My husband and I will be in CT for a day trip from Florence. We plan to hike Vernazza to Monterosso in the morning and then spend the day in Monterosso swimming or maybe renting a kayak before we eat dinner.
Since we do not have a hotel, does anyone know of public changing locations or lockers for our things? We will have a backpack with a change of clothes for dinner.
Also- any suggestions for great kayak rental are welcomed.
Thanks in advance!
The places that rent beach chairs will also rent changing cabins and probably outdoor showers. I've never used this part of the service, as I try to walk out of my Monterosso hotel with just enough money for a chair and a gelato.
The TI Proloco next to the train station will store luggage, which might be your best bet, other than always leaving one person next to the bag on the beach. I'd still bring a minimum of ID and valuables on this day.
Thank you! :)
Also, have you eaten at La Tortuga? If so, is it worth it?
Laura is correct, the beach chair rental companies have outdoor showers and changing cabins. I used them at Monterosso last summer. It's cold water, just enough to wash off sand and sunscreen while still wearing your suit. So you won't feel all fresh and restored after a long day of hiking and swimming, but should be enough to get presentable for dinner.
Hope you have a wonderful day. Loved it myself!
Edited to add: I'm sure you've looked at the train schedules, but it's 2.5 to 3 hours each way from Florence. You will be exhausted after all that activity and dinner - have you thought about just getting a cheap room nearby to crash? On top of the Florence hotel I mean. In case you just can't manage all that in one day.
Good catch, Nelly. The one and only "after-dinner" train connection from Monterosso to Florence departs at 21:00 this summer (connect at Pisa).
Keep in mind outdoor showers are open air spigots, they are to rinse off in, and you cannot use soap at least not the ones that I have used on the Amalfi Coast...you can clean up with you suits off in the bathroom, some changing rooms/cabanas may have a small sink, where one could use soap etc.
I always take my bag with towel over it to the shoreline and swim with my eyes on it...kyaking will be challenging for a bag...I would not leave anything with the kyack company guy FYI. If going on a day trip bring one bag for the two of you, using a public locker will mean having to retrieve it to shower off etc, so logistically it doesn't make much sense for a day trip...just pack light.
My husband and I just hiked Monterosso to Vernazza a couple of days ago. I am not sure of your fitness or skill level but we were shocked at the effort it took, especially in the summer heat, and we are both fit and in our early 30s. Vernazza to Monterosso is supposed to be a bit easier so you may not be as exhausted as we were - I think we climbed 1000 steps at least!
We also had a beach day in Monterosso and rented chairs - 10€ per chair for the entire day. Kayak rentals were available at/near the same location. It seemed there was plenty of free beach acesss as well. We didn't have a locker since we were staying in the area.
We dined at La Tortuga on a Thursday evening and made reservations a few days in advance which secured us the most enviable view the restaurant offered. To us, the view (and the wine) was the best part of our meal and found the food to be not as good as Il Moretto, where we had the best mussels and lobster fettuccine we've ever had. We are so thrilled to have had the view but were bummed to have not enjoyed the food more.
Best of luck enjoying your time in CT! It sounds like we attempted the same experience you are going for, just over the course of 2.5 days instead of one very busy day.
Thanks all!
We have a train booked at 20:03 from La Spezia to Florence. It will be a long day so perhaps we won't do all of that, but I prefer to know my options ahead of time.
As for La tortuga-- thanks for that info! I'll look at that other restaurant.
You may want to consider booking lunch instead of dinner in Monterosso. The earliest you can normally start dinner in Italy is 7:00 pm - and that will be only with other North Americans! Eating and dashing in 45 minutes is just not done. It's not feasible to have a nice dinner and make your 8:00 pm train. But lunch after the hike would be lovely, and then a nice afternoon on the beach and a picnic for the train (with wine) would cap off a lovely day. It would also make the shower issue less critical.
