Would like to travel from Florence to CT and spend one night. Considering age (seventies) but excellent health and luggage, would it not make more sense to rent a car and drive?
Posted by
California 🦋
5210 posts
Nwhipple,
You definitely don't need a car to get to the Cinque Terre from Florence.
You can easily take a train from Florence to CT via Pisa or La Spezia.
Once you are in one of the CT villages, it's very easy to travel by train from one village to the next.
There are frequent trains & it takes less than 5 minutes from village to village.
You could also take a ferry boat between the villages.
I'd recommend staying at least 2 nights so you can explore each of the villages.
When will you be traveling?
Happy planning!
Posted by
Seattle
4637 posts
No. CT towns are connected by train, by boat and by trail. The road which connects each of them to the highway is very narrow, steep and winding and there is very little parking available in the towns. While by train or trail the towns are apart just a few kilometres, by road it's a few dozen. A car and CT are not compatible. I made that mistake just once.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32201 posts
As the others have mentioned, train is the easiest method to get from Florence to the Cinque Terre. No private vehicles are allowed into the towns and parking is limited.
The trip will take 2 - 3 hours with one or more changes, depending on which of the five towns your destination is and which train you choose. Note that some of the trains will be Regionale, so you MUST validate your ticket prior to boarding the train on the day of travel or risk a hefty fine!
Spending only one night there won't allow much time to explore the five towns. Part of your only touring day will be spent on the trip there, and you'll have to be out of your hotel at about 10:00 the next morning, so that only allows a few hours to look around. Spending at least two nights would be better.
Posted by
Rick Steves' Europe
16893 posts
It sounds like you plan to pack light and destinations like the Cinque Terre give you good motivation to do so. You may encounter stairs in several locations (not in Firenze SMN station but in the Cinque Terre train stations, walking to some hotels, and inside some hotels there). (Parking lots are further out from the center of each village, fill up quickly, cost money, etc.)