My partner and I are traveling on our own around Italy - a dream to be realized. Love the idea of seeing Cinque Terre but we are older and couldn't handle lots of walking with baggage or steep hikes, which I understand would be great there. We are traveling from Venice by train to? and then plan to drive eventually to/thru Tuscany and Siena, before heading to Florence. I see an update to my travel book shows the Cinque Terrre has an Express train. How could we use that to enjoy the area, perhaps staying in one of the cities there a night or two? Could we use the train as a sightseeing trip from one end to the other, or?? Are there boat tours? would love to see all or most of the towns but our foot travel is slower than it used to be. Open to ideas. Thanks!
Posted by
California 🦋
5217 posts
You can certainly enjoy visiting the CT without doing any of the Hikes!
My mom, who was 81 at the time, and I visited the CT a few years ago.
You can take the train & visit all of the villages. You can also take the ferry ( more expensive than the train) to each of the villages except for Corniglia. Corniglia doesn't have a ferry dock, but you can take the train, then a bus to reach the village, instead of climbing the steps (we skipped this village because we didn't know about the bus)
We stayed in a hotel near the train station, on the waterfront (no steps), in Monterosso which is the largest village. We walked on Via dell'Amore, a flat paved pathway built along the cliff connecting Manarola & Riomaggiore, with spectacular views! My mom was allowed to go on the elevator instead of taking the stairs to reach the pathway. I don't know if it's completely open now, or only partially open, but it's a must , if you go to the CT.
The train travels among the villages very frequently & it's very inexpensive.
Here are a couple of websites you may be interested in:
When do you plan to travel?
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thank you to priscilla! Will plan to visit, then, and use some of your tips. We are late 60s-mid 70s and can get around reasonably well, so will look forward to this. We're leaving Venice 9/15 and probably heading to CT via Florence train. Good idea?
Posted by
Forest Grove, OR
11334 posts
Great advice from Priscilla. Do take the train to the Cinque Terre from Venezia. Rent your car in La Spezia after your time in the Cinque Terre for your drive to/through Tuscany.
Posted by
Tel Aviv
15589 posts
One thing to consider is that in the past 3-4 years, the CT has become a tourist "mecca" for land-based travelers but especially for cruise ship passengers. It's often packed with people. Priscilla was there few years ago; I was there 8 years ago in October and there were hardly any other tourists, but that has changed dramatically. This forum has had lots of threads in the past year or two, describing the crowds and giving tips on how to avoid them - mainly heading to the less accessible trails during the day and enjoying the towns in the early morning and late evening hours before/after the day trippers, or visiting similar nearby coastal towns.
There are lots of wonderful places in Italy. Since you plan to have a car, you could spend time in nearby Umbria (Assisi, Orvieto) instead.
Posted by
Washington DC
27142 posts
When considering a visit to small, touristy areas that get cruise traffic, it's very useful to know how many ships will be in port nearby on your target days. Small towns can get swamped by cruise traffic. The CruiseTT website lists cruise ships due in port by day. Scroll down to Italy and click one-by-one on Livorno, La Spezia, La Spezia (Cinque Terre), and Santa Margherita. (I don't know why there are two separate listings for La Spezia.) Those are all cities from which ship passengers can readily visit the Cinque Terre.
Select the month of your planned visit, and you'll see which ships, if any, are in port each day. If you click on one of the ship names and look for your date in the schedule, the "Port Load" column will tell you (I think) the total capacity of all the ships due in port that day. If you can hit days with no ships, your experience will be much nicer. I wouldn't want to be in Cinque Terre when multiple huge ships are in nearby ports.
Posted by
California 🦋
5217 posts
Chani makes a great point regarding the cruise crowds.
We were also there in October, eight years ago (can't believe it's been that long!) & there were very few tourists. I also don't recall seeing any cruise ships at the time.
Chani, we may have crossed paths!
Small world...
Posted by
Alabama
21 posts
Two friends and I visited Cinque Terre last May. I was 73 at the time, my friends late 60"s. We also stayed in a hotel on waterfront with an elevator and fabulous breakfast. I think it was Hotel Pasquale. We spent two nights and had a wonderful time. If the weather cooperates the boat is a lovely way to see the area. We left on an early ferry so we could stop at a couple of the towns and then take the next one. We also took the train some as well. There are a few little walks with great views. We were apparently there when there was no cruise ships.
Posted by
Alabama
21 posts
Two friends and I visited Cinque Terre last May. I was 73 at the time, my friends late 60"s. We also stayed in a hotel on waterfront with an elevator and fabulous breakfast. I think it was Hotel Pasquale. We spent two nights and had a wonderful time. If the weather cooperates the boat is a lovely way to see the area. We left on an early ferry so we could stop at a couple of the towns and then take the next one. We also took the train some as well. There are a few little walks with great views. We were apparently there when there was no cruise ships.