Day Trip to Cinque Terra

You'd want to drive into La Spezia and take the slow train into the C/T. It's just a short distance, but parking there is iffy. The trains are frequent.
You might want to read some travel guides that explain Cinque Terre in detail. They should be at the start of their tourist season in May.
While you're rambling through the countryside, don't forget Volterra--one of my favorites. There are so many day trips available from outside of Lucca with an auto.

These are the choices:
1- drive to La Spezia Centrale station as suggested above and park at the parking structure there. It requires some driving through La Spezia surface streets, which can get congested at times.
2- drive to Riomaggiore and park at the parking structure there. This option also requires driving through La Spezia. In addition the last couple of kilometers before getting down to Riomaggiore the road is very narrow (about one lane wide in spite being two way). If you select this option be aware that the traffic going uphill has the right of way, therefore you must yield to vehicles coming out of town on narrow squeeze situations. Don't do this if you are uncomfortable driving through narrow spaces. This selection is a bit longer than no. 1.
3- Go past La Spezia on the A12 Freeway (toward Genova) and exit at Levanto. You can either:
A- park at the Levanto station and take the train,
or
B- you can drive all the way to Monterosso-Fegina (make sure u go to Fegina and not the historical center) and park at the lot there (going to Monterosso take a bit longer than the Levanto+train option at 3A).
Option 3 (A or B) is faster than 1 or 2 if you intend to go to Monterosso or Vernazza.

jj,

My suggestion would be to use one of the latter options that Roberto mentioned, either parking in Levanto or in the "new town" (Fegina) area of Monterosso. That way you'd avoid the traffic issues in La Spezia. There's a large car park right on the beach in Monterosso and that would put you right in one of the C.T. towns. There are lots of great restaurants, shops and other amenities there, as well as the nicest beach of the five towns. Also, parking in Monterosso will give you access to the trails (if you were to park in Riomaggiore, you would have to take the trains from there to at least Corniglia to access the trails - more on that below.

One point to mention regarding the boats is that they don't operate during inclement weather, so probably not prudent to plan on that basis. If the weather is good on the day you're there, you could certainly take the Ferry from Monterosso to the other towns (the dock is in the "old town" but that's an easy walk from the car park). Note that the Ferry doesn't stop in Corniglia.

Regarding "walking the trails", if you were planning to use the popular Sentiero Azzurro trails, a Park Pass will be required which you can buy at the beginning of each trail segment. One other point to note is that two of the four trail segments will probably still be closed next year, so you may only be able to hike the Monterosso > Vernazza > Corniglia segments. There's a steep climb at the Monterosso end, so be prepared for that. There's no way to predict what the status of the trails will be next May as they can be affected by storms, but I'm assuming that the same trails that were open this year will again be open next year.

As you're going to be renting a car, it's important to note that for driving in Italy, each driver listed on the rental form must have the compulsory International Driver's Permit, which is used in conjunction with your home D.L. These are valid for one year, and easily obtained at any CAA/AAA office (two Passport-sized photos required, which may be provided by the issuing office).

You may also want to have a look at some of the other posts here concerning the dreaded Zona Traffico Limitato areas that are becoming increasingly prevalent in many Italian towns & cities especially Florence, which is almost saturated with automated ZTL cameras. EACH PASS through one of the automated Cameras will result in a €100+ ticket, which you won't know about until several months after you return home! This website provides more information - http://www.slowtrav.com/italy/driving/traffic_cameras_speeding.htm

Thanks to all for your great responses! David, I'm not very familiar with the countryside around Lucca-I checked out Volterra online and it looks really interesting, its just been added to our list! Obviously we are doing daytrips to Lucca and Pisa but any other suggestions in the countryside would be welcome.

Roberto and Ken-Our plan was to get from Lucca to Monterosso, hike the trails back through Vernazza and Corniglia, ending up back at Vernazza for dinner at Belforte. Sounds like your idea of parking by the beach in Monterosso would work great, assuming we can catch a late night train back to Monterosso. Also, am I right in assuming I won't have to worry about any ZTL cameras driving into Monterosso to park by the beach?

Thanks again for the great info

Jeff

I don't think you can "park by the beach" but others may know better. The streets and walkways in Monterosso are raised up from the beach. You have to use stairs to go down to beach level so not sure a car can go there. If you take the train all the way to Monterosso, Hotel Spiaggia is a great place to stay overlooking the beach. Also, if you don't end up hiking the trails, a fabulous hike is up to the highest point in Monterosso, up to the Capuchin Convent. The views are amazing across the sea and down the coast to Vernazza and other towns in the distance. It's quite an uphill climb but paths are good. Halfway up is a big statue of St. Francis overlooking the coastline. A good place to catch your breath, and ask him to help you make it to the top!!!

Yes you can drive to the lot on the beach at Monterosso if you decide to drive to Monterosso. After you exit the freeway A12 at the Levanto exit go toward Levanto. Once n Levanto there is a roundabout. Take the 3rd roundabout exit toward Monterosso - Cinque Terre. It's a curvy road. At a certain point there is a cross roads. Left to Monterosso-Vernazza, straight to Lungomare Fegina (new town of Monterosso). Go straight to Fegina. Eventually you will get to the shore. The parking lot is visible jutting out to the sea. It fills up, especially on weekends, so be aware of that. From Levanto to Monterosso it's about 25-30 min drive. If you decide to park at Levanto and proceed by train, the train ride to Monterosso is 4 min.
The last train back from Vernazza back to Monterosso (or Levanto) departs from Vernazza at 11:30pm currently, but check the timetable closer to the time you go.
www.trenitalia.com

jeff,

AFAIK you won't pass through any ZTL areas if you use the car park on the beach in Monterosso. It's located at the end of the "new town" where the road enters and is at one end of the long beach. You should be able to drive directly to the lot and park. I thought I had made of a note of the rates but can't remember where I filed that information. You will not be able to drive along the main street and towards the "old town" (only Taxis and service vehicles are allowed).

In the photo, the car park is at the rocky outcropping at the end of the beach, where some motor homes can be seen. I thought I had a better photo but can't find it at the moment.

Not sure why you are so adverse to the local train, it really is the primary source of transportation in the area and allows you to visit all 5 of the towns quickly. Vernazza and Manarola I believe are the most scenic.
The images of the crazy crowded trains and platforms you likely have seen are for the most part when there was some sort of delay, if the trains are running on time they are busy but not uncomfortably so for most peoples perspective, similar to most any city subway.
The trains run frequent enough that if one approaching is really crowded or overloaded platform waiting you can wait for the next one.
The ferries get crowded too and are much slower than the train, they will be running in May but anytime of year if waves or rough or stormy then the small docks in the 5 towns cannot accommodate the ferry so it might run but not stop at any of the towns.

There really is no ZTL fears driving to the Cinque Terre. Most recommend parking in La Spieza because you have to drive past it anyway and the driving past La Spieza usually takes longer than the train. You will pay to park either way and La Spieza parking is likely cheaper and is underground directly below the station so usually means the least amount of walking.

In the individual towns usually as you approach the town there are paid parking lots and is an obvious end of the road. There are gates or something similar to prevent you from driving past and not even local residents can, only delivery trucks and the like. You are taking a little bit of a chance that parking will be full at least in the immediate lot and then have to park further away. Certain times of the year parking will be really tough but May should be fine. Either way I believe in most all cases the walking from the parking lot into town or where the trail head in that town starts will be further from the car parking areas than the train station stop.

Driving at least to Riomaggiore or Manarola on the coastal road is easy, after that I have heard the drive can be a little tough which is why Roberto mentions to use a different highway exit if going to the far side. At least for me the hardest part was driving through the city of La Spieza.
I think there are reasons why driving if you have luggage and already have a car make sense but if just day tripping with no luggage parking in La Spieza makes more sense to me.

The trains run quite late, not as frequent in the evening after sunset but at least once an hour so getting a train back to Monterosso from any other town or back to La Spieza will be fairly easy and the last night trains will not be crowded.

Thanks all for the replies-I am not really adverse to the trains, I guess if anything I have to shake my American habit of feeling the need to drive everywhere, I am keeping an open mind and everyone's input has been very helpful. Sounds like the drive back to Lucca late at night would definitely be easier from La Spezia than Monterosso, I'll have to decide what I want to do but now feel like I can make a much more informed decision-- Thanks again!