DavidTH

We are a group of 4 seniors planning a trip to northern Italy this September. Our itinerary has us in Vernazza just before Bologna, and I am struggling finding a good transportation option to get from one to the other. We would rent a car but we need an Automatic with room for luggage and 4 adults, and the cost is prohibitive. The train option seems pretty convoluted. We would consider a driver depending upon the cost. Any thoughts/ideas? Much appreciated….

J62

Train from Vernazza would require connections in La Spezia, Pisa, and Florence and take around 4 hours. Certainly doable, and each of those legs is served by frequent service., but yes, those 3 connections aren't ideal.

Simpler would be a bus. Marino Bus goes direct from La Spezia to Bologna. 2hr 35min, and cost €20.00.
check marinobus.it

Jean

May I ask what the rest of your itinerary looks like? Perhaps a minor adjustment in the order of destinations would lead to easier transfers overall...

DavidTH

Thank you both. The bus might be an option, although it arrives late at night in Bologna so we have to make sure that our hotel will let us check in at that time (it arrives at 11:30 p.m.).

Jean - we fly into Milan and then go to the Lake Region, then Cinque Terre, Bologna, and Milan. We don’t really want to change our plans as we booked our hotels many months ago and rebooking now would be a challenge, both from a cost, and availability, perspective. But any suggestions are appreciated!

Jean

Well, the only suggestion would be to check transfer logistics before booking hotels, but those distantly located destinations would probably lead to a difficult connection somewhere along the way no matter the itinerary order.

Check out the Flixbus schedule... Some days of the week they have a morning departure from La Spezia.

neckervd

The train travel from La Spezia to Bologna isn't that tricky. Take a regional train from La Spezia to Parma (scenic itinerary across the mountains) and change there to a Bologna bound regional train.
La Spezia dp 10.15 and 14.16. 3 hrs trip. Fare 19 EUR/Pax

Jean

To me, the only advantage to the bus over trains on this route is the potential for transit without connections. Starting in Vernazza, you will have 3 train connections. For a group of seniors, getting on and off trains multiple times isn't easy (or quick), and some of the options for this route include very short connections (5 minutes). BUT, on trains you can get up and walk around, and the toilets are much easier to use. DavidTH, if you decide to go by train, don't choose the combinations with the shortest overall travel times. You can search train timetables at https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html [use Italian spellings]. When results appear, click on the (small) information icon after each train combo to see how long the connections are. I hate stress, so I'd only be looking at combos that are 3:45 hours or longer.

J62

One way to do what Jean suggests and give yourself more time is to build an ala carte itinerary.
leg 1, from A to B
leg 2, from B to C
etc...

then you can pick connections that give you adequate connection time even if the overall time is longer. It may mean buying separate tickets, but that's ok.
eg, Pisa to Florence is served by regional trains every 30minutes. Any ticket you buy will be usable on any train.

DavidTH

Thanks everyone! I think we have some good options now…

joduhl

We did this exact route a few years ago. We are also seniors. We took the train; according to my notes, we took 3 different trains, but it was a relatively easy trip. Trains are reliable in Italy and while I remember having to change platforms, we did not have any problem figuring it out and getting where we needed to be.

DavidTH

Thanks for this!