Carrara as home base for Cinque Terre

It is good idea to have Eurail passes with car you will not see much .

The problem with “day trips” to the Cinque Terre villages is that the trains (and boats) are VERY crowded. As in, packed in like sardines. At least it was like that when we visited 9 years ago, and I cann only assume it has gotten worse.

It is best to stay IN one of the villages, where you will have some breathing room in the morning and evening, before and after the day-trippers arrive.

As I recall from a visit there, the town of Carrara isn't particularly charming. If it were me, I'd stay somewhere in or immediately adjoining the Cinque Terre towns and day trip to Carrara to visit your friend. Regional train tickets are very inexpensive in that area, so carefully consider whether to use your rail pass on days when you're only taking short train trips.

Carrara is flat and uninteresting. The town revolves around one thing--marble. Better to stay in a place that caters to tourists, but at this late date, your options might be slim.

Thanks. I will look for places to stay in Cinque Terre and either day tripping to Carrara or staying a single day there as it sounds like that's the best option. Saving train passes isn't an issue as we are covered for the entire trip duration.

AP,

For travel in early June, you need to get accommodations booked NOW in the Cinque Terre as it will be busy. I'd suggest starting to look in Monterosso, as it's the largest of the five towns and therefore has the greatest number of hotels and other lodgings. If you can't find something in one of the five towns, look at Levanto or as a last resort, La Spezia.

One other point to mention regarding your Eurail passes. These DO NOT include the compulsory reservation fees for the express / high speed trains in Italy. You'll have to buy those separately out-of-pocket. Even with a Rail pass, if you're caught on an express train without a valid reservation for that specific train, you'll be subject to hefty fines which will be collected on the spot! Express trains include the high speed Freccia and Intercity trains. AFAIK, Rail passes are NOT accepted on the competing Italo Treno high speed rail network.

For future reference, rail passes are generally not a cost effective choice for Italy as the trains are relatively inexpensive, especially the Regionale trains.

Thanks, I'm hoping to book a place today. I took a cursory look at Monterosso last night and there were plenty of Airbnbs left (though whether they're the cheapest or nicest is another matter). If there's availability everywhere, which town would you suggest?

Thanks for the heads up on the trains too. It took me a minute to figure out the difference between the dotted line R (reservation optional), and solid R (reservation required). If we do an Italy specific trip, I will remember your advice on passes. This trip we are all over the place for 3 weeks, so a 22 day pass made the most sense (plus they were on sale when we bought them!).

Carrara is a great place to visit and hardly flat and uninteresting to visitors who do some research. However, it is a terrible choice for a base without a car. The rail station is in the frazione of Avenza, far from the historic center. Go with Monterosso or Levanto if you've not been to the CT before.

AP,

Monterosso is the town I'd suggest, and it's my favourite of the five towns. I normally stay in one of my favourite hotels in Europe when I visit Monterosso, so I don't have any information on Air BnB type accommodations.

Monterosso has a good choice of restaurants and other tourist amenities, so it's a great place to stay.

I wanted to post a follow up with some advice for anyone considering a similar itinerary. We ended up staying 2 nights in Vernazza (which was great). After that we booked a B&B for $75/night in Carrara ((Merlo d'Oro, it's an active farm). They have only been open for a couple months, so everything is freshly renovated and in immaculate shape. The owners speak almost no English (and we very little Italian), but are some of the nicest folks we've met. There was a mixup on their end with room availability for our second night, and they put us up in their house instead. We had the best meal of our trip (so far!) at a place called Ristorante bistrot la Grande Bellezza. The owner was extremely attentive, explained every dish to us and made excellent suggestions on what we should choose, tailoring the plates to our preferences.

The entire town has gorgeous marble work throughout due to the proximity of the quarries, and a rich history going back hundreds of years. The quarries themselves are amazing as well.

It was also entirely authentic Italy without a selfie stick (or any other tourists so far as we could tell) in sight. We hopped the train to Riomaggiore and Manorola one day, and it was no big deal - less than an hour each way.

I do agree that to best experience the Cinque Terre you need to stay there (it's amazing before/after the peak hours), but don't write off the surrounding area for some unforgettable experiences.

Staying in Carrara, a quarry tour, riding around with Gabrielle in his Range Rover, is very enjoyable and instructive:

http://www.cavedimarmotours.com/it/

Passes are not efficient in Italy.

If there are ships in port, Monterosso is the most impacted, followed by Vernazza; Manarola and Riommagiore the least:

http://crocierelaspezia.altervista.org/calendario2019.pdf

I think you've heard this already, but Cinque Terre is better at night than in the daytime. If you can get a hotel/B&B at this late date, I'd do so. Arrive late in the afternoon, stay overnight, leave in the morning. Avoid people like us.