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Nice-Cinque Terre-Pisa-Florence... Is this a doable adventure?

Posted by on

Planning our first trip for next May (2025) and will be travelling from Nice to Florence.
I had thought about staying in Genoa to break it up, but I really don't want to use a day there if possible.

My thought is to take the train from Nice (switching in Ventimiglia) to Monterosso and then spend the day hopping from one town to the next (especially Vernazza) before continuing on to Florence.

Questions-

1. I've heard that Florence to CT is an easy day trip, but do you think it's manageable as a "through trip"? Otherwise, we will miss out on Cinque Terre :(

2. Would you recommend a guide? Or just easy ambling and self-exploring? Does the Italian train line take you straight to the village and is it all walkable from there?

3. If we did a quick hop off the train in PISA can we quickly/easily walk to the leaning tower?

Any advice appreciated!
Thank you

Posted by
8045 posts

  1. It depends on what time you arrive in Monterosso from Nice. It is 4 hour plus train ride. There is bag storage there. The bottom line the charm of Cinque Terre is at night when the human traffic tourist jam of other day trippers from cruise ships have gone. It looks and feels better after 5 compared to full sun and thousands of tourists walking in each other's heels. I was there in 2016 and it has gotten worse as far as crowds since then.

  2. No to a guide. The train Cinque Terre Express stops at all 5 villages and terminates at La Spezia. I can't see what a guide would do.

  3. You can if you don't have any trouble walking about a mile about 25 minutes. That's the way I did it on a day trip from Monterosso where I stayed 3 nights.

Posted by
5100 posts

No, I don't think your plan is doable as a pass through. Even without a stop, the trip from Nice to Florence is over 7 hours. If you were to attempt it, you would need to book separate tickets- the first to Monterosso, and the second from Monterosso (or laSpezia) to Florence on a regionale train.

The CT is 5 separate villages, connected by train, roads, hiking trails (between some but not all) and ferry (not Corniglia). It is barely possible to see all 5 villages in an entire day, never mind in the VERY few hours you would have available. And you would arrive in Monterosso at the most crowded time of day, when all the other day trippers are packing the towns and trains. A guide is unnecessary.

The train from Monterosso to Florence stops at Pisa Centrale. To get to the Field of Miracles, you would first need to store your luggage, then take a taxi or walk about 20 minutes. On a regional ticket, you would have time for a very brief stop. Otherwise you would run out of time to complete the train journey, and would need to buy a new ticket to Florence. Or to be safe, book separate tickets- Monterosso to Pisa and Pisa to Florence.

While I could see the temptation to knock off a few items on a checklist of places to see, in reality it's a marathon of different trains interspersed with just glimpses of the places you want to see. And no time to really experience or enjoy them.

CT is also NOT an easy day trip from Florence, given the amount of time just getting there and back. It really needs, at minimum, an overnight stay.

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