The Cinque Terre Train: Fares, Stations and the Cinque Terre Express Line

Levanto

Levanto is the northern end of the line and sits outside the national park. It is a beach town in its own right, with its own sand and its own pace, which makes it a useful base if you want sea access without village crowds. If you arrive by car, the paid lots near the station are covered in our Cinque Terre parking guide.

Read more in our Levanto page.

Monterosso al Mare

The first of the five villages going south. Monterosso is the only village you can reach flat from its station, with no stairs, which matters if you are hauling luggage or pushing a stroller. It also has the widest sandy beach on this stretch of coast, in the Fegina district by the station.

Our Monterosso al Mare guide has the detail. Monterosso is also the largest of the five by population, at 1,301 residents, which shows in the size of its shops and hotels compared with its neighbours. The Fegina car park by the station is the only real public parking lot in any of the five villages, covered fully on our Cinque Terre parking page.

Vernazza

Vernazza's station sits right by the harbour, one of the best arrival views in Italy. The village has a hard history with water. On 25 October 2011 torrential rain triggered flash floods and mudslides that devastated Vernazza and neighbouring Monterosso, and the railway station was buried under mud and debris.

Nine people died across the affected area. The village rebuilt, and today you step off the train a minute from the seafront. More in our Vernazza page.

Corniglia

Corniglia is the odd one out. The village sits about 100 m above its station on a cliff, so the train does not deliver you to the front door. You climb the Lardarina, 33 ramps and 377 steps, or take the park's shuttle bus up instead.

Corniglia is also the only one of the five villages with no ferry landing, so for most visitors the train is the only realistic way in. See our Corniglia guide.

Manarola

Manarola's station is close to the village, and the lane down into the heart of it is short. In winter the hillside above town lights up with the Presepe di Manarola, a nativity scene built from 1961 onward by railway worker Mario Andreoli using recycled materials and described as the largest of its kind in the world. Our Manarola page has more.

Population sits at 353, smaller than Monterosso or Riomaggiore, and the steep lanes above the station mean most of the village is a short climb rather than a flat walk. There is no realistic parking here for a non-resident car, so arriving by train is not a preference, it is close to the only option.

Riomaggiore

The southernmost village station sits close to the village centre and close to the start of the Via dell'Amore, the famous coastal walk toward Manarola. Note that the Via dell'Amore is one-way only, from Riomaggiore to Manarola, and individual visitors must book a slot in advance even with a valid card. Full rules are on our Via dell'Amore page and the village itself is in our Riomaggiore guide.

The village itself dates its castle to 1260, built by the Turcotti marquises and completed over the following centuries under Genoa. Riomaggiore is the second largest of the five villages by population at 1,250 residents, and like Manarola it has no meaningful parking for a visitor's car.

La Spezia Centrale

The southern end of the line and the main interchange. From here you pick up trains toward Pisa, Florence, Genoa and Milan, which makes La Spezia the natural rail gateway for anyone coming from Tuscany or beyond. Our La Spezia page covers the city, and if you are coming from Florence directly see our Florence to Cinque Terre route guide.

The station area also holds La Spezia's main interchange car parks, run by the municipal company ATC MP, with the first 12 hours free before an hourly rate applies, which makes this the practical place to leave a car for a day trip up the line.

Single tickets are sold by Trenitalia, both in the station machines and through the Trenitalia app. Under Italy's normal regional rail rules, a ticket bought on paper or at a machine must be validated before you board. Look for the green validation machines on the platform and stamp your ticket before getting on the train. A validated single is for one one-way trip, in one direction, no return leg. Do not forget the stamp, and note that no specific fine amount is published in the material we work from, so we will not quote one.

The Cinque Terre Treno MS Card works differently. It is sold online at card.parconazionale5terre.it and at the park's Info Points in the stations, not from a normal ticket machine. The card bundles unlimited 2nd-class travel on the Levanto to La Spezia regional line with the park's trail access, village buses and guided visits. If you plan to hike the paid coastal trails as well as ride the trains, the card is usually the single purchase to make, and our Cinque Terre Card page covers the trail side in full.

On timing, be honest with yourself about what is published. Trenitalia's fare page does not state a trains-per-hour or trains-per-day figure, and no first or last train time appears in the fare material. The reinforced Express season runs mid-March to early November, but for the actual timetable on your date, check trenitalia.com or the Trenitalia app on the day. Between any two neighbouring stations the ride is a short hop, so even a missed connection costs little.

One last practical point. If a strike is called for your travel day, minimum service rules apply on Trenitalia, but the detail is long enough to have its own page. See our transport strikes guide for the guarantee bands and what to expect.

Here is our sum. Two one-way singles bought on a Fascia C (red band) date cost US$22.70 (€20) at adult rates. The one-day Treno MS Card costs US$25.00 (€22). So the card pays for itself almost immediately in that scenario. Three or more one-way rides in a single day, the pattern of almost every first visit, usually make the card the better buy purely on train fares, before you even count that the card also unlocks the paid trails and village buses.

If you are visiting on a cheap date band, the maths tightens. On a Fascia A day, three singles cost US$17.05 (€15), and the card is still ahead once trail access is worth anything to you. On a one-ride day, buy the single. On a two-ride day, it is close to a wash in the cheaper bands and clearly worth the card in the red band.

Remember the card is not the only card. The park sells a Trekking Card too, which covers the trails without the trains and costs less. If you are walking most of the coast and riding the train only a couple of times, compare both on our Cinque Terre Card page before you buy. For total trip budgeting, our Cinque Terre costs page pulls the numbers together.