cars in and to Cinque Terre

You can but it is quite a drive down the mountain. You will want to take your time. You might be better off traveling by train from La Spezia or Levanto

You will be traveling on a four lane freeway till the exit at Levanto. The last few miles are on a regular two lane highway from Levanto to Monterosso. The road becomes very narrow as you come down near Monterosso to the width of just about one wide lane, so be careful not to scratch the mirror on the wall. When you encounter a vehicle coming the opposite direction, the vehicle code requires that the car going downhill pulls over as far as possible to the right to yield to the vehicle coming uphill. That basically means that when you go toward Monterosso, since you will be traveling downhill, in the narrow sections you need to pull to the right to let the cars coming from Monterosso through. Then when you leave town, going uphill, it's your turn to have the right of way.

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The others have provided good directions on how to get to Monterosso, but a few comments on the parking. Monterosso has two sections, an "old town" and a "new town". There are roadways between the two parts, but visitors are not permitted to drive between the two sections.

I believe the directions Roberto provided will lead you to the "new town" area. There is a fairly large car park at that end of town down by the water. I can't remember what the rates are. Are you planning to stay in Monterosso for a few days? A few of the hotels have on-site parking, so that's another option.

There's also a car park located above the "old town", but it's new since my last visit so I can't offer much information on it (I'll know more about it later this year). I suspect the charges will be much the same as the other car park. Roberto or one of the others will have to provide directions to that part of town. Again, there are a few hotels at that end of town that offer free parking, but it's somewhat limited.

Thank you for the information and suggestions. It sounds like the road is narrow and challenging but appreciate the navigation tips! We will give it a try.