We have the chance to spend 3-4 days outside Milan in early to mid-March. Unfortunately, our time frame is not flexible. Will the weather be nice enough to see Cinque Terre? Are the cities still active? How about tour boats? If weather is cold or rainy, should we consider Genova instead so we have indoor options? Any suggestions are appreciated!
Posted by
Long Beach, CA, USA
359 posts
the weather is an unknown but in general it's not the ideal time to visit the CT, this has been a very cold winter, even snow in the CT. You could get lucky and have very nice weather but I wouldn't want to risk it Vernazza will be under continued construction Monterosso has major progress the plan is to be ready for Easter there are a lot of places that are relatively short train rides from Milan I love CT but I would probably not do CT in March and opt to spend my time somewhere else
Venice, Florence, Verona...lots of choices
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32219 posts
lisa, The Cinque Terre will likely be somewhat "quiet" in early to mid-March, as many of the tourist businesses will be getting ready for April 1st, which I believe is the "official" start of the tourist season. Regarding the weather, while it's possible to look at historical weather patterns, there are no guarantees on what things will be like in March. This year has been unusually cold (with snow!), so it will probably still be a bit "chilly" in March. We're almost half way through February, and the temperatures in Monterosso this week are ranging from +7°C to -3°C, so that will give you an idea. Yes, the towns will be "active", as the local residents will be going about business as usual. Not all of the Hotels and restaurants will be open, but there will be some. I doubt that the Boats will be operating then, and it's also important to remember that boat operation is dependent on weather. If the seas are rough, the boats won't be operating. I'm not sure that Genova would be a good substitute for the Cinque Terre. They also suffered damage from the flooding, so things might not be completely back to normal. Some other options you might consider are Lago di Como (Varenna), Florence, Lugano or perhaps Siena. Happy travels!
Posted by
OP
tburg, New York, United States
2 posts
Thanks for the info everyone. We have some flexibility and since this will be the slow for tourist season, we can just wait to see what weather will be like. I appreciate your help.
Posted by
Gettysburg, PA
1589 posts
Lisa, we have done the CT a few times in late March. As long as you are prepared for "iffy" weather, you will find a mostly uncrowded hike. As noted above by others, Vernazza will still not be ready in March.