Cinque Terre Crowd Facts

How crowded it feels really depends when and where you go in the CT. I visited briefly in May (had been there twice before). I visited only Riomaggiore and Vernazza this last time. Riomaggiore didn't seem particularly mobbed - there were tourists in the morning but not mobs of them. The little main square was almost empty. The train station was not crowded. But, because the Via dell'Amore is still closed, most tourists won't hike to/from the town so that might keep some of the visitors away.

Vernazza was much more crowded when I arrived mid-morning. I took a boat from Riomaggiore - the boat was packed heading north before it even got to Riomaggiore.

I would never want to visit the CT on Easter weekend or in the summer. I'd stick to shoulder season or even off-season, taking a chance about rains maybe making the open trails dangerous (perhaps they are closed due to that sometimes).

There is much more in the beautiful Italian Riviera than the Cinque Terre, though. Last May I spend three nights in the lovely town of Camogli, about an hour north of the CT by train, close to Santa Margherita Ligure. In May the town was pretty quiet, and there almost no tourists on the (difficult but scenic) hike from nearby San Rocco to the San Fruttuoso abbey - a sharp contrast to the busy trails in the Cinque Terre.

They are victims of their own success.
I have been there more than enough times in the 1980s and 1990s when crowds were more manageable.
In this century I have been there only because I had to take relatives from the US who had never been there before. It’s no longer fun during peak times. Time to move on and discover other places.

Those crowds in the picture! I could think of nothing worse.

Those pictures are so sad! I feel so bad for the residents who live there, they must feel like Disneyland moved in right on top of them. We were lucky to have a much better experience than that in October of 2016.

I have been there several times, and am going back this May. I go during the week, never the weekend. I look at the cruise ship schedule, so I know to get going early on those days. Yes, Vernazza especially, gets crowded during the day, but there are other towns - Riomaggiore, Manarola, and Corniglia, which are less so. Maybe because I live in a crowded city, I am used to it!

Lord - I thought our 2nd visit in 2012 the train stns were crowded - they have nothing on those photos! So disheartening, because how can you even enjoy that? There will be a lot of people with a bad taste in their mouth if they go when those mobs are about (same as the people who dislike Venice because they only see the crowded cattle run between Rialto and St Marks)

Is Via Dell'Amore still closed?

"Is Via Dell'Amore still closed?"

Yes, and it will likely remain closed for at least the remainder of this year.

Mike,

That's an interesting article. I suppose it's not unusual for more crowds at Easter. I've witnessed some horrendously crowded conditions in the towns (especially Vernazza) and on the trains, but the photos in the article looked even worse. As stated in an earlier reply, the C.T. may have become a victim of it's own success. I hope to get back to that area in the near future, and it will be interesting to see the difference from my last visit.

With the Via Dell'Amore closed....how does that affect the hike between all 5 towns? Is there another way to get around that particular section? We were planning on staying in Riomaggiore in late April...but will we be cut off from the other towns?

The trains between towns are quick and frequent - they tunnel right through the rock. You won't be cut off at all in Riomaggiore. (There are other ways to walk or hike to Manarola as I understand it just not as direct as the Via Dell'Amore.) There are also tourist excursion boats in the daytime between towns.

With the Via Dell'Amore closed....how does that affect the hike
between all 5 towns?

By "the hike between 5 towns" you were probably thinking the Sentiero Azzurro (Blue Path) route between Riomaggiore and Monterosso.

Two of the 4 segments of that route - one of them being the Via dell'Amore - have been closed to landslides/rockfall for some years now and are not expected to open again in 2018. It's not possible to hike between Corniglia>Manarola> Riomaggiore on that specific route. The remaining segments (Monterrosso>Vernazza> Corniglia) can also close abruptly to heavy rainfall or damage: the "Blue" has become a shoulder-to-shoulder conga line of tourists that it wasn't built to handle.

There are many other trails in the park's system, just generally longer and more strenuous than the "Blue". And yes, all 5 towns are connected by train, and 4 of the 5 (all but Corniglia) by ferry during the warmer months.

For trail information/status:
http://www.parconazionale5terre.it/Esentieri-outdoor.php

As you can see from the map, the entire Sentiero Azzurro (592 1-4) shows as currently closed but that's probably not unusual for deep winter.

we were unfortunately in heavy crowds during our visit May 2015, so different than our first visit in 2005. I analogize the crowds to "if Epcot and Animal kingdom were closed and all the tourist went to Disneyworld all in one day" that was our trip to Cinque Terre. I was even pickpocketed there (it was my fault for putting my camera in my pocket) but we were in the train like sardines and I was pushed and pulled constantly. Walking in Vernazza was not fun either, it was very heavily crowded and I am petite and was lost in the crowds until the coastline. There has been such a dramatic change over the years, especially with the crowds from the cruise ships.

I really don't think there is a time without heavy crowds, so if you are going just expect it and you won't be disappointed.

I visited the CT at the end of September last year. The crowds weren't bad. The beaches were still nice, but were being closed down. This left more and more beach "free." The weather was pleasant. Trains weren't horribly crowded. There were many tourists, but not to the point of gridlock. I stayed in Monterosso and visited a couple of the other towns. The train station ticket area in La Spezia was crowded. Buy tickets elsewhere, if possible. Ticket machines are available at all the stations. Get used to using them.

We were there in early July of 2012. There were many people, but it wasn't a crush, and trains weren't over full. Too bad it's become so crowded.

You know, this is a reminder to all of us to focus on the many positive experiences we have during our travels. I had been reading guidebooks for nearly 10 years by the time I took my first trip to Europe in 1972. I was very aware that things had been a lot cheaper and less crowded in the early 1960s. Though I wouldn't have wanted Europe to go back to the very difficult post-war years, I was sort of sorry I had missed out on the bargains. Still, I did my research and visited a lot of interesting places. I just had to stay in some really sub-par lodgings.

Looking back, the 1970s and 1980s presented me with some great opportunities--the Cinque Terre and Plitvice Lakes National Park among them. And the Vatican Museums and Barcelona were not overrun in the late 1980s. Those are all difficult destinations now that require some contortions to see them at their (current) best. Who knew that IATA's airfare price controls were having a positive effect for the people who could afford to travel at the time?

But there are always new frontiers to explore. I wonder which of the places we're visiting easily these days we'll be thrilled to have seen when we look back 10 years from now.

Timing is everything for popular places. If you haven't been, go but try to do what you can to avoid peak times.
I can recall walking through the Forbidden City practically by myself one morning. It was cold, I got there very early..it was amazing. By ten AM it was over-run with people.
Weekdays, early, late...

Those crowds are horrific, obviously.

If I had to guess there was more than just overcrowding going on for the situation/photos to be like this.
Likely there was a combo of crowds and the train having an issue (not running temporarily for some reason).
When the trains stop running due to track or mechanical issues the little stations become total gridlock and are overrun so could see these photos happening in that scenario ; unlikely for it to look like this with trains running normally.