Cinque Terre or Tuscan winery?

Save the CT for your next trip to Italy as you are going to Amalfi Coast this time, a day is not enough for the CT.

I would recommend a Tuscan country day tour which would include stops at one or more wineries, maybe with lunch at one of them. Many here have recommended “Tours by Roberto”, although I myself have never been. Roberto appears in one or more of Rick’s videos.

Thanks for your help! A country day tour sounds perfect

hey hey lbaker
couple of some wine tours to check out
siena-wine-tours.com
getyourguide.com
withlocals.com
come&seeitaly.com
Put your filters and see what there is. If time stop at the famous butcher Dario in panzano in Chianti. Watch his showmanship of cutting meat, loving his rock&roll music, his restaurant across the street.
check out oldfrascati.com short train ride from Rome to countryside, famous for white wine. stop and roam the small village, visit ceralli.it family owned bakery/pizza oven and known for the “best” porchetta.
search beautiful countryside day trip: castelli romani. The pope has his summer home, palace and gardens there, lake nemi, village of nemi known for wild strawberries. away from the hustle and bustle of Rome for a day.
enjoy your vacation you will love it and have a fabulous time. Let us know how you loved it and probably planning next trip on your flight home :)
aloha

lb,

I suppose it depends on how many days you have for that part of your trip. A day trip to the Cinque Terrre from Florence is certainly possible (I know that, as I've done it). The Cinque Terre is somewhat different than the Amalfi Coast and you may enjoy seeing it. If you have two free days, you could do both that and a wine tour in Tuscany.

Thanks for your help, all!

Pupule: I was just looking at a tour that actually stops at Dario’s! It’s super highly rated, so that could be a good option. (I worry he’ll judge me for being a vegetarian though 🙈) Good to know about the pope’s place! It sounds beautiful.

Ken: Thanks for the perspective! Did you feel rushed doing it all in one day. I’ll be there for five nights AND I stumbled across a sunset country wine tour option... so both CT and country tour might be in the table.

lb,

No, I didn't feel rushed at all. If you're going to visit the Cinque Terre on a day trip, it's important not to try and do or see too much. If you can work out a reasonable Itinerary for the visit, you should have lots of time. However, plan on that trip being a long day. Leave early and return in the evening (I got back to Florence at about midnight).

My suggestion would be to start in Riomaggiore and have a look there first. From there move to Manarola by train and then to Corniglia by train. You'll need to take the small shuttle van from the station up to the town unless you want to walk up hundreds of steps. You can have lunch in either Manarola or Corniglia (the former will have more choices). After seeing Corniglia, you have two options..... you can either walk or take the shuttle back to the station and take the train to Vernazza OR hike the trail to Vernazza (assuming the trail is open - takes about an hour as I recall - Park Pass required which you can buy at any of the stations). After you've seen Vernazza, again two options...... you can either take the train to Monterosso (easy & quick) or take the boat (will take longer but nice views). You could also hike the trail to Monterosso but I'm not going to suggest that is I don't think you have time, and it's a fairly robust hike.

Monterosso has two parts, an "old town" and a "new town" so it would be good to allocate more time here as there's more to see. You might also consider having a fine supper in one of the excellent local restaurants (Cantina di Miky is a big favourite with many here - it's close to the train station in the new town). If you'd like to try something with Pesto in the area where it was invented, this would be a great time to do that. After enjoying the sunset views over the beach and ocean, board your train for the trip back to Florence.

On the current schedules, there's a departure at 21:07, arriving back in Florence at 23:50 (time 2H:43M, one change at Pisa Centrale). That's probably the same one I used. There's an earlier departure at 19:42 but it has two changes.

A few final thoughts. You could stop in Manarola for lunch but it will probably be "busy" especially if there are cruise ships in the area. Given it's location, Corniglia probably won't be as bad. Plan to have supper in Monterosso a bit later (maybe 18:00 or so) as the cruise ship crowds should have departed by then. If there are cruise ships in the area, Vernazza will probably be a madhouse, so if that's the case I'd suggest an abbreviated visit and then "get out of Dodge".

Hope this helps.

SUPER helpful—thanks Ken! I’ve added your notes to my master itin.

hey hey baker
i’m sure Dario would be more than happy to make you vegie burger, wearing your “vegetarian” name badge!;)
aloha