Cinque Terra

Are you planning to use a car during any other part of your trip? Where else are you going?

Yes we are driving to Siena for 3 nights. We will return the car at airport in Rome. My husband wants to drive.

Trains will be easier and cheaper on the route you're proposing. Parking is limited in the CT and difficult in Siena. You'll have tolls and expensive fuel as well. Unless you're planning a number of nights elsewhere in rural areas, I'd recommend the trains. And I, too, love to drive.

I agree with Doug. I like a car when needed, but with your itinerary it would be a liability.

Liability - as is the case with MOST rental cars ;-)

I hear what you are saying. From what I read there are pros and cons. We are arriving in Venice after 2 weeks in Greece. I know how to pack on the light side but the thought of dragging suit cases on off trains every 3 days is not appealing. I have read the train schedules to and from Cinque Terra you need to change trains at least twice. Also our hotel is at the airport in Rome.Still deciding. Thanks for the input.

Getting on and off trains will be easy compared to dealing with the headache of a car in those places. If you are planning to stay in/tour Tuscany in an Agriturismo or something I would suggest a car for that part of the trip. In the CT if you do find a place to park you will just be paying for a car you can't use. That seems a pretty expensive alternative to avoiding a few trains.

You can park in a big lot in Monterosso al Mare, not very expensive but may fill up at times. It looks like a beautiful drive in from Levanto, I will know more after this summer. Or stay in Levanto 4 minutes by train. Or park in La Speiza and train to any of the five towns.
Enjoy!

The drive into CT is beautiful. Esp. just a couple of miles before you get into CT. Alot of the hotels will have limited parking and I think we paid 10 euro a day but that was 3 yrs ago. I would let your hotel know you want a spot if available before arriving. Garages and lots can be very small and tight so hope you get a compact. We stayed in Riomaggiore and there's a small public garage there as well as the bigger lot in Monterosso. I think there's one in the hills above Vernazza also.

Hello Christine, We were in the Cinque Terre a couple of weeks ago and drove in and stayed in Corniglia. Granted you need to use a little winding (and at times) very narrow road, but I personnally thought it was a fun drive. There is a small (and free) parking in Corniglia. We were there for three days and left the car in the parking lot the whole times using the trains to shuttle between the towns. We loved it! Bon voyage,

We stayed in Monterosso at an Agriturizmo and had no issue with parking. Likewise in Siena, although we stayed in another Agriturizmo just outside Siena. Both were AMAZING and had free parking. Im with you, wanted a car and SOOOO glad we did. We found out very easy to drive and get around- with a GPS.
The places we stayed were called Buranco in Menterosso and Il Canto Del Sol in Siena. The thing I liked best with these places was while they were close to town, the one in Monterosso especialy you could walk to town it was very peaceful to come back to the winery in the evening. The one in Siena was only about a 5 min drive outside the city walls.