My wife and I have already rented a car for Tuscany. For 1 part of the trip we will be staying in Lucca and making side trips to Pisa and Cinque Terre. In Rick's book he says Pisa is a hassle with a car and Cinque Terre sounds difficult. So if we already have a car should we still take the train? I've driven in France and tiny 1 lane roads in Ireland so I'm more worried about parking than driving.
Posted by
Portlandia
3313 posts
Parking is the problem. We drove to Pisa from Lucca and lucked into parking on the street near the Tower. The train would have been easier. We took the train for a day trip to the CT. It took awhile to make the connections, but it was easy to do. You could drive to La Spezia and park there.
Posted by
Calgary
2297 posts
Getting to Pisa via the autostrada is pretty easy. Parking is possible as well. We used a big parking lot in Pisa that is also used by tour busses, especially with groups coming from cruises. It's free and there is also quite some police presence to ensure some security. However, you will have to walk about 10-15 minutes to the Tower, possibly sharing the experience with hordes of cruise groups. But the way is very well signed. So is the parking lot itself. We just followed the signs for Parcheggio Pietrasantina. Our GPS had this parking lot marked as well. We were the at the end of June, i.e. in high season. When we arrived in the middle of the day the parking lot was half empty, when we left late afternoon it was even emptier.
For CT it's a bit different. For once, the road from La Spezia to the towns of CT is really tiny. The other issue is, that you cannot get into the towns and have to leave the cars outside where parking is very limited. No guarantee that you'll find something. You could drive to La Spezia, park there and take the ferry or train into CT. The train takes only 10 minutes or so. The feery will give you some spectacular views. We mixed it up: took the ferry one way, the train the other.
Posted by
Tulsa, Oklahoma, US
290 posts
Pisa by car is a bit of a hassle, but as Beatrix and Doug have said it can be done for those who are not faint of heart. Still easier by train-the walk from the station to the Campo isn't bad.
The Cinque Terre is a bit different-you could park the car at La Spezia station and ride the milk run train to any /all of the 5 towns on a day trip. But, IMHO, the CT is best savored slowly, like fine wine. It is a place to linger and decompress, enjoy a meal on the piazza, stroll around the town in the evening and visit with the locals, do some hiking through the vinyards and olive groves and take in the spectacular views. So, hopefully you are planning to spend some time there; you'll miss a lot on a quick day trip.
Posted by
OP
Toronto, Canada
3 posts
Thanks for the replies. I think we are stuck driving to Pisa as we pick up the car from Florence and have some time to kill before we can check into our hotel in Lucca.
For the cinque terra we were planning it as full day trip. We wake up early and should be in CT before 9 and we don't plan on leaving until 7 pm. Furthermore we will probably take the boat to see it all but only hike Riomaggiore to Manarolla and then visit Vernazza by train.
Posted by
Everett, WA
1299 posts
Beatrix gave you great advice. I don't know why it has the reputation of being a hassle to drive there. We just followed the directions in the RS book (basically what Beatrix told you) and walked the few blocks to the Field of Miracles. Couldn't of been easier. Just don't go anywhere into the actual town area- ZTL zones are in the old part and I've heard Pisa is one of the worst. But follow the advice, get off the autostrada at the north exit and you will be fine.