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Cinque Terre from Switzerland: road trip or hub vacation?

Posted by (Buchs SG, Switzerland) on

My gf and I are planning/considering a vacation in Cinque Terre in the week leading up to easter this year. We're from Switzerland so we're considering doing something of a road trip with other stops as well.

Some cursory research indicates:
* 5.3 hours to drive from our home to la Spezia (maybe it would be a good idea to add a stopover each way)
* CT packed on easter itself (not much info on the weekend and week before)
* Best to stick to PT in CT (hence drive to la Spezia)
* Recommendations to stay range from 2 to 5 days

Preliminary plan:
* March 24th (Sat) Depart to some nice stopover place (Como, Asti, ???)
* March 25th (Sun) Travel to CT
* Mon-Thu Enjoy CT with sightseeing, hiking, etc.
* March 30th (Fri) Travel to some other nice place a little more off the grid (Civita di Bagnoregio, Florence, San Giminiano)
* March 31th (Sat) Enjoy that place
* April 1st (Sun) Start our way home. stopover somewhere halfway (Verona / Lake Garda?)
* April 2nd (Mon) Get stuck in traffic with all the other Swiss trying to get back in...

We enjoy great natural sights, beautiful towns, nice buildings and to lesser degree interesting locations.

Questions:
* Does this make sense or am I mad?
* Any suggestions for our stop overs?
* Any sights activities we shouldn't miss?

Thank you

Posted by
15158 posts

A lot of driving and very little staying, in my opinion.
Cinque Terre for 3 nights is ideal, but in April water sports are out, so you could do with 2.
Civita is too far south. Tuscany is more doable. Choose a small town and base yourself there for at least 3 nights. Florence with a car is a hassle. If you do stay 3 nights in Florence in a hotel outside the city center with parking.

Posted by
1829 posts

Cinque Terre not sure at it's best in late March.

If going at this time of year and you are driving yourself I would drive and park into one of the town's parking lots and not park in La Spieza at that time of year unless this is such a popular Holiday week before Easter in Italy that it will be crowded beyond the usual for this time of year.
Easter weekend will be crowded at any touristy location I imagine, probably best to avoid traveling for pleasure purposes that weekend which makes your plan tough to endorse.

A 5.5 hour drive in my opinion does not need an overnight in between.
Add one if you want to stay somewhere but not just because.

Civita di Bagnoregio doesn't seem like a place worth driving so far out of the way to get to in your case and there are plenty of other places I think you would be better off staying the night.
Florence, San Gim are both nice ; so is Siena, Lucca, Volterra but anything further South than Florence makes your ride home worse. Florence definitely not off the grid and really needs more time to see though.

On the ride home the overnight in Verona would be a good idea, though this would be on Easter right ; so everything closed? That is a town where in 1 night you can easily see the highlights. Lake Garda not sure if that is at it's best in March either so probably skip able.

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