Hi! Anyone have any great tips on how beginners might enjoy the Cinque Terre from LaSpezia as our base for 2 days and 3 nights? Sept 7-10 Where to go, how and when? Thanks very much! We love the beach and hiking (easy)
Posted by
Los Angeles
1035 posts
Since you'll be riding the train frequently, the Cinque Terre Treno card may be worthwhile:
Posted by
SoCal
939 posts
Stephy F, please report back. We're staying in La Spezia later in September as a base to see the five cities; we're planning to go on a boat tour one of the days. Would love to know what you end up doing.
Have a great time!
Posted by
San Diego, California, USA
1026 posts
Basically you need to take the train from La Spezia station or the ferry to visit CT. The ferry leaves from the harbor front across from the park and train station is on the upper end of town - they are a little less than a mile apart. In between these two the area around Piazza Giuseppe Garibaldi is a (largely) pedestrian shopping area. In the center of town is the Mercato Ortofrutticolo e Ittico which is La Spezia's work a day fruit, veg and flower market and is also popular area to catch buses to Porto Venere etc.
If the weather is nice and the ferry is running I think seeing CT from the water is worth taking the ferry, but whether you want to wait in line to try and get back that way is up to you. Check the schedule see about taking the train back would be my plan - or at least my back-up plan. So keep in mind you may well be using both modes of transportation when figuring out where to stay. The much smaller town of Levanto north of CT can also be used this way but I haven't done.
You can check the schedule on the Trenitalia website but I'm sure the locals provide the schedule for the 5 TERRE EXPRESS train. For example from Vernazza to La Spezia the trip is 18 minutes and trains run on the :15, :25 and :55 past the hour all day choosing a random day in September.
Have a great trip,
=Tod
Posted by
14 posts
We stayed in La Spezia for our visit to Cinque Terre in April 2023. It was a great place to make your home base. We took the ferry to see the villages from the water, which provided a great view before you disembarked. We then took the train back to La Spezia. Since we were based in La Spezia, we used the ferry to visit Doria Castle too. Enjoy!