Car v train to Cinque Terre from Florence

Parking is pretty difficult in cinque terra. Also the roads are pretty narrow and winding and once you are there a car isn't needed if you are staying in town. The local train goes to all the towns regularly. This might help plan a train trip. http://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Florence.htm#.V8mXOo-cHIU

Six days in 5 Terre is a lot of time. Consider train trips to other locales, or, adjusting your itinerary.

No car, waste of time and money. Use the train from La Spezia.

I don't know why it doesn't get much talked about, but instead of taking a bus to Firenze SMN (main station), I believe that it's also possible to get a local bus or taxi from Florence airport to the nearby Sesto Fiorentino station for a connection like this:

Sesto Fiorentino Su, 11.09.16 dep 10:22 R 3112

Viareggio Su, 11.09.16 arr 11:50

Transfer time 10 min.

Viareggio Su, 11.09.16 dep 12:00 IC 35670

La Spezia Centrale Su, 11.09.16 arr 12:36

Transfer time 19 min.

La Spezia Centrale Su, 11.09.16 dep 12:55 R 21198

Riomaggiore Su, 11.09.16 arr 13:02

Please note
Duration: 2:40

Laura, thank you this information. Does this train schedule run in the afternoon? We don't arrive in Florence till 11:30 am.

If you are going to the 5 Terre directly it would have made more sense to fly to Pisa. If you can't make that change anymore, you should have asked for advice here sooner.

Renting a car to go to the 5 Terre for a week is a waste of money because you can't use cars there and it will stay parked all day. Neither La Spezia parking lot at the station nor Riomaggiore parking garage are cheap. So the train is the most logical choice. I don't recommend catching the train in Sesto Fiorentino because that line (via Pistoia Lucca Viareggio) is slower. It makes more sense to catch a train to Pisa (faster rail line) at the Firenze Rifredi or Firenze SMN (some trains to Pisa don't stop at Rifredi station).

I also agree that anything more than 3 nights at the 5 Terre would bore me to death.

To see train schedules go to:
www.trenitalia.com
Enter
From FIRENZE (TUTTE LE STAZIONI),
which means Florence all stations. That way you see also if Rifredi is a good option.
To: RIOMAGGIORE
Date: enter date
Hour: enter 11, which will show all trains after 11am till end of day

There are similar Sesto Fiorentino departures at 12:22 and 13:22, again 2h 40m to Riomaggiore. Or if you go to Firenze Rifredi station, you have these options with 1 connection:

Firenze Rifredi Su, 11.09.16 dep 12:59 R 23397

La Spezia Centrale Su, 11.09.16 arr 15:20

Transfer time 25 min.

La Spezia Centrale Su, 11.09.16 dep 15:45 R 11374

Riomaggiore Su, 11.09.16 arr 15:52

Duration: 2:53

OR

Firenze Rifredi Su, 11.09.16 dep 13:59 R 23455

La Spezia Centrale Su, 11.09.16 arr 16:21

Transfer time 29 min.

La Spezia Centrale Su, 11.09.16 dep 16:50 R 21224

Riomaggiore Su, 11.09.16 arr 16:58

Duration: 2:59

Times from the DB link at How to Look Up Train Schedules and Routes Online.

Roberto, Flights have been booked for months so no changes of arrival city. Re. "we should have asked these questions sooner". Would it have made a difference? I will look up the train schedules - thank you.

Thank you again Laura for the information. We will follow your advice.

It would have made a difference. If you asked before booking the flights somebody here would have advised you to search flights to Pisa, if that was your first destination. Pisa has a bigger airport than Florence with more flights and it's much closer to the Cinque Terre.

Catching the trains at Sesto using that rail line may or may not make sense depending on the time of arrival. So compare the options on the Trenitalia schedule.

A better option in my opinion is to go to FIRENZE RIFREDI which is the closest station to the airport. Trains headed to the coast via Pisa or via Viareggio (I.e. the Sesto route) will pass by Rifredi first. Therefore you have them all at your disposal at that station. The only exception is 6 trains a day that go from SMN to Pisa with no intermediate stops.

Thank you Roberto,
Your advice is valuable. I will research the trains and times.
Hilary

I am not aware of buses from the airport to the Sesto Fiorentino station. As for taking a taxi, Roberto is right in pointing that Rifredi is closer.
[Do not suggest Castello station. It is by the end of the airport runway but passenger service is limited.]

If you happen to go to the Firenze Rifredi station, across the street from it, there is a 5 story apartment building where I lived between the age of four and seven years old (7 Via Dello Steccuto was the address). That station was our playground. We used to play hide and seek there, and of course we used to play pranks on the station rail workers. Not the safest place for kids that age to play, but it was a fun place for us to roam around. I knew the place like my back of my hands. It's been renovated a bit since that long time ago, but I have good memories of it. Say hi to it for me.

We had four glorious days based in Manarola and would have happily stayed longer. The Cinque Terre are still charming little Italian villages, even if they are overrun with tourists. I'm not sure if the season runs into September, but if you can find a good vantage point overlooking the Mediterranean at about 10 p.m., and see if the acciughe (anchovy) fishermen are out. Each night on our terrace in Manarola we'd have a glass of vino or grappa and watch the choreographed movement of the 5 - 10 pairs of boats as they did their aquatic dance while harvesting their catch. Even if you think you hate anchovies, try the fresh ones as many ways as you can. They were a revelation and they are sublime. My favorite was deep fried and served like French fries. They are amazing.

If you don't need to be rushing through your vacation at a Germanic pace, I think you could easily have a grand time spending six days in Cinque Terre. As they say in Italy "Diverta!"

We're really looking forward to our visit to CT which was somewhat of an add on to our visit to the Florence area. I'm sure we'll have a great time in CT.

Divertitevi.

Just returned from Florence and Corniglia. We were coming from France so came into C.T. by Train and stayed 3 days. Would have loved 5 days!!! We hiked to Vernazza. Our view of the Med. was so beautiful, we spent hours looking at the sunrise/ sunset. Have also been to Monterosso in the past.
We took a train from C.T. to Florence that stopped in every little town so took 2.5 hours?, but was nice and relaxing and inexpensive. I would suggest getting there by train. I absolutely would not recommend having a car. I can only speak for Corniglia and there was almost no parking and the shuttles from train station up to the town of Cornelia were very rough on the drivers. I think it's risky to expect parking.
FYI-I am in my mid 50s and worked out on stairs before going to C.T. because I had been there before. My husband and kids were in better shape, but I found the ascents and descents on the hiking trails quite challenging (especially the red trail). It's all worth it though. Most beautiful place we have ever visited. Also, you may need to get a taxi from the airport to the SMN station in Florence that takes you to the C.T. Not sure if there is a bus that goes from airport all the way to SMN station, but if so, buses are 2 Euros.