Parking in Cinque Terre

The best (and safest) way to enter from the south is through La Spezia. We stayed in Corniglia last summer and parked our rental car there on the side of the road walking distance away and paid about 10 euro a day.
Hope this helps!

You can drive right into Monterosso and park there. There's a open air lot on the newer side that cost about 10 euro a day and a small garage in the old town part that costs 15 euro a day. I recommend the open air lot as it's cheaper and is closer to the train station.

Have you considered just taking the train from Lucca to the CT & saving all the aggrevation & cost ?

There is a 6-story parking garage in Riomaggiore. As with all the Cinque Terre towns parking is not permitted in the villages. Riomaggiore, the first town you'll hit travelling up from Roma or across from Firenze, has a paid 6 storey parking garage which is quite expensive-at least 20 euros for a 24 hour cycle. Plus, it closes at 7 so good luck if you want to drive anywhere along the coast at night. About 1 kilometer outside of town is a small, paved free parking lot. There are only about 10 spaces total. Then, you may park along the side of the road which is steep, high, and far, far away. So, parking is possible. Just be aware that with many, many heavy suitcases can be arduous but doable. You can drive to the edge of town to drop off your suitcases just be aware that a traffic cop isn't there to watch what you are doing and shoo you along. FYI: Either Manarola or Monterrosa also has a free parking lot outside of town. If a B&B is offering 10 euro parking and it was close, I'd take them up on their offer. It really will the cheapest paid parking you'll find in that area or all of Italy for that matter. Good luck, enjoy, and, be aware that American type college kids have invaded Riomaggiore and party late into the night. The hiking and water are beautiful.

David, If you wanted to get to Grand Central Station, would you drive or take a train? How much does it cost to park near Grand Central Station? OK, now take a look at a map of Vernazza on Google. Look at pictures of the, errrr...."Streets" All the villages at CT are connected by trains. If you can, I would plan to dump your rental car and take the train to CT. Crazy to pay for a car AND pay to park it when there is no use for it. We're spending 21 days in Italy, including 3 days in CT. We are renting a car for exactly 3 days, picking it up in Lucca, Staying in Bagni di Lucca then driving to Milan after three days and dumping the car. There are reasons to get a car in Italy, but visiting CT is not one of them.

Thanks so much for your advice. I'd love to do this by train, but the schedule to La Spezia results in losing most of the morning in transit (and we are early morning people). We also expect to stay for dinner so would need the car after 7pm. I see on another site that there is excellent and inexpensive parking in Levanto (about an hour from Lucca) and that this is easier than parking in La Spezia. Any other thoughts?

David, what did you end up doing? We are driving from Maranello to CT in May. We plan to hike/ferry/train the CT, stay one night wherever we end up, collect our car in the AM and continue to an agriturismo not far away. We could park in Levanto, or La Spezia, or even Pisa...We'll just have backpacks so luggage is not an issue. Looking for up to date pointers!

Hi Barbara, We drove to Levanto and took the train from there to Vernazza and hiked the rest of the way. We decided not to risk parking in the towns. Parking in Levanto was easy in June and reasonably priced (although I don't remember how much). Bring euros in coin, because I believe the parking machine only took coins. As you probably know, the storms last year did terrible damage to the towns and the trails. I know they have been working hard to get everything reopened. Of course, Steves loves CT and will have the latest information. Regardless, you'll be able to take the trains between the towns, if some of the trails remain closed. You are sure to have a wonderful time.

@Barbara, Just to clarify, the floods of 25 Oct. 2011 affected only two of the five towns, and the damage has been substantially repaired, especially in Monterosso. I was in Vernazza in September and the repairs there have been amazing (but there's still a bit more work to be done, which I'm sure is continuing now). The towns will be open for the tourist season again this year and anxious to welcome visitors. Regarding parking, there's a relatively new car park near the station in La Spezia, so you could check that. I don't have the information at hand, but could probably find some details if you need them. I've never used it, but have heard that it's a bit "pricey". Which if the five towns are you planning to stay in? Cheers!