calabria and Lamezia Terme Centrale some regionals serve the original coast route via Tropea, better scenery than the direct tunnel.
Amalfi coast: rather than skipping it by train I would use bus Salerno-Sorrento, there is a bus day ticket so you can break journey anywhere. Avoid summer. Sorrento-Naples break at Castellamare for the Faito cable car and view from 1100m.
Napoli to Rome: the 'coastal' route only touches the coast at Formia. I don't know north of there until Genoa.
Tickets overall: as you want to linger there is no single answer. You will need a mixture of everything, Frecce, Intercity and regional. Some bits have near-hourly fast-ish regional services, others almost none, e.g. Termoli-Foggia. I would compare Interrail n days in m months + reservations (Eur13 for Frecce) with fares on Trenitalia to choose. If using regionals for a spell of 3 or more days 'Italia in Tour' is Eur30/3 day, Eur50/5 day, no time restrictions, TI+TTPER but not others (TUA in Abruzzo, FSE beyond Bari) and is not valid in the Cinque Terre.
Funicular and lifts are vital in Genoa even if you don't need buses. Starting point
Others have covered Trieste down to Lecce. I would go via Ravenna (roman mosaics). In Emiglia Romagna local trains need the Trenitalia planner, they are not fed into international ones.
+1 for Taranto, old town is very Italian mix of crumbling next to renovated.
Between Reggio di Calabria and Lamezia Terme Centrale some regionals serve the original coast route via Tropea, better scenery than the direct tunnel.
Amalfi coast: rather than skipping it by train I would use bus Salerno-Sorrento, there is a bus day ticket so you can break journey anywhere. Avoid summer. Sorrento-Naples break at Castellamare for the Faito cable car and view from 1100m.
Napoli to Rome: the 'coastal' route only touches the coast at Formia. I don't know north of there until Genoa.
Tickets overall: as you want to linger there is no single answer. You will need a mixture of everything, Frecce, Intercity and regional. Some bits have near-hourly fast-ish regional services, others almost none, e.g. Termoli-Foggia. I would compare Interrail n days in m months + reservations (Eur13 for Frecce) with fares on Trenitalia to choose. If using regionals for a spell of 3 or more days 'Italia in Tour' is Eur30/3 day, Eur50/5 day, no time restrictions, TI+TTPER but not others (TUA in Abruzzo, FSE beyond Bari) and is not valid in the Cinque Terre.
Bus map (AMT is the city transport operator):
Funicular and lifts are vital in Genoa even if you don't need buses. Starting point
D6130
Established Member
I've done the entire Italian coast by train over the years - from Trieste to Ventimiglia - but spread over many different trips. I don't need to reiterate what others have said up thread, but if you don't have time to explore the - admittedly very interesting - FSE network in Puglia, an alternative plan , InterRail valid, would be to backtrack from Lecce to Brindisi and then across to Taranto.
The 473 km 'Ionian' line from Taranto to Reggio Calabria - while not spectacularly scenic - is very interesting and hugs the coastline for most of the way. From Taranto the line initially passes through scrubby pine forests slightly inland, but the scenery improves as you go South, with distant views of spectacularly rocky inland mountains in the last hour-and-a-half before Reggio....and culminating in wonderful views across the Straits of Messina to Sicily, with Mount Etna visible on a clear day. The line Northwards up the Tyrrhenian coast to Napoli is very scenic for the most part, alternating between coastal and inland mountain sections.
Most of the line between Roma and Pisa is comparatively nondescript, with occasional coastal sections, rolling hills and some pockets of heavy industry. Between Pisa and La Spezia, there are spectacular views inland of the nearby rugged Alpi Apuane mountains, with their huge marble quarries.
Genova is well worth a couple of nights and there are some excellent new B & Bs close to Piazza Principe station....a couple of which are situated right above the tunnel mouth at the East end of the station and have rooms looking straight along the platforms.
Unfortunately the most scenic coastal sections of the Genova-Ventimiglia line have now been by-passed by new (relatively) high-speed tunnels....but there are still some very pleasant stretches to be enjoyed.
The 473 km 'Ionian' line from Taranto to Reggio Calabria - while not spectacularly scenic - is very interesting and hugs the coastline for most of the way. From Taranto the line initially passes through scrubby pine forests slightly inland, but the scenery improves as you go South, with distant views of spectacularly rocky inland mountains in the last hour-and-a-half before Reggio....and culminating in wonderful views across the Straits of Messina to Sicily, with Mount Etna visible on a clear day. The line Northwards up the Tyrrhenian coast to Napoli is very scenic for the most part, alternating between coastal and inland mountain sections.
Most of the line between Roma and Pisa is comparatively nondescript, with occasional coastal sections, rolling hills and some pockets of heavy industry. Between Pisa and La Spezia, there are spectacular views inland of the nearby rugged Alpi Apuane mountains, with their huge marble quarries.
Genova is well worth a couple of nights and there are some excellent new B & Bs close to Piazza Principe station....a couple of which are situated right above the tunnel mouth at the East end of the station and have rooms looking straight along the platforms.
Unfortunately the most scenic coastal sections of the Genova-Ventimiglia line have now been by-passed by new (relatively) high-speed tunnels....but there are still some very pleasant stretches to be enjoyed.
AlbertBeale
Established Member
Bus map (AMT is the city transport operator):
Funicular and lifts are vital in Genoa even if you don't need buses. Starting point
Thanks. The tourist information office told me definitively - when I asked a few years ago if there was a bus info leaflet with a map of the town's services on it - that no such thing existed!
Also, the sections not in tunnel are now often some way inland, so you don't get the coastal views anyway. Some of the inland bypasses were needed because where some existing coastal sections were single track there sometimes wasn't room to double them where they were. The process has also meant a few coastal settlements losing their station completely, and some others having a replacement station some way "behind" the main part of the town. One (San Remo?) now has an underground station actually in the bypass tunnel, whence you then walk what seems miles - though I know it isn't - along a tunnel to reach "the outside world" at the back of the town. The good side of these reroutings is that some sections of abandoned coast-side routes where they've moved inland to be able to double them (or, in some cases, just to straighten them out and speed them up) have been turned into pleasant coastal footpaths and cycle paths; I've spent a lovely day cycling tens of miles along one of these routes.
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You get the same thing in the UK. Tourist offices don't seem to liaise with the transport authorities. Best to go to the kiosks at the main bus stations.