We planned a last minute trip and will be staying 3 nights in Florence (May 20 - 22) and 2 in Monterosso (May 23 - 25). All of the timed tickets for the Accademia are sold out for the days we will be there so I booked a timed entry with Get Your Guide. Has anyone used this company? Also I've been reading about the cruise ship crowds in the Cinque Terre. I visited there 15 years ago when it was still a back door. Would love to hear from someone who's been recently about their experience. Thanks!
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I was in the CT (and Florence) two years ago in July. We too stayed in Monterosso. I did not find the crowds overwhelming, however, we favor things that are not crowd centric, so for example, we hiked from Monterosso to Vernaza first thing. Ate some lunch and gelato, then hiked to Corniglia, and took the train back and went to the beach. Not many crowds on the trails and the crowds in Vernazza were ok bc we were there for 90 minutes. Corniglia was not crowded at all. Next day we took the train to Riomaggiore, ate lunch and hiked to Manarola and swam and jumped off the rock in the harbor there for a few hours. The hike was def. not crowded (it was the upper trail - the coastal trail is closed). Rio was crowded, and our least-liked place, Mana was not, altho the swimming hole and rock were. We did not find Monterosso crowded, and we enjoyed walking around at night. I know we were there during some cruise ship dockage bc I checked before we left for our trip but I didnt notice (altho, maybe they all disembarked at Riomaggiore that day ;p )
Academia was stunning. Enjoy