Crowds in Cinque Terre in October 2023

There are multiple trails in the CT, and they aren't all equally popular. The main trails closer to the ocean between the five towns are the most popular. Between Riomaggiore and Manarola and Manarola to Corniglia are still closed I think. Between Corniglia and Vernazza and Vernazza and Monterosso are the most busy. If you want to hike them, get out there first thing in the morning or wait until later in the day.

Meanwhile, make alternate plans. The alternate hike between Manarola and Corniglia - a steep hike up, up, up to the little town of Volastra and then down to Corniglia is not nearly as popular - it's a much steeper climb, though it's easy enough if you take your time and pace yourself. It's not without hikers - you'll see plenty just not as many as the main trails. As a bonus, the views down from this hike are truly breathtaking, maybe the best of any of the hikes I've done in the area.

You can also hike between Levanto, (next town north of Monterosso) back to Monterosso. While this hike isn't as nice as the others, it has definitely highlights, and it's not nearly as crowded. The view down from the point above Monterosso gives you a view of all five towns at once. Great spot.

The Italian Riviera has other beautiful places besides the Cinque Terre. That's just the most popular part of it. About an hour north of the Cinque Terre is the Portofino peninsula with beautiful towns like Rapallo, Santa Margherita Ligure, and Camogli with some beautiful hikes that are much, much less busy than down in the Cinque Terre.

In the Cinque Terre, don't plan on being in the villages proper in the daytime when they are so busy - plan to be elsewhere. They are much nicer in the evening when most of the day trippers have left.

Wow Cyn. What an awful experience.

I'm glad you deleted the post about your experience with one nationality.

Germans? Dutch? Russian?

I'm not sure of the nationality, but it sounds like typical day trippers from cruise boats. We've had the unfortunate experience of being around them. They tend to want to see everything and live in fear they'll miss their ship's departure. Their attitude seems to be "We've got a boat to catch! Get out of our way!".

We had an interesting discussion with our Walks of Italy one evening the last time we were in Rome. She's been a tour guide for over 30 years and says that since the big cruise ships started docking at Civitavecchia the crowds in Rome have gotten much bigger and much ruder. Studies have shown day trippers don't add much revenue to local businesses. Here in Georgia, Savannah did a study and said no to a huge cruise ship port after determining it would bring far more problems than benefits.

We've had the good fortune to visit major sites before they were overrun with cruise ship tourists. We now plan our trips to places not easily accessible by them.

Bets, if they were Canadians, they would have been saying sorry:) Supposedly that is our favourite word.

I feel like I have gotten pretty good input from questions that I have asked on this forum, but I did not ask this question to determine which nationality is the rudest. I was looking for input on how crowded the area might be in Mid October as opposed to June, July or August.

debbie,

I suspect it won't be as crowded in October as in the peak season. The tourist hordes tend to quiet down in October and some of the tourist businesses start to close for the season towards the end of the month.

How long are you planning to stay in the C.T.? Have you chosen one of the five towns to use as a base?

I've encountered "pushy" tourist many times in Europe, but try not to let those ruin my enjoyment of the trip. I don't "push" easily so sometimes they get a rude awakening.

debbie, based on my stay in October 2021, you will find massive crowds in the CT towns, and if you attempt to do any of the hiking the the national park promotes, those will also be extremely crowded. If this is less than summer, I’d be even more wary of going in summer. As you asked about October, I’ve given you my experience 2 years ago. It seems that 2023 has been even busier in Europe than in previous years, so I’d anticipate even more crowding than I had. Restaurants will be full, so attempt to make reservations for dinner at least one night in advance. Platforms for the trains between the 5 towns will be packed with people waiting to board. Boats running between the towns will also have masses of people. Many tourists are arriving by car, so it’s not simply cruise boat passengers. There will very likely be rudeness from a surprisingly large number of other visitors in the CT.

Many tourists are arriving by cat,

Now HERE is the real news of this thread !!! We need a deep dive

I was there at the end of Sept in 2022. It was busy and some sections (most notably the areas directly next to the train stations) were crowded, but it only took a minute or two to walk away and be out of the "crush." I also think that taking the water taxi from village to village gives a very relaxing view of the entire area.

There were some trails that quickly became uncrowded and some trails that I didn't continue to explore because of the number of stairs vs. the number of people.

I think that knowing what is important to you is key to how you will enjoy this area. Is shopping important? Prepare for crowds. Is relaxing on the beach with a drink important? Rent a beach chair and you are set. Is exploring different towns the appeal? Move away from the central/train station areas and enjoy.

Edited to add: Once when I was struggling with whether I should go on a trip or not, my son asked me, "If not now, when?" I went on the trip and thoroughly enjoyed myself. I've asked myself that question more than a few times since.

Although La Spezia is the cruise port closest to the Cinque Terre, the area could also get visitors off ships docking in Livorno or Genoa. I have no idea what percentage of passengers might opt to visit the Cimque Terre, but there are 4 ships arriving in Livorno in October 12 with potentially over 11,000 total passengers.

Genoa's clear on Oct 11 and 12 but has a ship with a capacity of 6338 passengers arriving on Oct 13.

Acraven raises some interesting concerns regarding possible influx of tourists from cruises. Two points to keep in mind. 1. Livorno is the principal cruise port for Florence and Pisa. Quite a few of those passengers will opt to visit those cities. 2. Many cruise passengers will sign up for cruise sponsored excursions which tend to have limited time and early mornings/later afternoons will have fewer cruise passengers as well.

This has been quite an entertaining thread. I can't help with the OP's question about crowds in October, but good for you for checking the cruise ship schedule. I wouldn't have thought of that. A friend recently ended a cruise in Livorno and CT was an offered excursion but she said it was a 12+ hour day so she opted for something else. So that Livorno/Genoa comment was also apt.

We did the Vernazza to Monterosso hike in May 2019. We encountered many ... interesting groups. Including one from Brooklyn who were about 45 min out of Monterosso with one woman wearing a beautiful white dress and sandals. She was so happy when we told them they absolutely had to turn around if they didn't want to spend over an hour sliding down muddy hills. But there was one very long group -- at least 50 people -- who had no trail etiquette whatsoever (we're from the Pacific Northwest where if you don't know the rules, you learn them fast). They just assumed everyone was going to stand aside while they all sauntered past at their own pace. I won't say the nationality, but they spoke English and weren't from England. After about 20 people, with no signs of them picking up on how things work on a single track trail, my husband started yelling in Italian and throwing his hands around in the air. It was a beautiful thing. They froze in stunned silence, and let us, and the other people who were patiently waiting, to share the trail too. (He also had to pull out his Italian to scold a large group of selfish clueless women on a boat on Lake Como--they spoke I don't know what language (not French or German), but same result. Stunned silence, and then they behaved. I was disappointed on our trip to Italy this year that he didn't need to use this skill.)

I digress.

I've never had much interest in the CT, but my husband is from Tuscany and no one in his family had ever bothered to go there, so he wanted to see it once. I'm glad we did -- we stayed in Riomaggiore in a VRBO with a huge balcony and a cat, and it's magical after 5PM. But it's also a place I have no plans ever to return to. It's definitely a one-and-done for me. So many better, less trampled on places to go.

So I am maybe thinking about staying in Santa Margherita instead and visiting/walking on along the coast/hiking in that area. Looks interesting. I am still thinking about CT though. Here is the thing, I live 60 miles north of Yellowstone National Park. I would never in a million years go there in the summer, too many tourists, but I would never tell anyone they should not go. It is an amazing place and I remember what it was like 50 years ago vs today, ah but that is life. The thing is most of the accessible and amazing places in the world are overrun with visitors. I will be traveling to CT from Venice, Florence, Rome and Puglia, plus other places in Europe that are very bucket list. Anyway, just my thoughts on tourists and bucket lists.

If it’s a bucket list item, then definitely go! But don’t expect a completely sublime experience. If you wait another year, it’ll probably be even more crowded, then. So go while it’s only super-crowded, not super, super crowded. But your alternative plan might be the way to go. Happy Travels..

We were there last September also. We planned on crowded and happily spent much of our time not seeing those crowds. We planned train departures prior to 9am and after 5pm. If the crowds are from tours, cruise or otherwise, they aren’t there at 9 and have gone by 5 for the most part.
We took the bus from Manarola to Volastra so as not to climb the steep stairs, then hiked #506 to Corniglia. There were people on the trail but certainly not crowded. Had lunch there then continued on to Vernazza. It was pretty busy there but we knew we would return for a dinner, so didn’t stay very long. Trains- go to the far end of the platform and it won’t be as crowded as when you stay close to where you enter the platforms.
We also took the ferry from Monterosso al Mare to La Spezia, timing it so we could get off at Portovenere for an hour before continuing to La Spezia. Then it’s easy to get the train back to whichever town you stay in.
Many of the upper trails really don’t have as many hikers as they are a bit rugged in places, so I’m thinking October might even be lighter. Certainly no guarantees though!

If you really want to go to CT, go! If you plan on crowds, then it isn’t a surprise and all the towns are far less crowded in the evenings. It’s lovely and worth a visit.

Yes, i thought Andrew’s suggestion of staying in Santa Margherita was very good, very helpful. Some people much prefer that area over the Cinque Terre.

We are going to CT in October 2023 too. It will not be nearly as crowded as the summer. I have been there once and avoided going back because of the crowds, but recently referred to a recent RS guide, and he still recommends it!!

I have been to Santa Margarita and it is not nearly as picturesque as CT. Also Santa Margarita is relatively flat, while the terrain in CT is what makes it more amazing. Go for it!

A bit more-we stayed in Manarola, close to the church up on the Main Street. I loved the mornings and later evenings. We had a small balcony above the street. It was so much fun to see the town wake up and nice to sit after we returned from dinner-lovely quiet really.
Personally, I think staying in one of the towns makes it the CT. I understand Santa Margarita is lovely, but I wanted the CT experience I feel we had by staying in Manarola.

Since you are familiar with Yellowstone, I'll just say I'd recommend the same tactic for CT that I use in Yellowstone. I stay IN the park and get out early. I duck into a picnic area for part of the afternoon if the roads are more frantic than I care for, then I'm back out and around in the later afternoon when day visitors are headed for the gates and their dinner.

If you've wanted to see CT, go on the day you've scoped out that there are no cruise ships. Stay in CT the nights of the 11 and 12 so you have 2 evenings and maybe 2 mornings to enjoy things before it gets busy.

We were in CT around Oct 14-19, 2022. It was lovely. Not crowded at all. We did not encounter any tour groups in town or on the trails. We also were very lucky with the weather, it was perfect and my husband and kids went for a swim.

Everyone else has put in their $.02 so I will too.

I spent three days in Porto Venere September of last year and opted not to do CT (we did it many years ago before ferries, quotas, tickets etc) because of the many tour groups we saw in PV on the ferry shuttle coming from or going to CT. I would expect October to be quieter but if the cruise ship in La Spezia there will a steady stream of groups coming through.

If you want to see CT - and it is worth seeing - my modest proposal is to stay in one of the towns to experience it in the morning and at night. And of the crowds get to be too much then day trip by train to some of the Ligurian towns - SM, Chiavari etc - or take the train/ferry to La Spezia and explore the south side of the bay - San Terenzo, Lerici, and Tellaro. . Tellaro is like an undiscovered CT town but you either need to take a bus or drive so no one goes there.

This will allow you to enjoy the towns at their least crowded and explore more of the coastal community if CT is too crowded. And if the crowds don't materialize then explore the towns.

And while I haven't done it I have had this trail in mind. The CT "High Path" - versus the busy, lower 'blue path - that runs on the spine of hills behind the towns from Levanto to Porto Venere without the issues of the trails between the towns.
https://www.incinqueterre.com/en/trail-number1-high
https://genemtravels.com/hiking-in-cinque-terre-blue-and-high-path-trails/

Have a great trip whatever you decide to do,
=Tod

Nickelini:

I would love to have seen the faces of the inconsiderate hikers when your husband “instructed” them….. :)

We were there the first week of October last year. It was great. Yes, there were crowds, like anywhere. But we have been very fortunate to learn how to avoid the crowds and this was no exception. Main thing is to identify where the crowd is and go soemwhere else!

We stayed 2 or 3 nights in Corniglia. We took the train there and hiked up the hill. It's nowhere near as bad as some say. We tried to take the bus but it was PACKED! Got to our place and tried to walk around the village. Again, PACKED. Thought we'd made horrible mistake. I actually had a flash of depression, like vacation was ruined. But we walked back down hill, took train to another village (too late to get on trails), and ate. Came back after 5 and Corniglia was EMPTY. It was great.

Spent the next two days on the trails. Not too bad. There were parts that were crowded, but mostly it was fine. The harder the section, the fewer the people.

I would definitely do it again. I hope I will do it again.

Hi
You've had lots of answers, but we stayed for 3 nights in mid October 2022 in Manarola and the crowds were fairly easy to avoid. I would encourage you to stay in the CT, so that you are remaining there once the daytrippers leave.
The harbour areas would become very busy, but only for a few hours. As soon as you walked up in the town instead of down it was quiet.
We did one of the main hikes from Vernazza to Monterosso. We took an early train to Vernazza and were on the hike by around 930 or 10. It was fairly quiet until we got close to Monterosso. We took another hike from Velasqua ( ? sp) to Corniglia and saw almost nobody. We caught the first boat out to Portovenere, but had no trouble getting a boat in mid afternoon back.
Not sure if we were lucky, but weather was beautiful. We booked hotel last minute with no problems, but did make reservations for dinner.

I have decided that I will visit CT and stay in Manarola. I have a nice little hotel with a room with a terrace and a lemon garden. As someone mentioned, the area around Santa Margherta is nice, but it is not nearly as scenic as CT. So, I guess to me that is like coming to Montana and visiting the area around Yellowstone but not actually going to Yellowstone! Thank you everyone for your insights and comments. I feel pretty good about my decision.