Travelling from Monaco to Rome October 2012

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Hi,
We are looking at dropping off a rental car at Monaco and travelling by train over to Italy. We are planning on staying over night at Santa Margherita and maybe overnight in La Spezia before heading to Rome for at least 3 days.
Would you be able to advise the best way possible to get to Rome by train from Monaco please .
We are looking at departing Monaco 19th October and arriving the same day in Santa Margherita.

Many thanks for your assistenance.

Traveling by train from Monaco to S. Margherita, then La Spezia and further to Rome isn't very complicated and can be done rather cheaply. First you need to catch regional train from Monaco to Ventimiglia (first Italian station after the border), trains run like every hour or even more often on peak times, journey takes less than 30min and ticket is cheap (like 5 euro or so). Then in Ventimiglia buy Italian domestic ticket till S. Margherita, for regional train it will cost only 14,4 euro (and no purchase in advance required), some connections are direct, some require change in Genoa. S. Margherita-La Spezia is again easy, it's only an hour long ride and 6,1 euro for the full fare ticket which you can buy just before departure as the previous one. With La Spezia-Rome route you already have a few options: a) buy in advance on TrenItalia website discounted ticket for direct high-speed train (offer called MINI, tickets start from 9 euro, while full fares for InterCity/Frecciabianca trains are 36-52 euro), journey will take 3,5-4 hours; b) don't bother with ticket purchase in advance and just use cheaper regional trains, it will require one change in Pisa, but full fare ticket is 21,25 euro and it can be bought already at the station before departure

Thank you for that Hero Member. Would you be able to tell me if it would be better to travel through Italy by car or by train please?
We are trying to figure out which would be better for us as many people have said to drive and some say don't as parking in the main cities will be very hard.The cities we will be visiting & using as base camps for at least 3/4 nights are Rome, Florence, Naples, Verona, Venice and last stop Milan. We will also be staying overnight in Capri & Amalfi with sightseeing to Pompeii, Mt Venus, Sorrento,Tuscany area, Pisa, Maranello. So we are not sure which way will be best to travel by car or train. We have about 3-4 weeks travelling Italy. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated very much.

Would you be able to tell me if it would be better to travel through Italy by car or by train please?

Well, this is a railway forum so it will be a bit strange if we preferred using the car instead of train
But if to say in general, you just need clearly to set the criteria for your journey. For instance if you plan to stay all 3 days in each place you've mentioned without any need to use a car inside the city that means you'll pay for nothing (meaning car rental) during those three day, your car will just wait for you without use. On the contrary car is good when you drive around or from one big city to another, see a nice place on the way and just stop there for 10 min. or an hour, with trains such stopover usually will be more complicated. Another argument for the train is that it usually brings you to the city centre and you won't need to worry about traffic, parking and etc. Also a financial side might be an important argument, don't know what you mean by 'we' (it can be two people or a family of five), as result either train or car might be a cheaper option at the end.

Thank you Hero Member for your insight.After discussing your reply we have decided to travel by train around Italy. We are stuck on trying to figure out the best way from Naples to get to Sorrento and Amalfi Coast. I have been researching Italian Trains but having trouble looking for this line. I would appreciate any help you can give.Many thanks

We are stuck on trying to figure out the best way from Naples to get to Sorrento and Amalfi Coast. I have been researching Italian Trains but having trouble looking for this line.

Suburban railways around Naples are served partly by a different company (not TrenItalia), so in case of Naples-Sorrento you just need to check a different website - http://www.vesuviana.it/web/en/homepage (Circumvesuviana), there you'll find both schedules and fares. Naples-Sorrento is rather short and cheap trip, so don't bother with anything in advance, you'll be able to manage everything right before the trip 

thank you for the wonderful help you are providing travellers Hero Member you have made it such valueable for us first timers.
I thank you for the link for our travel from Naples to Sorrento. I am now finding it hard to get train connections from Santa Margherita to La Spezia where we would like to visit Cinque Terre for the day before heading to Rome from La Spezia. Do you have a link for us to book or check times for us please. Many thanks

I am now finding it hard to get train connections from Santa Margherita to La Spezia...

Strange, since general TrenItalia website shows perfectly all the schedules and fares. Maybe the issue is in how you enter Santa Margherita station when searching? Try 'S. Margherita Ligure-Portofino' or 'San Margherita Ligure-Portofino' (and 'La Spezia Centrale'), it should work. Also since most of the trains there are regional, they might not show up yet that early (meaning if you search for October), so you can simply check schedules for any time soon instead, timetable won't change a lot or even won't change at all till October

Hi Hero Member we are now wondering if it would be better to buy train tickets online before we leave for Europe or when we get there? we are catching EuroStar from London to Paris and from Paris to Beaune France. We would appreciate your advice on buying tickets online or at the station?Many thanks in advance

We would appreciate your advice on buying tickets online or at the station?

If you purchase both London-Paris and Paris-Beaune tickets online in advance from the official rail companies websites, then you have a chance to catch rather cheap discounted tickets (thus pay essentially less comparing to full fare), while in case you buy your tickets at the station you'll almost inevitably pay the full fare.
Although discounted tickets usually have certain limitations (like valid for a specific day and train only, nonexchangeable/nonrefundable), so might not be an option in case you decide to change plans last minute or simply miss the train etc. So the choice is yours...