Quick stop at Cinque Terre- realistic?

We just got back and hiked the complete trail from Monterosso to Riomaggiore and took the ferry back. The hike took us 5.5 hours to go the whole way with quick stops in each town. *This doesn't include seeing monterosso since we were staying there, which was lovely.

I think the trail from Monterosso to Vernazza was the most beautiful, but it is certainly the most difficult. Vernazza was wonderful and we had a quick swim and some foccacia. Manarola was also nice for a swim, and a good gelato shop near the stairway down.

For me, the trail itself was less appealing as we went south, but I enjoyed each of the towns.

Bethany, You know that you are going to figure out some way to see the CT. Therefore, I offer you Larry's whiz-bang 1-day tour of the Cinque Terre. Here's how.

Make your ticket from Florence to La Spezia or Monterosso. If you take the 6:10am train, you will arrive at 9:00am. If you take the next train at 7:51am, you will arrive at 9:50am. The Trenitalia website shows that La Spezia and Monterosso have luggage storage areas. Riomaggiore, Corniglia and Manarola do not. I suggest La Spezia. After you store your luggage, go into the TI office in the station and purchase a 1-day Cinque Terre Treno card. It costs about 8Euro but it provides unlimited train travel and access to the trails between the towns for the entire day. You'll be on the train about 4 times. If you buy individual tickets each time, it will be about 6.50Euro each time. Buy the Treno card. It should no later than 10:30am at this point.

Tour Riomaggiore down to the beginning of the coastal trail. Walk the trail. It will take about 35 minutes. Tour Manarola and then take the second trail to the Corniglia train station. This takes about 45 minutes. Skip going up to Corniglia and skip the remainder of the trails. Take the train from Corniglia to Monterosso. It should be about 12:30pm to 1:00pm by this time. Tour old and new Monterosso. Have lunch. Next, take the train to Vernazza. It should be about 3:00pm at this time. Tour Vernazza. Return to La Spezia about 5:00pm to retrieve your luggage. There are two trains that I see after 6:00pm to take you to Milan.

You are correct that there are no early trains out of the CT that will get you to Brig by noon. The earliest out gets you into Brig at 13:16.

Thanks! I was worried about leaving luggage at La Spezia because everything I had read suggested that it was annoying and time consuming to go from the tracks into the station at La Spezia... but if there's no lockers at Riomaggiore, I guess I'll need to either stop at La Spezia or head up to Monterossa.

If I have a Railpass, will that cover the local trains from town to town?

I'll add that the hiking and views along the trail are probably more of a priority for me than touring the actual towns. Of course, I could get there an be so struck by the towns that I never make it ot the trail. I've considered maybe an hour of kayaking in either Monterossa or Riomaggiore as well.

I probably am trying to pack way too much into way too little time... but I'm planning a bit of a "sampler" for this trip, then whatever I like most will be the focus of later trips, I suppose.

Keep any other suggestions coming!

Your railpass will cover the regionale trains in the area but will not cover the cost of the trails (yep, there are trolls in the booths to extract your Euro). You certainly can alter suggestions to accommodate your water interests.

Larry said, "...but will not cover the cost of the trails (yep, there are trolls in the booths to extract your Euro)."

What will it cost me to walk the round trip Riomaggiore to Manarola and back to Riomaggiore?

Bethany, don't be worried about leaving your luggage in La Spezia. We just did it ourselves and it was very easy and safe. It is right there on the same platform as the train. Be warned, though, that the gentleman that runs the place doesn't stay there. There is a doorbell which you have to ring to alert him to come. When we dropped them off, he was there in a couple of min. But when we picked up (around 6 pm), he was there in about 10 min. Either way, allow a few extra min. Also, we checked with the TI and they said La Spezia was the only village that had luggage check (meaning Riomaggiore did not).

We added Cinque Terre at the end of our trip, stayed overnight in La Spezia and had one full day in CT propper. This is how it worked for us:

9 am take the boat from La Spezia to Monterosso with all those beautiful views of the coast line. There is also a boat around 10 am.

11 am arrive in Monterosso, buy the pass for the pathway at the park office (very close to the beach).

Hike Monterosso-Vernazza. It was a VERY hot day so it took us 2 hours. When it's not 95F you can do it in 90 minutes. This is probably the most strenous stretch of the hikes but also one with incredible views.

1-2 pm have a light lunch break in Vernazza and walk a bit around the town. It was very crowded with tourists so we didn't really want to linger longer than needed to recharge our batteries after the first part of the hike.

2 pm take train to Riomaggiore and take the short hike to Manerola. Half way on that 20 minute pathway is a neat cafe where we stopped to have a cold lemonade (remember: this was 95 F in the shade and most of this part of the pathway has NO shade at all).

3 pm arrive in Manerola, have a quick walk around and take train to Corniglia

3.30 pm arrive in Corniglia, have gelato, cool down in the water ...

5 pm take train back to La Spezia

No, we hadn't worked it out like that by the minute beforehand. This is just how it worked out according how we felt with what we saw (great views, big crowds, high heat ...) and we never felt rushed at any time.

Our only regret: since it was such a hot day we should have taken the train to Monterossa in the morning to start the hike as early as possible and reserve the boat ride for the way back to La Spezia. But that doesn't impact the amount of time spent in the area.

Consider paying 12.5 Euros for all day on the boats. They go from town to town (except Corniglia) and seeing them all from the water is just beautiful. I enjoyed that perspective a lot more than the time I actually spent in each village. We did it all in one afternoon. You can buy point to point boat tickets, as well.

I know for a fact that Vernazza does NOT have luggage storage as I just tried that.

The La Spezia train station is small and easy to navigate.

Thanks so much for the replies, everyone! I really like Beatrix's plan- taking the boat past all of them first, then combining hiking and trains to see them from shore. I'd really like to hike the sections from Monterosso to Vernazza and Vernazza to Corniglia (the harder, more scenic sections, right?), but might use the train for the rest.

Would I be a terrible person for skipping the Via del Amore? It sounds a little too hyped up.

Also, how close is the marina in La Spezia to the train station, if I wanted to try taking the boat from there? Thanks!

Via del Amore is a partially paved section, tunnel with (encouraged) graffiti from lovebirds, passing old boarded up shacks. Some nice views, but it was my least favorite part. Monterosso to Vernazza to Corniglia are certainly the best portions.

Via del Amore is really easy to add because it's the shortest and easiest walk. Just see how your day is going and then decide to add it or leave it. No big deal.

In the morning Via del Amore seemed really busy, at least from what we saw when going past in the boat. In the afternoon it was quieter. The best part for us was the little cafe that provided a welcome break, solid shade, great lemondade or cappucino, and a great view with all of that. This stretch of the CT pathway system is certainly pretty but not the most awe inspiring imho compared to the longer ones.

Regarding the distance from the La Spezia train station to the marina it's not that far. I'd guess about a 20 minute walk. However, La Spezia is a pretty big city, a working town with a working harbor. We miscalculated distances in this town and ended up with a couple of very long walks at night. It might be just easier to take a taxi from the train station especially if you are pressed on time to begin with. There is a taxi stand just when you exit the station. The ride shouldn't cost more than about 6 Euro.

I wasn't all that impressed with Via del Amore. If you are taking other trails, you aren't missing anything, IMO.