My wife and I are taking our first trip to Italy in April. We had planned to visit Cinquie Terra 3 days two night in Mid April. With the flooding back in October do you think we should look at another location. I am concerned that many of the Restuarants, shops and hiking trail may be closed Thanks
Dave
Posted by
Park Ridge, IL
524 posts
Dave Check this website under News and Events as RS is updating info on the Cinque Terre recovery. Note there is always a chance at least part of the hiking trails will be closed. Especially after the rainy winter. This is one of those "you didn't ask" answers. If your trip lasts less than 10 days, I would visit Cinque Terre another time. It takes a long time to get there from anywhere with various train transfers. You might more efficiently use this first visit to add extra days to other places you are visiting. Bobbie
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11818 posts
Dave,
Remember that three of the villages were not damaged: Riomaggiore, Manarola and Corniglia. The others plan to be ready for action for the 2012 season and the hope is to have trails open by Easter. Bobbie has given good advice regarding length of trip: if yours is under two weeks think about whether you want to commit to what is a bit of a long train trip, and also follow the CT updates to see if the trails will be open. The return of travellers to the area is crucial to the residents! Laurel
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32386 posts
Dave, It's important to keep in mind that only two of the five Cinque Terre villages were damaged in the flooding, and only the "old town" section of Monterosso was affected. The other three villages will be "open for business" when tourist season starts next year. At this point it's difficult to say how much of Vernazza will be restored, but repairs have been ongoing. You shouldn't have any problems finding restaurants, shops or other facilities in that area. Regarding the trails, local authorities have announced that they plan to have the majority of trails open by Easter. Hopefully they'll be able to achieve that. Regarding the comments in the previous reply, the Cinque Terre is not really all that difficult to reach. A lot will depend on where you'll be prior to that stop. For example, there's a direct train from Roma Termini to La Spezia with a travel time of ~3H:45M, which is not really a big problem (at least IMHO). Cheers!