Cinque Terre in March

With rainy days and air and sea water high temperatures both averaging about 56 degrees— it wouldn’t be worthwhile for me to consider it.

Yes of course. (Almost) No Americans visiting yet. Ferry not operating yet. Tourist restaurants not yet activated.
Perfect timing to enjoy fully the beautiness of these places, lemon and orange trees in full fruit, other flowers starting to bloom.
Molto bella.

That’s when I was there and the weather was perfect and there were no crowds. I made the mistake of layering my clothes on the hike from Monterosso to Vernazza when I should have worn shorts and a short-sleeved T-shirt.

Just no. The place is famous for green terraced hills, for cooling sea breezes in warm weather, for hiking with blue skies and flowering plants. You get none of that in March. I've photographed the same flowering cherry tree in Lerici (6 miles from the CT) for more than a decade. It's the 1st harbinger of spring in the area and it happens between April 10 and April 22. Go to someplace inland at a low altitude that supports a somewhat earlier spring like Lucca, Modena, Orvieto, Siena, Perugia.

We were there in March and it was beautiful. No crowds, but also not sleeping. Weather was absoutely fine, some trees flowering.
If you combare with the cramped trains and ferries in high season, I ever would go in early spring.

Only if the weather is nice—can you build flexibility into your plan?
Also, what is your goal in going (hiking or just views, etc)? Where else are you going?

We would be coming back from Rome towards Milan heading into the last week of a three week vacation that starts in Milan (March 1). Yes there is some flexibility in our plan at this point although it's getting tighter for booking I suspect. It seems no matter how you line it up, Cinque Terre from: Rome, Siena, Florence or Venice it's a fairly long train ride and so a bit out of the way, but.... I guess it would be for views and a bit of hiking. It would normally be for more hiking, but having a bit of a bought of Plantar Fasciitis right now so not sure on that end of things. BTW, are room bookings pretty much only once you get there (Cinque Terre)?

BTW, are room bookings pretty much only once you get there (Cinque
Terre)?

No, you can book in advance, but I would do it during the trip, when I could look at ten day forecasts, not months ahead. Plus, you’ll know if your foot is doing better (good luck, I know that’s the worst!). Neighboring towns like Levanto are also an option. I am sure March can get busy too, but I’d rather leave it to chance than book something I cannot cancel.

If the weather is nice and doesn’t rain,, the villages will look the same as in summer, just less crowded.

However it won’t be beach weather, ferries will not operate, hiking trails will possibly be closed. Also Italy switches to daylight savings on the last Sunday of March, therefore in mid March it will get dark earlier as sunset is before 6:30pm.

Thanks All!! Decisions to make!!!

In March 2023 we visited the CT as well as Portofino and Camogli and had a wonderful time. The weather was nice and sunny and there were no tourist hordes.

We did not do a lot of hiking when we were in CT, and we still enjoyed it very much. We did the easy trail from Varenna to Riomaggiore (Via dell 'Amore). And then we used the trains a lot to visit the other towns. Even in May, when it was more crowded, we had no problem getting on and off the trains when we wanted to. Always got a seat; never had to wait. It was a lot of fun. I know everyone is different, but I don't think one need to do a lot of hiking to enjoy CT.

The wife and I stayed in Monterosso 3/21-3/23 last year. It was wonderful, but it does depend on what you like to do. No laying on the beach or swimming. But it is also much less crowded, and no cruise ships busing in day tour groups. Our first day we took the train to visit each town. Our second day we hiked from Monterosso to Vernazza. Hike turned out to be a little more challenging than we expected, but it was beautiful. Better hiking in cooler weather when uncrowded than when it is hot and crowded (opinion).

The one thing we did miss was taking a boat ride along the coast. We were there too early in the season for that. You also need to find out when the hotels open for the season - it will be about mid-March, but be sure!

We stayed at the Hotel Villa Steno. It may be my favorite hotel stay. Part of that, I am sure, is just being in Cinque Terra! But the staff was very helpful. The owner gave us better weather predictions than the TV or internet, as well as advice on hikes. Breakfast was perfect. They even opened breakfast 30 minutes early our checkout day so we could catch our train (they volunteered this when we asked them to arrange a taxi in the morning). Highly recommend.

Best wishes, Stan!

I was planning to ask a similar question to this poster. . . . my family of four is visiting Italy the second week of March and are considering two or three nights in Manarola. We love hiking and wandering around towns, but we also like eating. . . will there be some restaurants open at this time?

From my research, there is always at least one restaurant open in even small villages in off season, and a march is the beginning of the season, so I’d not be concerned with restaurants, plus you can be in any other village in minutes on the train. I always advise to keep CT plans flexible in case of rain.