The CT and surrounding areas

Jan, take a look at Monterosso on Google maps with hybrid view to see the roads. To drive anywhere you have to head up into the mountains on narrow and very windy roads. It takes a long time to get anywhere by car. The train goes along the coast and connects the towns and villages to the north and to the south (Cinque Terre villages) in a few minutes.

The closest place you can rent a car is in La Spezia. Except for a couple of parking lots near the water in Monterosso and a few hotels with private parking, tourist rental cars are not permitted in the towns. Most towns do have a parkling lot high in the hills that are accessible via the mini-buses in the towns. I don't think that you will have great success in using the CT as a home base for rental car day trips. The train is far better and much faster.

Thanks Lola and Larry. Would it make more sense to rent a car in Assisi or Lucca and do day trips from one of those cities? Thanks.

Jan, definitely a yes on car rental in Tuscany and Umbria. Tuscany is best seen by car. In Tuscany, you can easily get to Lucca, San Gimignanao and Volterra. Perhaps a cooking class with Judy Witts Francini (www.divinacucina.com) who has just moved her cooking school to Colle di Val d'Elsa after 20 years in Florence. Then, there's Siena, Montepulciano, Montalcino. In Umbria, you have Assisi, Perugia and many other small towns such as Deruta where you can get some of the best Italian pottery. Note that you can't drive you rental car in the very core area of Assisi but there are parkling lots at the bottom and top of the town. The hills are steep. The easy way to see Assisi is to take the Line C bus to the top of the town and casually walk down. The Basillica is at the bottom. Great food in the middle. Note that the nicer restaurants close from 4-7.

There are also ferrys that run between the towns..weather dependent.
Rent a car is Assisi, the Tuscan countryside is best seen by car.

Hello Jan. I recommend stay at the Cinque Terre for at least three nights (two whole days). . After that, travel in trains to the hill town Lucca. It is possible to go on a day trip to Lucca from Monterosso.