Cinque Terre in one day?

Some hiking trails are still closed between the villages - and that can change daily or weekly. Dig up the park website to keep up with the latest.

Are you returning to Portofino/Santa Margherita after your day in the CT? If so, consider not driving down and either taking the train down or a boat - or do one way each. Most trains in the region are regional - no reservations, meaning they can't sell out (sometimes crowded), but prices never go up. Any reserved train will cost more and may not be much faster anyway. Check the Trenitalia website.

The CT is great but can be very crowded. If you are avid hikers, consider skipping it (unless you will have more time up by Portofino/Santa Margherita Ligure) and just hike up there instead. The hike from San Roco down to San Fruttuoso has amazing views (the batterie trail option is more scenic but much more difficult and scary in places) and won't be crowded at all - night and day from the CT which has so many tourists. I did this hike last May starting in Camogli, another lovely town

The hike from Monterosso to Vernazza is very nice. That is where some of the more famous pictures come from. Takes 1-2 hours depending on your ability. Try to start early before the crowds.

You say you are driving, are you also driving to Florence? If so, consider the time to get back to where you parked your car. The trains run frequently, and it is about 5 minutes between each village.

I think it takes closer to 2-3 hours to hike from Vernazza to Monterosso - I tend to walk/hike fast (even though I stopped for pictures often) and it took me longer than that.

Thanks for the info! Just to clarify, we are driving in from Santa Margherita that morning, probably around 9 or 10am, and then leaving Cinque Terre around 4pm to drive to Florence. We drop off our rental car at the airport in Florence, then take a cab to our hotel in town. So, I'm curious if 6-7 hours would be enough time to do a hike and see at least 2 villages. I'd like to see Riomaggiore but I think the trail there is closed (?). I hear the Monterosso to Vernazza trail is still open, so my thought was to park in Monterosso, hike to Vernazza, then take a train to Riomaggiore, see that village and then train back to get our car in Monterosso... If that's doable in 6-7 hours! ;-)

With only 6-7 hours, I would skip the hike then. Just take the train to the villages and spend some time in them. Have a leisurely lunch, either in Vernazza or Riomaggiore, overlooking the water.

Your schedule would put you there right along the cruise ship day trippers. You may find this helpful in considering if it is worth the effort.

Consider parking in La Spezia and training to the Cinque Terre villages from there. La Spezia is the quickest detour off the main road towards Florence and has more parking than the Cinque Terre villages. The trains are regional trains for which there's no advantage to pre-book. I agree with others that with only 6-7 hours to see the Cinque Terre and the short easy paths currently closed, you might want to skip a hike. If you do decide to hike (and if the path is open), I'd suggest hiking from Corniglia to Vernazza. If you're not used to hiking, it will take about 1.5 hours with sightseeing and rest stops.

I was just in Cinque Terre for two days, and it was honestly too much time. Maybe it was the weather (cold and pretty rainy), but there was just nothing to do in the evenings, so I think a day trip is perfect! I'd park the car at one end and get a day pass for the train, then check out each area! A drink and a snack in each is perfect, then hop on over to the next!

We stayed in Santa Margherita and drove down for the day. It was plenty of time for us. We hiked, took the train & took the ferry and managed to see all the villages and had a meal in Vernazza.