Where is the best place to park our car in Cinque Terre, if we are driving in from Pisa? We are wanting to leave the car there for a couple of days and take public transit into the small towns. Thank you very much.
Posted by
Boston, MA
1829 posts
Best place is the underground garage in La Spieza and train in from there, this usually does not add time to your travel either.
There are some exceptions to this but all depends on exactly where you are staying in the Cinque Terre.
Posted by
east haven, ct
365 posts
Definitely leave the car in La Spezia and take the train to CT. It doesn't matter what town you are staying in. Cars and parking are difficult and unnecessary. There is a regional train that goes from town to town quite often.
Lorieann
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32213 posts
rubiosa,
The answer will depend on which of the Cinque Terre towns you plan on staying in. Could you provide further information?
If you don't need the car after that, you might consider returning it prior to your C.T. visit. A car in that area is about as useful as a boat anchor!
Posted by
OP
5 posts
Flights and car are already reserved and purchased, in Rome for 2 1/2 days without car. Staying 5 to 7 days just north of Orvieto and taking day trips with a car to Tuscany. Leaving for Cinque Terre after that. I am thinking of Ditching the car in and around CT and taking a train to Venice for a couple of days and back tracking to Rome to fly back home. I know I should have flown back home from Venice for us to spend more time there but I didn't think about that till now. My question is will it be more expensive to travel by train after CT, than a car, and or will it it be worth it, keeping the car. Thank you
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32213 posts
I don't know if the car will be more expensive than train for the trip to Venice. There are several factors that could affect the prices, such as whether you buy advance discounted tickets on the fast trains. The trip by train will take about 5 hours, with the last part via high speed train. I'm sure Roberto will have some good suggestions to offer.
Which of the five C.T. towns are you planning to stay in?
Posted by
OP
5 posts
Ok, we do not have any plans when we get to CT. don't know if that's a good idea,but we are just going on the fly.
Posted by
Novato, CA, USA
13 posts
We have been to Cinque Terre before, but just wanted to drive over for the day in May 2016. We met a woman at a gas station on the way who lives in Levante and she told us that the parking lots were full unless you had a reservation in Vernazza. We parked our car at Levante and took a very short ride on the train to Vernazza. Cheap, quick and no hassle.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32213 posts
When is this trip taking place? If you'll be visiting the Cinque Terre in the next few months, you may have a problem finding a hotel vacancy. Going "on the fly" at this time of year is not a good idea for that area, although I suppose there's always a slim chance that you might find something.
With a car you can either park in the large car park near the station in La Spezia, or you could try one of the lots in Monterosso. There are pay lots in both the "new town" and "old town". Parking in the other four towns is very limited so I'd recommend either of the locations I mentioned, and then use the frequent local trains to get around.
You could also try finding a hotel in Levanto, which is just north of Monterosso, as it's only about five minutes by train.