Route from Siena to La Spezia/Cinque Terra

Where would you park in Monterossa? Rather difficult task at times.

Direct trains from La Spezia to Monterosso run about twice per hour. If the car rental office is not near La Spezia Centrale station (EuropCar is not), then you'd need a short taxi ride between them.

From Pisa Centrale, there are a couple of direct trains to Monterosso and more with a connection at La Spezia. EuropCar is a 10-minute walk from Pisa Centrale.

Trains from Lucca to Monterosso always need 1 or 2 connections. Google maps says that EuropCar office is a 15-minute walk from the station.

I'm over here now. Drove to La Spezia via the A1 from Florence and took the train to Monterosso. The most BORING train trip imaginable ... 95% of it is through tunnels. Absolutely no view of the coast at all. When I arrived at Monterosso I knew I should have just driven there. There is a huge parking lot right next to the beach that had tons of empty spaces. Next time I will drive there for sure. The train is a pain...oh and Volterra? ..absolutely beautiful, not crowded, and easy to park in. You definitely want to make that visit.

JiminVA (nowinMonterosso):

I agree that the train ride from La Spezia to Monterosso is devoid of great view since it's mostly under tunnels. I also agree that Monterosso has a nice parking lot on the beach.

However you made the right choice to park in La Spezia and take the train from there because, coming from Siena (Tuscany), going to Monterosso by car is a much longer trip compared to going to La Spezia and proceeding by train from there. To get to Monterosso it's not a straight shot. You need to go all the way to Levanto first, then cross through a mountainous curvy road to go down to Monterosso.

By going to La Spezia you saved at least half hour of extra driving. Even adding an additional 15-20 min on the train, you still saved some time.

Alternatively, you could have gone to Levanto, park there at the Levanto station, then back track on the train for 5 min to Monterosso. That would have been just as fast. But driving all the way to Monterosso would have taken you much longer. Levanto to Monterosso look very close, and it's is only 4 minutes by train, but it takes at least 20-25 min by car.

Would a water taxi from La Spezia be an efficient way to get to Monterosso?

Maybe scenic, but not efficient.

The two fastest choices coming from Siena are:
1. (As JiminVA did) Drive to La Spezia station, park in the parking structure, proceed by train to Monterosso (15-20 min on train).
2. Stay on the A12 freeway (direction to Genoa) and drive further all the way to Levanto exit. Exit the freeway, then drive a few miles to the town of Levanto, park at the station, then take the 4 min. train back to Monterosso. Driving the additional stretch from Levanto to Monterosso will add at least 25 min to your trip (as opposed to 4 min on the train).

The above two options take approximately the same time in total (car+train).

Any other option will take you longer, including driving to Monterosso.

ana----
If you would like info on agriturismos in Tuscany, you would be better off starting a new thread. That way you would get the attention of others specific to your question :)