Hi Everyone. We are travelling next September in Italy, so we are making the skeleton of the plan now. Regarding Cinque Terre, would the consensus be 2 nights or 3. We are kind of thinking 3 as we will be coming from Como, and the day we leave we are headed for a small hilltown in Umbria, meaning that the arrival day and departure day will not be spent (at least most of the day won't) in the region. We will likely stay in Vernazza. We will have a rental car that we will need to leave at La Spezia or Levanto, so as to be able to take the train into the Vernazza and then explore for the next day or two. Has anyone left a vehicle in either of those places before?
Thanks in advance for any input.
Rob in Toronto
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32404 posts
Rob,
I really like that area, so my vote would be for three days. Once you arrive there, you may wish you had booked more time.
Aside from exploring the five towns, there are lots of sightseeing possibilities and of course it's a great place to just relax and enjoy Il dolce far niente. I prefer staying in Monterosso, so can't offer too much information on Vernazza, but I'm sure the others will have lots of suggestions. If you're planning to hike the No. 2 trails, hopefully they'll all be open then (my suggestion would be to start in Monterosso while you're well rested, as that's the most challenging section).
There's a relatively new car park near the station in La Spezia, but I don't know what the rates are. One other possibility would be to drop the car when you arrive and rent another one for your ongoing trip. That might save some money, as you wouldn't be paying for rental and parking while the car sits there gathering dust.
As you'll be visiting several locations in Italy, I'd highly recommend packing along a copy of the Italy 2014 Guidebook (available now in both print and KINDLE versions). It's an excellent reference source to use "on the fly", and also provides lots of information on hotels, restaurants, transportation, sightseeing, etc. and it may save you some money.
Happy travels!
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
Rob, I would suggest the two full days especially if the coastal trails are open and you have time to do some trail walking. Also, it's great to take the ferry from Monterosso down to Portovenere, have lunch and return on a later ferry. For your rental car, Ken has the info on the new parking lot at the train station in La Spezia. There is also a parking lot near the train station in Levanto. There is also a large parking lot on the water in Monterosso. Tourist cars are permitted to drive down through Monterosso to reach this lot. There is also a multi-story lot in Riomaggiore. Caution as this one closes at night.
Posted by
Alta Loma, CA, USA
1446 posts
Rob, I vote for 3 nights (2 full days) for the reasons that you mentioned. We were there for 5 days in Aug/Sept of this year and while I'm probably in the minority, I easily could have stayed another few nights. Like Ken, I love the CT region and we enjoyed day trips to non-CT towns during our stay there as well. I agree with Ken's suggestion to visit Portovenere as we loved it but I don't think you'll have time even with 2 full days. I've been to the CT twice and both times we stayed in Monterosso so I also can't comment about staying in Vernazza. I know it's very popular but I really prefer Monterosso because it's larger and contains more amenities, restaurants, etc. I also chose not to stay in Vernazza due to the fact that a lot of the accommodations there involve walking up/down a lot of steps and because Monterosso is relatively flat, I didn't have to worry about that. Just my two cents!
Be sure to eat at Cantina di Miky in Monterosso if you can. It's right on the water and we thought the food was excellent. We ate there 3 times in our 5 days there. Have a great trip.