Cinque Terre in Winter

Think you will find very little is open.

During the season the Cinque Terre are boring, overpriced and crowded.
In winter they are boring and deserted.
They are nothing special 365 days a year, but in winter the trails could be wet and windy: in short, dangerous.

Hi KBK -
I've been to and hiked some of the CT although not in winter. This is an excellent guide to all things regional, written by a local couple; you should find it helpful.
https://www.apathtolunch.com

This is what they say about travel in winter (and what I suspected as well, although theirs is firsthand knowledge):

"Should we visit Cinque Terre in December, January, February?
No, it's winter in the northern hemisphere (44 degrees latitude), and the place is practically deserted. Most hotels and restaurants are closed - for example, in the largest small town of Monterosso, only two restaurants and two bars stay open in January. The hotel rooms are often poorly heated, the streets are empty like a disaster movie, the landscape is dormant, windy rainstorms can make trails and streets a torment, there's no ferry service. The days are short (less than 9 hours in December) and there are no museums or events. The biggest draw is the lighted hillside presepe (nativity scene) in Manarola, and that happens in the dark. Visit when it's nice – that's why the place is famous."

Looks I've taken at the park's website during the winter months have shown a number of closed trails because of wet weather (they aren't safe in rain + blustery winds), repairs or damage. Also, open trails can close abruptly for any number of reasons. This, by the way, is the park's website although it's oddly glitchy for me today:

http://www.parconazionale5terre.it/Eindex.php

And this is the page for trail routes, difficulty levels (by color), closures, etc:

http://www.parconazionale5terre.it/Esentieri-outdoor.php

Black lines mean a trail that's currently closed. 2 of the 4 closed segments of the famous, heavily traveled Sentiero Azzurro/Blue Path route will remain closed in 2021 (one leg might be open in spring of 2021 but they've been saying "might" for awhile now) and it's more likely than not for the other 2 legs to be closed in winter. Still, there are many other trails; if you do a search of previous questions/recommendations, you'll turn up some threads which might be helpful. Weather is just going to be a crapshoot, and there will be very little else to do if conditions aren't conducive to trekking.

Add a bit more about what you are looking for--i.e., hiking, coastal beauty, etc. Also include the rest of your itinerary.
I agree that winter is not the ideal time, but there might be alternatives that would work better.
Also, if your trip is long enough to include some spontaneity, you might be able to swing it if you happen to luck out with a lovely sunny weekend.

If might help if you would explain why you have chosen Dec and or Feb. And at this time, there is still a probability that those areas could be closed to Am tourists.

Thanks for the feedback everyone! We are considering a 10-12 day trip sometime between this Fall and late next Spring (COVID permitting). The idea is to fly to Milan, travel down to the Cinque Terre, and then work our way up the coast to the Cote d'Azur before heading back to Milan. We can round trip to/from Milan in about 12 hours/2 flights each way while flying open jaw to Pisa and from Nice adds about 10 hours/1 flight each way. Pretty sure I can do the entire trip via train but haven't yet done the cost/benefit of also renting a car (cheap long term parking will be important). I think it will be fun to contrast the Cinque Terre/Italian side with the French side. We like to explore but also enjoy relaxing (ok I like to explore while my wife relaxes) so I figured 3-4 nights in a CT town and 3-4 nights in France. We'll then have some extra nights to play with during the trip. When in the CT we'll definitely do some hiking and visit all 5 towns. When in France we'll probably lounge around a little more. Dining and drinking are also important. We like off season travel so as to avoid the crowds and heat - plus it seems to be easier to meet locals. I've read/am consulting the RS travel guides for both areas. I put up the post on the Travel Forum to get some first hand experience about the area in Winter but will take anything I can get because after the initial feedback I'm thinking late-March/early-April might be better. We can travel whenever we want. Thanks for any ideas you may have!!!

Two of the four lower-level (most popular) hiking trails between the Cinque Terre towns have been closed for years for safety reasons. I'm not sure where they stand on reopening. There should be information on line, but it's Italy, and I think schedule slippage would be possible. Keep in mind that there's little if any cover up on those hillsides. You must negotiate hundreds of steps to get up to the trail--not something I'd want to do in bad weather.

I don't know if it's safe hiking in blistering cold in Winter.
Beauty of Cinque Terre is the weather, sun, and the coastal towns.

Winter is desolate, and cold, and hiking is probably not safe.
We did the hike for Monterosso to Vernazzo.. not a easy hike.. very steep at times and takes 2 hours or so... I can't imaging how much more hard that will be in subzero weather, and horrible winds up in the mountain..

It is definitely an out of the box combination...as to time of year and location. Definitely later you can go, the better. But if you are looking at some place else for these time frames, and still want to use Milan as a hub, consider the area between Milan and Venice. Bologna is a great mid sized city that is often second tier on a travel scale but well placed for day trips, great gastronomic center, and close to Lamburghini and Maserati factories and museum. Yes, you can drive a Lamborghini.

You can luck out in April to be sure, but I find May to be most reliable in terms of planning outdoor-focused trips (which is my specialty!). It's frankly just as miserable in rain as it is in cold, so be sure to read up on all the nearby towns so you have plan B (such as Genoa, Lucca--there is not much to do in CT in inclement weather).
That's a lot of ground to cover, so look at train schedules too. If you do stick with round-trip to Milan, you could use a car without a pricey cross-border drop-off fee, but in that case I would look at some other areas of the coast that are not as crowded as CT and without parking issues. One of my favorite hiking locations is farther south in Tuscany (Ucellina park), but in Liguria, Montemarcello park is a close second. The towns are pretty and the hiking is nice, without the crowds.

I love the Cinque Terre and the Riviera - I've been there four times, can't way to go back! I've been only in May or October. I'm guessing it is slow in the winter, but it would be interesting to check it out sometime when not so crowded...

KBK,

The Cinque Terre is not a good location to visit in the winter, as many of the hotels and other tourist facilities are closed from about November to March. The weather will be cold and possibly wet, so it won't be a pleasurable experience.

Given the current situation with the pandemic, I suspect your time frame of December 2020 or February 2021 is not going to happen (although February 2121 should work). Italy is still enforcing a 14-day quarantine on all outside tourists, and who know when that will change?

although February 2121 should work)

That presupposes some extraordinary longevity!

We have been going to Italy mostly in winter or very early spring as our first choice. We find that regular cities and towns are open pretty much as normal, but beach towns and small towns heavily dependent on tourists will have some or even many restaurants, bakeries, shops, ferries, and tourists sites closed --- sometimes for the whole winter, sometimes so that the people who run them can take a break.

In 2018, we were in Liguria for two weeks in early November. Everything in Genoa was open, several places were closed in Camogli for the 5 nights we were there but signs on doors promised to be open November 8th, towns along the coast as we drove west were variable, Dolceacqua (where we stayed for several nights) was open and even bustling. In Piemonte, where we went for the next few weeks, everything was open except for some very small museums. The weather was great for the whole trip, but you do take your chances in winter.

Our favorite places in Italy in December have been anywhere in Puglia, Naples (and non-coastal Campania), Florence, and Venice. I hope this is helpful, even though I don't have any information for you about the Cinque Terre specifically.

I would push your trip up to March both for Covid and weather reasons. I've only been to the CT in summer months but I have been to Italy in March several times, including the Amalfi Coast which is also a 'summer' destination. It's larger than the CT though but even there a good number of hotels and restaurants were closed in the second half of March. The weather was mixed - some days of glorious sunshine and it was wonderful to explore the area minus the crowds. Other days were horrible rain - and there is virtually NOTHING to do in places like that in the rain. Bring good books. Having been to both the CT and the Amalfi Coast in summer I would say the CT would be even worse in terms of things open/to do too early in the season.

I do see what you say about off season travel. If you do decide to go the CT I would base in a larger town such as Rapallo or Santa Margherita or Camogli. You can easily take the train to the CT towns to explore and do some hiking on nice days but if it is raining at least those slightly larger towns will have more open. And they are closer to Genoa which has museums, etc. (great aquarium). I would check out those towns, including Genoa even if it doesn't rain at all. Five days would be a good amount of time. To take the train from Rapallo to Nice (I did that, but other towns would be similar in terms of time) took me a full day, and that was in summer when the schedules were probably more often than the winter train schedules. I have also been to the Cote d'Azure in both summer and off season (November). I would again suggest that for off season travel you base in the larger town (in this case Nice) and do day trips to the smaller towns. Eze was deserted. I think I prefer that to the way it is super crowded in July but there is something to be said for having some restaurants/cafes/shops to visit.

If you decide you want to go to Italy (flying into Milan) but decide against a coastal trip I do recommend the area between Milan and Venice (Lombardy and Veneto). I love so many of those towns, all of which will be 'open' but not crowded. Some of the towns I like best include: Pavia, Bergamo, Verona, Mantua, Ferrara, Modena, Brescia, Cremona, Vicenza.

Here's a link to a trip report I wrote about a March trip I did a couple years ago. https://andiamo.zenfolio.com/blog/2017/5/march-in-northern-italy-milan-genoa-lake-como-lake-lugano-pavia

Staying in a larger town, as Isabel has suggested, is a good idea if wanting to explore the CT in winter. Basing in one of those would allow you the flexibility to day-trip into the region on a sunny day but do other activities on wet, cold ones. Trains from Rapallo, for example, can have you in Monterosso in about 45 minutes (very slightly longer for a village south of there) for under 10 euro a ticket. That still doesn't mean all the trail routes will be open but hiking whatever IS open would be more possible, and enjoyable, when it's not raining and/or trails are drier.

Same goes if dining/drinking is high on the list: stay in a larger coastal town/small city where many more restaurants will be open.

If pushing your dates out to early spring, avoid Easter weekend in the CT (weekend of April 4th 2021 + Easter Monday) due to heavy crowds of Italians and other visitors reported to travel there over that holiday.

Oh, and read up on the Cinque Terre Trekking and/or Trekking+ Treno card on the park website.

Thanks again for the feedback. Pushing the trip back to the Spring (COVID permitting) or Fall based on the advice received.

We stayed in Monterosso as it offers more options for places to stay and dine plus a sandy beach. After Cinque Terre, for the Italian Riviera, heading a short distance north, look at Camogli, Santa Margherita Ligure, and finally Noli in the area due east of France. Nice is a good base if you want to be car free as there are buses and trains up and down the coast.
The Italian Riviera seems more relaxed to us.