Boat vs. Train

Do you want scenery from the water, or getting into towns by direct trains? In two trips, we’ve just gone by train, but the scenery was only once we got off. I wonder if you could could book a boat excursion on your own, separate from the cruise line’s package? Just make sure you get back to the cruise boat in time.

I'd suggest the train would be a better option, as that would allow you to do some exploring in each of the five towns, have a nice meal, get some photos and perhaps buy a few souvenirs.

One route you might consider would be to start in Riomaggiore and then move north towards Monterosso by train. The local trains are frequent and the trip from one town to another is only a few minutes each. If the local ferries are running, you could travel from Monterosso back to Riomaggiore by boat, and then take the train back to La Spezia. Note that the ferries don't run year round, and are subject to weather.

What time of year will you be in that area?

Going there in early May of next year.

if the seas are nice taking a boat can be fun. But I don't see any reason to book an excursion with a cruise line that presumably ties you into a specific itinerary. There are ferries that go from La Spezia up and down the coast with several boats each day. Show up at the dock and buy a ticket. You can mix-and-match train and boat, just carry timetables with you.

See for example https://www.cinqueterre.eu.com/en/boat-excursions and there may be other sites that list additional ferry companies

I was in Cinque Terre in September 2023 and had thoughts of hopping on one of the boats to see the towns from the water. In Monterosso, the lines to get the boats were SO long and the boats looked SO crowded that I decided it wasn't for me.

Cyn, Ken & John, thanks for your help. I think I’m sold on combination of ferry and train, figuring out the schedules on our own. Of the five villages, Rick’s book gives Corniglia and Riomaggiore “try hard to see” ratings (skippable?) vs “don’t miss” for the other three.

Janet, thanks for your comment. Good thing trains are available…unless there’s a strike.

Riomaggiore and Corniglia are slightly less accessible but certainly not impossible. Riomaggiore is very easy to reach by train from La Spezia (only about an 8 minute trip) and you could certainly have a look at the main street and some of the shops and restaurants. When you're ready to leave, you might consider taking the famous Via del'Amore path that leads to Manarola. It's mostly flat and level, however reservations are required and a Park Pass. All the details should be in the current RS Italy guidebook.

The main issue with Corniglia is that it's located up the hill from the station so getting to it means either a hike up numerous stairs or you can take the convenient shuttle that travels up from the train station. If my memory is correct, the park pass covers the cost for that, but it's only a few Euro without that so not a huge expense.

IMHO, Monterosso would be the best place to stop for a fine meal before boarding the ferry back to Riomaggiore or La Spezia. There are a lot of great restaurants there, and a big favourite with many here is Cantina di Miky, which is close to the train station. They have a patio overlooking the ocean, and having that view whilst dining is wonderful.

One final note..... Monterosso has a "new town" and an "old town", which is accessed by walking through a tunnel. The train station is in the new town and the Ferry dock is in the old town (on the right just after you exit the tunnel).

Ken, thanks for all that great info, including recommendations for restaurants. I’ll gain 20 pounds on the trip.

Riomaggiore is our favorite town if the five. It’s where we stayed both of the times we’ve stayed in the Cinque Terre.

Corniglia is the smallest, and least visited of the towns. As crowded as the area is now, that makes it maybe the most appealing - getting away as much as possible from the mobs of other people. We did experience THE BEST gelato in the Cinque Terre at the Alberto gelateria in Corniglia. Their basil and lemon flavor was sublime, and there are others that were almost as perfect. It’s a few steps up the lane from where the sporadic shuttle minibus drops off/picks up passengers at the top of its run. If the bus gets too full for all the people waiting, it takes off and leaves the rest waiting. If walking uphill or downhill to the train station, 11 flights of stairs zigzag up almost 400 steps on the looooooong staircase.

Rick Steves favorite town has always been Vernazza. He has connections there. Three years ago, though, it was literally shoulder-to-shoulder on the main street. The mass of people standing on the main street was moving as slow as molasses, and was solid - from the wall on one side of the street to the wall on the other side, it was side-by-side people. Corniglia had very few people by comparison, and it was enjoyable, as opposed to exasperating.

We did this 35 years ago before Rick Steves publicized it and turned it into Disneyland. If the trails are intact then talking the trail, taking time to visit each village along the way is ideal. We were enchanted on our walk -- but then there were no touristy souvenir shops or restaurants catering to tourists so it was charming and 'real'. The only other visitors we saw were a class of Italian 14 year olds walking the trail with their teacher and when we got to Monterosso a group of German hikers arriving, feathered hats and lederhosen and all.

If you can walk the trail (I don't know how much the weather landslides etc have permanently altered it.

We took the ferry from La Spezia to Monterosso. In only one of the intermediate towns was the sea calm enough to permit docking. So we saw the towns from the water. We would have liked to visit the other towns by train, but the rail system in the area is just too chaotic; we waited over three hours for our return train because of track and/or switch problems between Monterosso and Portovenere. So no other stops. The tourism infrastructure is very inadequate.

The Cinque Terre villages are scenic, for sure, but we didn't find the juice to be worth the squeeze, as my old Texas buddy used to say. We found lots to do and see in La Spezia, though, which we found delightful. IMO the food in La Spezia was the best we had in Italy.

JanetTravels44 and Jphbucks, thanks y'all for the help!

A side note, but if you're thinking of staying in La Spezia then you might want to consider Levanto as an alternate. It doesn't have the ferry connection to the CT towns, you'd need to take a train to one of the CT villages and could take a boat from there. But we were there this past Sept and thought it was a nice-sized town. Big enough so there's plenty of restaurants and shops, but less than a tenth the population of La Spezia.