Please sign in to post.

Boat ride in Cinque Terre

At the Cinque Terre, Italy, what is better: to start a boat ride from Monterosso and go south or to start in Riomaggiore and go North? And in what towns should I spend more time?

Posted by
1674 posts

Go north because you'll have the sun at your back is the direct answer to your question, but you may be asking the wrong question. Where are you starting from? The best trip in my opinion is to board the 1st run in the morning from La Spezia. Spend an hour or two in Portovenere, then continue to the Cinque Terre villages, skipping Riomaggiore and stopping first at Manarola.

Posted by
20 posts

I am taking a train from Florence. Where do I go after that to reach 5 Terre?

Posted by
1674 posts

From Florence one would usually take the train to La Spezia and then transfer to one of the frequent Cinque Terre Express trains on a different ticket. The CT Express stops at all the villages. Some info in this thread: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/train-travel-to-cinque-terre-03dac15b-c829-48c7-8eec-bcad817724b5
You also might be interested in this thread about a Florence-CT day trip which included suggested trains as well as various related opinions: https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/want-to-go-to-cinque-terre-from-florence-for-the-day
The ferry starts April 1 and you can get info here: https://www.apathtolunch.com/2014/06/complete-cinque-terre-portovenere-la.html