Drive from Florence to Monterosso/ Cinque Terre suggestions?

I wouldn't drive it. There is really no place for cars in the Cinque Terre. Driving will result in a major headache and have you wishing you went with the chickens and goats. Sorry, couldn't help it.

st,

I would also suggest using the train, as a car is about as useful as a boat anchor in the C.T. It will sit in the lot gathering dust and accumulating parking charges during your time there. The train ride is scenic enough for me.

I was not going to personally drive but was thinking about getting a driver from Florence so that we can also more easily stop and see the tower in Pisa and then stop in San Miniato and Lucca on the way. ALso I could avoid the trains and they can drop us at the hotel. Just wondered if there is anything else I should see along the way.

Linda

Linda,

Hiring a private driver is not going to be inexpensive, although if you have a "generous" travel budget I suppose that's an option. Everything you're planning can easily be done by trains.

Stopping in Pisa, San Minato and Lucca on the way to the C.T. is going to make for a long and exhausting travel day.

It will be difficult for the driver to drop you at your door because of the stairs and pedestrianised streets in the Cinque Terre villages.

We had a private driver for Tuscany wine tasting and visiting other towns.

This was our first time to Europe and very inexperienced! Having said all of that....
We took the train to Cinque Terre and it was easy. Believe me if I can do it.. so can you :)

I get lost in my own home town.

Florence - La Spezia- to any of the five villages.

Once you get to one of the villages - you can just take the train to the other villages.

If you want the scenic views that you see in books... Manarola is the village to see - then Monterosso for a swim.

I get lost in my own home town.

I'm going to join in with the "don't use a car in Cinque Terre" group. There is a reasonable chance your car will not be able to drive within the town you are staying. It seemed like you needed a pass to drive within most of the towns and a driver from Florence wouldn't have that. The towns are so small there is really no where to drive to. You could hop off the train in Pisa and get a cab there.

I didn't think of the train trip as particularly scenic but it had it's moments. It's likely less scenic by car and would take twice as long.

I agree that you should take train not drive. We just back from Italy and did a day trip from Florence via train and it was fantastic. They have a special train called Cinque Terre Express that runs every 30 mins between La Spezia and the 5 towns all day (http://cinqueterre-travel.com/getting_there/train/ ) We trained from Florence to the northernmost town - Monterosso and visited and hiked to the next 2 towns (Vernazza and Cornigilia), hd lunch and then trained back to RioMaggiore to catch the connecting train back to La Spezia and on to Florence. It is well worth it!

Given the high cost it must be, I think you will be disappointed with your private driver.
Your driver from Florence I imagine won't be allowed in any ZTL zones so will need to drop you off a couple blocks from the tower in Pisa I believe, cannot drive into Lucca so would need to drop up off by the wall so visiting these towns even with a private driver is not as easy as it would be as say cities/towns in the United States where you can drive everywhere.
Don't know anything about San Miniato but it may also have restricted zones for driving.
It will still be a very time consuming day to visit more than 1 town along the drive.
Unlike the other 4 towns, Monterosso is not as restrictive to cars so although your driver may or may not be able to directly reach your hotel one can drive into parts of Monterosso and I imagine that the drive will be more scenic than taking the train just don't envision adding even more stops to your trip a good idea.
Choose 1 of your 3 already scheduled stops don't add more to your already long list.

If you are going from Florence to the 5 Terre for the day you won't have a lot of time at your disposal to visit all those places along the way. The best option is a train to the 5 Terre early morning and maybe visit Pisa on the way back.
Although I have driven my own car from my house in Florence to the 5 Terre countless times, however, if you are staying in the city center, the train is just as fast even accounting for the train change in La Spezia. The fastest train to La Spezia is the Frecciabianca departing from Firenze Campo di Marte station at 07:38, which arrives at La Spezia Centrale 1.5 hours later. No car can get you there that fast. There are also Regional trains departing from Firenze Santa Maria Novella station that take you there for a bit less money although in longer time.

My reasoning for a private driver was so I could visit some places either on the way to CT or the way back. I think I am going to get the driver for the way back since I need to get from CT to Cortona and that would be more complicated by train. I was wanting to stop briefly to see the tower in Pisa and then eat lunch in San Miniato and head to San Ging... and Siena before getting to Cortona via the scenic route. Seems this can work for a full day with a driver and about $700. I know it is a lot but I don't want to drive myself. So I am planning to take the train to CT (we are staying in Monterosso) and staying two nights and then getting a driver to get us to take us to Cortona via the route I mentioned. He says he has a license to get to our hotel, or real close by anyway.
Linda

Leave Monterosso go to Pisa, then San miniato then San Gim, then Siena and finally cortona ; all in the same day!
Not sure what you will see in these towns and still don't think you understand the likelihood that your driver will not be able to drive past the ztl restricted zones in each town you wish to visit
Ask him that in advance for each town perhaps a livery/taxi license allows him access to all , I would be curious to know
If not he will be dropping you off at each town at town gates and you will have a bit of a walk to get where you want in each town
Monterosso has no ztl and not positive about San miniato but Pisa, San Gim, Siena, Lucca and Cortona all most definitely do

The driving time distances for your plan are not bad but think you will be literally running in each town to say you saw it and get back in the car to see the next one
I would pick 1 or 2 max of these towns to visit in between
plan a few hours in each town, more for Siena