Cinque Terre Express

They actually want to restrict flow of visitors. This won't help.

Thanks for the news. I assume that Trenitalia's goal is to improve safety by reducing train crowding and platform crowding. If it keeps blitz-tourists moving along, then perhaps that will also mean less loitering at another location, or more people choosing train over boats. I see that the new timings are already reflected in the DeutscheBahn schedule search, as well.

It was only a matter of time before some powerful local would complain about the crowded commuter trains and force Trenitalia and the Region of Liguria to act. Local residents living in the region (and not just in those 5 villages) have to use the same trains to go to work and school.

Laurel,

Interesting news! Thanks for posting that.

There is a little more info on the blog A Path to Lunch. APTL is an excellent source of info on Liguria.

Great info, Laurel, and thanks so much for sharing it!

It's amazing to me that the crowds still keep flocking to these villages in ever greater number...causing huge crowds and stuffing into the trains like too many sardines in a can! This is a nice area - it's NOT a fantastic, best place in the world, do everything you can to get there - type of place. There are WONDERFUL places to visit in Europe, fantastic scenery all around - I wouldn't even classify the CT into WONDERFUL or FANTASTIC. We spent a couple of nights in Monterosso, took the hugely crowded boat from Monterosso to another village, hiked some trails, road the train, fought for a lunch table in Vernazza - and it was one of the most lackluster 2 nights we spent on the entire trip. I don't ever feel the need to return to the area.

I am online enough to remember a time when Rick Steves had not discovered yet Cinque Terre, and naming them on a travel newsgroup draw the usenet equivalent of blank stares. I guess that when many people will un-discover and skip them, they will regain their attraction.

It's amazing to me that the crowds still keep flocking to these
villages in ever greater number...causing huge crowds and stuffing
into the trains like too many sardines in a can!

Maybe someone else can answer this question but the bigger issue appears to be proximity to cruise-ship ports and expansion of La Spezia's. Because the CT is so close, it's a no-brainer for their tours. What with ever-larger ships and more of them being able to dock…

I wonder at what point cruise lines started adding the CT to their tour options, and at what point did that straw (reportedly) break the camel's back?

@Kathy,

I think the cruise ships just started about 3-4 years ago. When we visited in Oct 2010 & OCt 2012 it was not so bad. By Oct 2013 the daytrippers were an onslaught and that is when we noticed we could hardly squeeze on a train at certain times of the day.

Thanks, Laurel; I'd been wondering around what year it all went insane.

This, from a local in 2013, was interesting. I hadn't heard that previous pleas had already been made to the port authorities to help stagger or otherwise control the flow.

http://www.anaussieinitaly.com/cruises-cinque-terre/

And this more recently about the proposed controls (which won't be happening this year):
http://www.anaussieinitaly.com/cinque-terre-limit-tourists/

Kathy, those two articles were both interesting reads and the best argument I have seen yet to not visit the CT villages on a day trip. It needs to be done as a 2-3 night stay and preferably in the off-season. I understand the cruise ship passengers' desire to see the area but they need to realize that, as the author of those articles stated, they won't enjoy or be impressed with their time there if it's done this way - and then they'll just wonder what all the fuss was about.

I've not done a Mediterranean cruise but I can't imagine wasting my precious port time this way. I have done several Caribbean cruises but the majority of my time in port I organized my own transportation and made my own plans on what to see and do, staying away from the cruise sponsored shore excursions whenever possible. I maybe missed some 'must see' places or outings that way but I don't think I suffered much because of it, I had wonderful uncrowded off the beaten path experiences that are some of my best memories of the islands.

Nancy, I'm not sure how many of them know what they're getting into? If you spend any time on travel forums (and all of you on this thread obviously do) you know how little research many individuals do before their trips? It's very easy to get sucked into pretty pictures and come-hither ad text that don't reveal the whole story.

I've seen posters who expect the CT to be "sleepy little towns!"

If you spend any time on travel forums (and all of you on this thread obviously do) you know how little research many individuals do before their trips?

Anybody hanging around here sees plenty of those.....

I'm leaving for XXX next week. What is there to see there?