Travelling Italy’s Coast by Train: Pisa, Cinque Terre and Massa

This trip was one of my favourite ways of travelling: flying into a country and then continuing the journey by train straight from the airport. It is an incredibly convenient way to travel with kids, especially when train connections are good and distances are reasonable. Travelling along the coast by train allows you to stop in multiple cities without the need to rent a car, which significantly reduces transportation costs. It’s also ideal if you’re travelling with children who don’t enjoy long car rides or if you simply want to relax and not spend your holiday focused on driving. We’ve used this approach before in Málaga and Valencia, and once again it worked perfectly. The only real downside is that you need to choose your destination carefully: train connections must be reliable, distances manageable, and attractions accessible without a car.

Getting Around – Transportation Tips

We flew from Brussels to Pisa Airport, which turned out to be surprisingly small and easy to navigate. After landing, we took a train called PisaMover to Pisa Centrale. This option was advertised as the fastest but it was also the most expensive. PisaMover is a high-speed shuttle running frequently between the airport and Pisa Centrale from 6:00 AM to midnight. Duration of the ride is only 5 minutes. Price: €6.50 adults / €4.50 children (each way). Children under a certain age were said to travel free, but information was inconsistent. We paid €26 in total for the ride from the airport. At the ticket office, we were told our 4-year-old didn’t need a ticket, which contradicts the official website stating that all children require one. Considering the distance is under 2 km and easily walkable, PisaMover felt very expensive. On our return day, we decided to check whether it was possible to walk to the airport instead. The distance was less than 1.6 km from the city centre, and since we didn’t have much luggage, we gave it a try. It turned out to be a great decision: the walk was safe, easy, and took less than 30 minutes. Along the way, we even passed several cafés where we picked up pastries before reaching the airport.

From the main train station in Pisa, we continued our journey to La Spezia where we stayed first 2 nights. We used regional trains from Trenitalia. Afterwards, we moved to Marina di Massa for the rest of our stay. From there, we did a day trip to Pisa by train.

Train Tickets (Total Costs) Pisa → La Spezia – €37.80 (€8.40 per adult / €4.20 per child)
La Spezia → Massa Centro – €22.50 (€5.00 per adult / €2.50 per child)
Massa Centro → Pisa – €27.90 (€6.40 per adult / €3.20 per child)

Local Buses in Massa
Total spent: €25.70
• Ticket price: €1.70 per ride
• Valid for 70 minutes after activation
• App-based ticketing available

We installed the local bus app, created an account, and bought tickets directly using a credit card. You must remember to activate the ticket before boarding, which can be slightly confusing as the app is not fully translated into English. The first time, I asked another passenger for confirmation. After that, it was very easy to use. You can activate multiple tickets at once, which is very convenient when travelling as a group. Children under 1 metre in height travel for free. Our daughter (104 cm) did not have a ticket, and during a ticket inspection we were told it was fine. In practice, this rule seems difficult to enforce.

Visiting Cinque Terre by combining ferry and train

Instead of buying a full-day ferry ticket, we chose a one-way ferry ticket with intermediate stops and returned by train. This allowed us to spend more time in Monterosso and avoid a very long ferry ride back (up to 2 hours). The ferry was calm and quiet at first, but already in Riomaggiore it became extremely crowded. At one point, the ferry was so full that we had to split into two groups because there were no seats left. On board, only cold drinks and snacks were available, but the toilets were very useful when travelling with a child. The weather was beautiful and sunny, though quite windy, but still very pleasant for October. We were shocked by the crowds at Riomaggiore train station. The ferry felt busy, but the number of people on the platform was intense. We returned by train after 5 PM from Monterosso. The train was already crowded from Vernazza, so boarding in Monterosso was actually an advantage: we could easily find seats and enter with a pram. One downside of Italian trains is the toilets. There are usually only one or two per train, and often one is out of order. When the train is packed, reaching a working toilet with a child is very challenging.

Our Ferry and Train Schedule that allowed us to have enough time to explore each of the stops
Ferry: La Spezia 09:15 → Porto Venere 10:00 (1h break)
Ferry: Porto Venere 11:00 → Riomaggiore 11:35 (1h break)
Ferry: Riomaggiore 12:35 → Vernazza 13:10 (2h break)
Ferry: Vernazza 15:10 → Monterosso 15:30
Train: Monterosso → La Spezia (25 min). We could have also stopped in Manarola and taken the next train from there to La Spezia, but we were simply too tired.

One-day roundtrip ticket Cinque Terre (€42 per adult / €15 per child)
One-way ticket with intermediate stops (€30 per adult / €15 per child)

We visited Cinque Terre at the very end of the ferry season. Ferries run from late March until November 1, with reduced frequency until early December. More information about the prices and current schedule here.

Cinque Terre Express trains connect Levanto, Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, Riomaggiore, and La Spezia. They run frequently from early morning until late evening. Tickets can be bought at stations, from ticket machines, or online via the Trenitalia app. If you buy your regional train ticket at the station (paper ticket), you must validate it at the green stamp machines located on the stairs on the way to the platforms. Make sure to do so as fines are high!

We bought all our tickets at the machines, which were not intuitive the first time, but by the end of the trip I could complete all the steps almost with my eyes closed. Cinque Terre Express has three ticket price categories that depend on the date you travel, and you can see the price chart and detailed schedule on the website. For us it was low season so category A (green) - adults €5, children €2,50. If you’re planning to hop on and off the train between the villages during your trip, the Cinque Terre Card is a great choice. It gives you unlimited rides on the Cinque Terre Express trains running between La Spezia, Cinque Terre, and Levanto. On top of that, the card also covers access to the paid hiking trails between Monterosso and Corniglia. We did not use this option because we also wanted to see the coastline from the ferry.

Accommodation

We stayed in two apartments:
La Spezia - Booked via Airbnb (rating 4.99). Self check-in, very comfortable, and well-equipped. Located close to the train station but on the opposite side of the city centre. The walk to the harbour was about 2 km, but it led through the main shopping street, making it pleasant. A large supermarket nearby and a quiet street, highly recommended.
Marina di Massa - Booked via Booking.com, right next to the beach. Furniture was more basic, but we had a great outdoor area and a rooftop swimming pool. The kitchen was very minimally equipped, fine for breakfast and snacks, but not for cooking. The place was run by a lovely family who were always ready to help. There were quite a lot of toys in the garden but mostly for kids up to age of 3 (our daughter used often swing). Average cost: €110 per night

• La Spezia view from the window in the photo below on the left
• Marina Di Massa view from the rooftop pool in the photo below on the right

Food & Eating Out

Since we love Italian food, we didn’t visit any other type of restaurant. We usually ordered primi (pasta, risotto, gnocchi), which we prefer the most. Secondo (meat, fish, seafood) was less appealing to us, and ordering both would usually be too much food, especially since we always left room for ice cream. A coperto fee (€1.50–€2.50 per person) was always added. We chose budget restaurants with very good reviews

Exemplary prices:
Pizza Verace in La Spezia: €8–14
Bottega Visconti 1973 in Vernazza: focaccia €8–12, savoury rice pie €5
Locanda del Tron in Massa: €13 fixed menu (primo, secondo, coffee, water). Family business with great reviews.
La Ghiotteria in Pisa: primi €9–13 (very large portions)

Best ice cream places:
Gelateria Troppo Buono in Marina di Massa
Gelateria Vernazza in La Spezia

Budget Overview (for 6 days, 4 adults and four-year-old child)

Our Experience of Travelling with a Child

Traveling by public transport (train, bus, ferry) was easy with our daughter as she likes to move around and doesn’t enjoy sitting in a car seat. We had pram with us that we used a lot in Pisa, Massa and La Spezia. We used a pram a lot in Pisa, Massa, and La Spezia. In Cinque Terre it was less practical, but necessary due to the long walk to the harbour (around 2.2km). Prams are allowed on ferries, but in some villages we had to fold and carry it. Riomaggiore was so steep that we left the pram at a kayak rental place. We travelled with an old pram and weren’t too worried about theft. We did not find many playgrounds; one was on the beach next to our apartment in Marina di Massa, which was really nice. However, this was not a big problem because visiting churches, botanical gardens, and parks was good entertainment for our toddler. As for public toilets, we did not actively look for them, as it was enough to use those in restaurants when we had a meal, in the botanical garden in Pisa, on the ferry, or on the train. The train was actually the most problematic because there were usually only two toilets in the whole train, and one was often out of order. We sometimes had to walk a very long distance through the train to reach one that was working, and when the train was crowded, this was very challenging.

Payground in Monterosso - nice place to stop while visiting Cinque Terre

Final Thoughts and Recommendations

This was a very relaxing trip with perfect October weather, excellent food, and a great mix of popular and less touristy destinations. Cinque Terre was stunning, Pisa surprisingly enjoyable, and Massa a calm coastal base. Travelling by train along the Italian coast worked perfectly for us, and we would absolutely do it again.