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Best cinque Terre day trip tours from Florence

We want to take a day trip to cinque Terre from Florence in May. What is the best way to see all 5 towns? Can we do this on our own or should we use Viator or Walkabout tours or other tour company?

Posted by
7731 posts

Do it yourself go at your own pace. Tour groups on day trips clog up an already crowded area. Take the train to Monterosso and then go from town to town on the train until you get to the last one and then go back to Florence from there.
Those towns are only 5 minutes apart more or less on the train. T

Posted by
5 posts

We want to hike/walk as much as possible. Can we walk between all 5 towns in May?

Posted by
7731 posts

You have to check in advance sometimes the paths are closed for safety and repairs so there is nothing connecting all 5 towns at the same time. There may have been at one time.

Your best bet is a Monterosso to Vernazza hike.
It takes about an hour depending what kind of shape you are in. You could continue Vernazza to Cornilia if the path is open.
There are different paths you will need to do research . There is plenty of info out there.
Look for the official Cinque Terre website it has all the path open and closed listed.

Posted by
15682 posts

Here is the website Jazz was referring to:

http://www.parconazionale5terre.it/Eindex.php

Map of open/closed paths and their difficulty:

http://www.parconazionale5terre.it/Esentieri-outdoor.php

What shows at open or closed right now could change by May. Trails that show as closed could be open, and trails showing as open could close to weather or damage. Or there could be no change at all. As you can see, there is an extensive network of paths but most popular is the SVA2/Blue Path/Sentiero Azzurro. This has 4 segments (Monterosso>Vernazza>Corniglia> Manarola>Riomaggiore), and 1 of those segments will be closed and I wouldn't count on the other being open.

While there are other routes between Corniglia and Riomaggiore - the SVA2 segments you'd have to work around - they're longer and more strenuous so if wanting to do all 5 villages in a day, you probably want to take trains between those last two and hike just Monterosso>Vernazza>Corniglia if those sections are open.

You will need a park pass to access any part of the SVA2, and yes, I recommend doing the CT on your own from Florence. There is a train from Firenze (Florence) Campo di Marte station at 7:36 AM to La Spezia Centrale that will get you there by 9:11 with no changes: absolutely the fastest way to get to the region. Going back, there's a train from La Spezia Centrale at 20:03 (8:03 PM) to Firenze Campo di Marte by 21:40 (9:40 PM) with no changes: the fastest way back to Florence.

You don't need to purchase the park pass in advance:
http://www.parconazionale5terre.it/page.php?id=157

Posted by
15682 posts

One more note? I'd scrap this trip if it's raining. The CT is not really a fun place to explore when it's wet. :O)

This is a very good website for advance reading on the CT, and we're here for more questions.

https://www.apathtolunch.com