Cinque Terre - When NOT to go

Slane is not exaggerating. Pictures posted by a local are scarey, and a clear danger to public safety.
Do not visit the Cinque Terre without reading about the effects that popularity has had on the area. IMO, there are many other areas of Italy that offer an wonderful evocative experience without the downsides.

"When NOT to go"

Slane-WHEN were you there? Honestly, take a breath and give us some useful information. Yes, Vernazza and the CT are busy places.

Slane,

" We witnessed over 30 minutes just to get off the station platform at Vernazza."

I chuckled a bit when I read that, as I've been in that exact situation. However, it "only" took me about 20 minutes to get off the platform and down into the town. I've also experienced the uncertain arrival and departure times of the trains. Sometimes the train that arrives at the scheduled time is NOT the right one.

In addition to the day tours, hikers and family outings you forgot to mention the cruise ship groups, as they're also a factor in causing the chaos you described. From what I've seen, this situation can happen at any time during tourist season, and not just during Italian or European holidays. I don't believe there's an accurate way to predict when that area won't be busy in the period from May to September.

While the crowds may be stressful and annoying, I can't really fault other tourists for being there, as they're simply visiting the area for the same reasons I am. I've learned to minimize the stress of crowds by choosing when and where to go out touring, and when to relax at the hotel. I'll fine tune this further on my next visit there.

Slane must have been there this weekend. May 1 is a big holiday and a three-day weekend meant lots of folks could get out of town and enjoy nice weather. Lots of German tourists are in the country now, too. Rome is pretty quiet, though, for now....

I began posting on travel newsgroups around 1999 or so. At the time almost nobody had heard about Cinque Terre. Then something happened - was it Rick Steves or somebody else? - and everybody had to travel to Cinque Terre or it will not look like they have really visited Italy.

It looks to me that in this area everybody has to to go always to the very same places. Of course there are serious reasons to visit the "Big three" (Venice, Florence, Rome). But out of the Big three, it looks everybody has to go to Cinque Terre, Positano, Amalfi and Castelrotto.

I've been in Monterosso since Thursday. I had forgotten how crazy crowded the CT gets on May 1 weekend. Monterosso was so crowded it was hard to walk around town. Crowds were packed into the train station trying to buy train tickets. I gave up on going to Vernazza yesterday it was such a mob scene. At 9 this morning I was able to buy a ticket and take the regional train to Vernazza. At least the ferry is running today.

I saw lots of folks with hiking poles. Since only one section of the trail is open, I can imagine hiking was very crowded, too. My advice is to spend May 1 weekend elsewhere. Or stay in one town and maybe spend the day or weekend reading and sleeping.

Saturday was the worst; there must have been a lot of day-trippers.

I Will be in Monterosso from May 9 leaving on the 14th. I hope that being there during the week as opposed to the weekend the crowds will be less.

I usually avoid the more visited places like the CT, but am concerned that the CT has become a"check off" destination. At least, according to the cruise ship schedule, there will only be on port visit while I am there.
I have also read the higher trails are less crowded than the lower ones.
Anyone have any ideas on avoiding the crowds? Thanks Ken for your strategies.

Ann,

You're very welcome! I should add that I typically have a list of sights that I plan to see in that area, so I pick and choose which ones to visit based on circumstances at the time. I can add to the list when I'm there if I find something interesting.

For example, if I found that huge groups had descended on the five towns and the majority of them were heading south towards Vernazza, I'd probably go north and spend some time in Levanto or one of the other less-visited towns. Either that or I'd take the Ferry to Vernazza and stay away from the trains.

We will be there second week of October - hopefully a little less crowded? Does anyone know if the Ferry runs that late into the season? ( weather permitting ).

October is much less crowded. The ferry generally runs until the first weekend of November. Of course it can be cancelled for rough weather

I was there in mid-October a few years ago. The ferry ride in the afternoon was one of my best memories of my first trip to Italy. Here's hoping you have beautiful weather like I did. No crowds at all.

I noticed a huge difference between our first visit (2008) and second (2012). We were actually there the exact same days during the third week of Sept...the difference, the first trip was on a Mon/Tues/Wed and the second trip was on a Sat/Sun/Mon...I can tell you, if the first trip had been as crowded as the second trip, there probably wouldn't have been a second trip. The towns were crowded, the trains were crowded, the platforms were packed...I'm glad we stayed in Corniglia (especially on the second trip) to give us a chance to get away from the maddening crowds in the evening. It's hard to see the charm when you are elbow deep in others such as you...I think I can understand more why people who only ever day trip to Venice usually end up hating it.

So it def makes a diff what days of the week you go (well, prob not so much June-Aug - I'm sure it's crazy regardless). I know if we ever do go back, I'm going to try to schedule it for a weekday as opposed to thru the weekend. I almost hate to say it, but CT is losing a lot of it's quiet 'undiscovered' charm (I know I know...thanks to people like me! We're all to blame ;) )

Well. Disney is also crowded on the 4th of July weekend. Popular places get crowded on holiday weekends. That's life. The alternative is to buy all the hotel rooms in Italy for yourself. Didn't Bill Gates do something similar when he got married in Moloka'i or Lana'i?

October two years ago was beautiful... Crowds were minimal, the weather was perfect and the ferry was running. First trip there 1998 May and the crowds were nothing... every trip since in the summer the crowds have increased substantially... if you want to 'enjoy' it, go off season.