Getting to the Cinque Terre

Hi Carole. There are several choices; all with pros and cons. The closest airport is Pisa, but service there is limited. Other choices are Florence, Bologna, Milan, or Rome. Part of your choice may be whether you want to spend time in your arrival city before going to CT. You can check train schedules on trenitalia.com. Enjoy your trip!

Carole, Your best bet for flight availability to that part of Italy is probably going to be Milan / MXP. Pisa and Florence are smaller airports, and don't handle a lot of direct international flights. Of course, if you first connect in a major hub such as Frankfurt, you'll likely have an easier time finding flights to the smaller airports. If flying into Malpensa, you'll need to get from the airport to the central station. That's easily done either via the Malpensa Shuttle (about 50-minutes depending on traffic, Fare ~€7.50 or via trains from Terminal 1 (there's a station at the airport). If travelling by train, be sure that you specify Milano Centrale rather than Milano Cadorna! The Cadorna station is closer to the Duomo and not the one you need for trips to the Cinque Terre. Travel from Milano Centrale to Monterosso is a very easy 2H:52M if you can connect with one of the direct trains, otherwise you'll have to make one or two changes and the time will be a bit longer. Which of the five towns are you planning to stay in? I used Monterosso for searching, but the time won't differ much if you're going to the other towns. Buon Viaggio!

You really have to look at the options. I like CT a lot, but it's far from the highlight of a trip to Italy. I'd probably look first to Milan, because I think you can get a better flight deal to Milan, but the choice would ultimately depend on fitting it into my overall itinerary.

Florence is a great little airport to fly into. However, no train station there and you normally take a taxi to the train station. From there, it's about 3.0hrs to the CT by train via Pisa. Milan Malpensa is a much larger airport with better connections to and from the U.S. Milan does have a train station and frequent runs that will take you to Milano Centrale, where you change trains for the CT. About 3.5hrs to the CT from the airport. Pisa airport is the closest. A bit larger than Florence but smaller and more limited than Milan. Pisa also has a train station at the airport. About 2hrs to the CT from the airport.

Thanks, Ken, I was under the impression all trails were open. I actually just finished booking stuff today (started last week) and leave in a bit over two weeks...NOT my usual way of doing things I assure you! But it all worked, so off I go.

Thanks to everyone for their assistance; throwing it together last minute I seemed to have fewer options (reasonably prices ones!). Ending up flying in and out of Milan. And you're right: the CT is just a part of Italy, but it's the focus of this trip for me since "hike the Cinque Terre" has been #1 on my bucket list for years. I've been to Italy before and hope to go back again to see other areas I've not yet explored.

Carole, When will this trip be taking place? I would highly recommend pre-booking accommodations WELL in advance, as the Cinque Terre books up quickly. I often start booking Hotels in March for travel in September, and even with that much lead time, it can sometimes be challenging. Note that the trail from Manarola to Corniglia is still closed due to storm damage, so you'll have to use the local trains to "bridge" that section. Cheers!