Hello. Newbie here. We are planning a trip for late September this year. We wonder about a great and scenic route to take. And, could we wing it and not have reservations so if we come across a town or village we love the odds of finding a room there for the night would be good? Also might there be one of the *five towns of Cinque Terre that would serve best as the place to spend a couple of nights while we explore all three. And if so, why that one? Thank you.
Posted by
5253 posts
Cinque means five--there are five villages. Parking will be the issue. I would book in advance, as they are quite popular, even in September.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16200 posts
If you have a couple of nights, try this, in Porto Santo Stefano, on Mt. Argentario, about half way between Rome and Cinque Terre.
http://www.hvittoria.com/fotogallery.html
Posted by
Boston
1814 posts
If you are new to Italy, I think you should use the inland route and see a couple of more famous towns such as Orvieto and Lucca, both of which need reservations.
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
12035 posts
How many is 'we'?
Finding a room for just 2 is obviously easier than for a larger number.
You may want to do trial bookings now in the towns along your route to see what is available for your dates to get an idea of how 'full' the lodgings are. Give you some insight on how risky just winging might be.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16698 posts
Also might there be one of the three towns of Cinque Terre that would
serve best as the place to spend a couple of nights while we explore
all three.
As someone said above, there are 5 villages in the CT: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso. All of them are virtually pedestrianized so you won't be using the car to get around: it'll be by train, ferry (not to Corniglia) or on foot (Monterosso>Vernazza>Corniglia if the Blue Trail is open). And also as noted, this is a hot tourist location so I wouldn't risk trying to find accommodations on the fly.
There is some parking in Monterosso but very limited.
http://www.cinqueterre.eu.com/en/parking-monterosso
You don't mention where you're going after the CT? Is it somewhere you need the car?
Posted by
OP
Seacoast NH
11 posts
Thank you. There are two of us, my wife and myself. This is our first trip to Italy. Our college aged son was there last year and he says that we need to rent a car and drive through Tuscany like he did... We plan to spend about 11 nights in Italy, arriving in Rome, sightseeing in Tuscany and Cinque Terre and departing from Florence. Open to all suggestions and advice! Thank you.
Posted by
11673 posts
We parked at the large lot in Monterosso, the most northern of the five villages.
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
12035 posts
If you arrive in Rome in the AM, ( or even early afternoon) I would suggest you consider taking train to CT, spend whatever time you desire and then pick up rental car when you leave to wander about Tuscany.
This saves you the expense of the rental car , parking costs and the worry about it being damaged while parked at CT.
Then drop it off when you arrive in Florence for your departure.