Cinque Terre in 8 hours?

You probably won't have time for more than a stroll through 2 of the Cinque Terre towns, a hike between them and a meal. Transportation to and from the Cinque Terre could take around 3 hours, which would include travel time from Portofino to the train station in Santa Margherita Ligure, train travel to Cinque Terre and your return in plenty of time for your ship's departure. I suggest going to Vernazza, exploring, hiking to Monterosso, having lunch, walking around town and then catching a return train from there. That itinerary in Cinque Terre would likely take at least 4 hours. If you did have a little extra time before catching your return train, Monterosso has the best beaches.

Or stay nearby and enjoy beautiful Santa Margherita Ligure, Camogli and Portofino.

Pick one or, two towns to visit. You're gonna use at least an hour going to and from so you really only have 7-hours at the most of in-town time.

If you're active, the hike between Corniglia-to-Vernazza I particularly enjoyed. Get off at Corniglia train station then hike up a bunch of paved switchbacks to the town itself. Bring a couple of liters of water as there's a couple of sections that are exposed to the hot sun and there's a few up-hill sections. You drop into Vernazza, winding through the narrow pathways onto the main street; find a focaccia place for lunch or, one of the restaurants along the waterfront. The hike can take around 2-hours depending on conditions and how you're doing.

Leave enough time to anticipate train problems or strikes, which are very real. The trains running the Cinque Terre are the rickety regional jalopies. Last time I was there, we sat in a town's station for 90-minutes as a strike was happening...went to the store and bought beer & chips waiting it out.

The problem is that you don't have 9 hours or even 8 to work with, realistically. You have to figure time it will take to get off the ship and then from Portofino to the CT by combo of bus and train. Same with the return trip, and making final boarding time. Not sure but I figure it's over an hour each way to the nearest CT town. As suggested, I might just consider exploring Santa Margherita Ligure instead.

Thank you so much for all the great responses and information. Meeting with our group this weekend and will be sure to share all of the great suggestions with them. Karen

What shore tours is the cruise line offering? That will give you some insight into how far you can travel and what you can do in the available time

klang,

A visit to a couple of the Cinque Terre towns might be possible, but it could be a bit "risky" if the return train is late for any reason. If you can get off the ship and to the Santa Margherita Ligure rail station by 10:16, there's an Intercity train departure that will get you to Monterosso at 11:05 (49 minutes). A Taxi from the dock to the rail station would be prudent. For the return trip there's a departure from Monterosso at 16:55, arriving in S. Margherita Ligure at 17:44 (time 49 minutes). Again, use a Taxi from the station to the docks. Will your ship be departing at 19:00?

Is your cruise ship bringing passengers into Portofino by tender? If that's the case, you'd still have to get from Portofino to Santa Margherita, which could take an hour or so (even though the actual boat trip is only about 20 minutes).

If there's a group, you might consider hiring a private car service and splitting the cost. How large is the group? That will likely be a bit pricey as the driver would have to sit around and wait until the return trip. Have a look at THIS service for one example. Their Vans will accommodate seven passengers. However there are no guarantees with that method either as an "incidente stradale" or whatever could bring traffic to a halt.

As someone else mentioned, what day tours are being offered by the cruise line?

You might find it helpful to have a look at Rick's European Cruise Ports guidebook - https://store.ricksteves.com/shop/p/mediterranean-cruise-ports (I'm not sure if it includes Portofino - hopefully someone else can clarify that).

Thank you for all your great suggestions. The Windstar cruise offers a boat tour to Monterosso and Vernazza with a guided walking tour and some free time $189.00 pp. We also found a private car to take us to Monterosso and pick us up there after we visit on our own ( either walking or ferry to Vernazza and back) $204.00 pp. After reading the many responses it seems like these two options are not as bad as we thought. If the weather is poor, the cruise tour will be canceled so we are taking a gamble with that. $1224.00 for a private driver seemed a bit $$$ but then we have nothing to compare it to. We just don't want to be stressed out on this special Anniversary trip.

$1224.00 for a private driver seemed a bit $$$

LOL. That would largely pay for our hotels in Italy for a whole week so would be WAY out of our range. Everybody's budget is different, though, so.... The plus about the cruise tours is that they'll make SURE you get back to ship on time, and you don't have to hit the ground trying to figure out/stress about the logistics. Then again, just exploring S. Margherita Ligure on your own would involve very little risk, time spent in transport (just a short-ish bus or cab ride) or advance, non-cancellable financial commitment should the weather be uncooperative.

The thing about the CT is if you day- trip it, you'll end up smack in the middle of the hours the horde of OTHER day trippers will be there. IMHO, it's a place that'd best enjoyed with overnight stays to enjoy the early/later hours the day trippers aren't there. Hopefully this won't be your last look at Italy and you could plan a future trip in which to give CT more time?

If you used taxis between port and SML train station and trains to/from Cinque Terre, your transportation cost per person would likely be under 50 euro per person, and possibly as little as 30-40 euro per person. If you tell the taxi driver what time your return train arrives at SML station, they may agree to meet you there at that time. That reduces the risk of not getting a timely taxi ride back to the dock.

Thank you so much for all the wonderful and informative information. We have decided to go with a private driver and guide offered through Windstar. We feel this is our safest choice because it is Windstar's responsibility to get us to and from the ship. We still will have enough time for a hike between Monterosso and Vernazza have lunch and then take a ferry back to Monterosso to meet up with our driver. We will be leaving in 6 weeks so I will let you all know how it worked out!

Karen

It make senses to use the boats services when they are offered. They have the onus to make sure that you return on time.
The cost for a few hour flyby to CT...outrageous (IMHO) but it's your salad. As much as we like the area it seems inconceivable to pay that much to visit for a few hours. It's not like you are stepping on the Mendenhall Glacier and CT is a place to enjoy at a leisurely pace, not in a frantic hours long visit.
During the day the CT is over-run with tourists. It's best appreciated when the crowds die out in the afternoon or in the morning before things get too out of control and please forgive, when the boats are not nearby. You'll be arriving right in the thick of the chaos.
Portofino is a perfectly fine place to visit and your time might be best used exploring there rather than trying to bag CT.....Cruise ships really do try to make stops at places where there are points of interest....
If you like the stop in Portofino then you might consider a return to CT on another trip...when you can stay there for a few days and really enjoy it.
It will be interesting to hear your comments after you return.