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Cinque Terre Itinerary Logistics and Suggestions

Posted by on

We wanted to visit Cinque Terre and wondering the following:

  1. Best way to get there from our Agriturismo in Montepulciano (we will have a car).
    • Wondering if we should drive to florence to drop off the rental car and take a train from there? or is it better to drive more directly north and drop off the car at say (La Spezia or Lucca) and then take the train?
      • Best to buy the train tickets in advance online?
  2. How many days should we spend in Cinque Terre? Right now we are budgeting 4 days in our two week itinerary, but my mother in law has been and thinks that is too much time. I would primarily like to hike Cinque Terre.

Appreciate any suggestions!

Posted by
10344 posts

Better not to have a car in CT. Don't drop off the car in Florence, drop off in La Spezia train station, then take the train to the CT.
Your mother in law is right: 3 nights in CT should be good, you don't need 4 nights. 3 nights will give you 2 full days.
Most people here just buy short-hop train tickets, in Italy, at the train station.

Posted by
32459 posts

jn,

When is this trip taking place? Regarding your questions......

  1. The best method (IMO) would be to drive to La Spezia, drop the car and then use the local trains to reach the five towns of the C.T. The trip from La Spezia to the closest village (Riomaggiore) is only about eight minutes. NO, it's not best to buy the train tickets online since many of the trains in that area are Regionale and it's awkward to buy those online and there's absolutely NO reason to do so. Buy them at the local stations from a Kiosk or ticket agent.
  2. Four days is not too long, but that will depend mostly on what you want to see and do in that area. If you want to hike the trails, allow one day for that (more on that below), exploring the five towns will take the better part of another day, and if you want to take a few day trips to nearby towns such as Porto Venere, Levante, Santa Margherita Ligure or Portofino, that will take another day. The trip from Monterosso to Porto Venere by boat is a really nice day trip. I'd also suggest leaving some time just the "chill" in the town you're staying in. If you just want to have a quick look and hike the trails, two or three days should be adequate.

As you'll have a car, are you aware of the usual "caveats" regarding car rental and driving in Italy? If not, post another note.

I'm assuming the trails you're referring to are the Sentiero Azzurro, which are the usual ones most tourists want to experience. Note that the different segments may be open or closed at any particular time due to storm damage, so you may or may not be able to hike them. At the moment, only the segment from Monterosso to Vernazza is open, but this could change at any time. Check with your hotel staff when you arrive or the "official" park website - http://www.parconazionale5terre.it/sentieri_parco.asp?id_lingue=1

One other point to note is that you'll require a Park Pass to hike the trails. Those can easily be bought at local stations or from the small wooden huts at the entrance to each trail.

Which of the five towns are you planning to stay in?

Posted by
5 posts

Thanks for all the replies!

I am not aware of the caveats of renting a car in Italy, so more help would be helpful. We are going through the Rick Steve's guide right now, so I know we need to get the international drivers license.

John

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