Which Tour Company to take for Day Trip to Cinque Terra?

Are you sure you really need a tour for this?

I can vouch for tour company "Walkabout Florence", they offer day trips from Florence to Cinque Terre. We did the "Best of Tuscany" tour with them and loved it. Very comfortable air conditioned bus and informative guides who really go the extra mile to make it a memorable experience. I would use them again for a tour.

You do not need a tour for the Cinque Terre. Five small cillages connected by trails and local train. Water taxis available too.

Agree - very easy to do it yourself by train. I personally would hate taking a van up there instead of the train.

Most travelers don't need a tour for Cinque Terre unless they have particular wants or needs. Read up on the area, and this forum can help you with the details.

For transport, investigate this on Trenitalia: coming from Firenze, in 2018 the best option to optimize is the 7.36 Frecciabianca from Firenze Campo di Marte arriving at La Spezia Centrale at 09.12 and return on the 20.02 from La Spezia Centrale arriving at Campo Di Marte at 21.40. These are not the only options but they are quick with comfortable connections and discounted fares may be available if booked on line in advance. From La Spezia you buy a ticket and validate it before you get on the next the Cinque Terre express for any of the villages.

Between villages, take the ferry or the train. Ferry info is available both on the official ferry website and here: https://www.apathtolunch.com/2014/06/complete-cinque-terre-portovenere-la.html

Edward,

A private guide can give you a great day in the CT. Sorry for the responses you received on this forum. If you ask about “A” they will talk about b, c, d....everything but you asked about.

I’ll see if i can find the name of the tour company used in 2006. Left out of Florence by train on a perect schedule, one very quick stop to switch trains (3 min switch) and then off to the first village. Had a nice walk, stopped for lunch at a very local establishment (included in the tour price- included wine and open menu, off the chalk board). Then we took a boat to our last village. Eventually back to Florence by train. About a 12 hour day. The guide was fantastic giving us appropriate history of the villages, changes since WW 2, etc as we walked.

Just a wonderful day.

I'll back up the info from Mike.

The reason many of us don't encourage a tour to the CT is that it's much easier to circumvent the crowds and move at your own pace if you do it on your own. Yes, it's a place that you REALLY should stay at least one night to experience it without the mass of day-trippers but if you can't do that, then do it on your own so you can move around without following, in a big group, many other big groups.

It's also a difficult place to manage if anyone has mobility issues as exploring most of villages at all involves steps and steep climbs, and all of them are virtually pedestrianized. Rainy day? Not a great time to go.

I see from a previous post that your trip is planned for Sept 20 - Oct 4 and includes nights in Florence, Siena, Sorrento, Venice, and want to see (maybe) Montepulciano and Pienza as well. Are you sure you have time for the CT?

It may be significant that rsrules18 took that tour 12 years ago. From all accounts, the Cinque Terre is much more crowded these days. (I won't depress you with tales about what the towns were like back in the 1970s and 1980s.) I agree that you need the flexibility to make your own decision about when to move on to another town because of the crowds. Now, if we're talking about a private tour guide just for your travel party, that's a different story.

Thanks everyone for commenting. I even got one private reply too. Since we are not experienced travelers, and also want to minimize any hassle/extra effort on our part, we decided to book a tour through Viator. i liked their customer service rep a lot. We booked a 9.5 hour tour on a minivan which will hold only up to 8 people. Viator said they have 5 booked already so it is a definite go. The cost was $200 each of us. It is booked in September. We chose a Monday instead of a Sunday because we assume it may be less crowded then.

rsrules18, I'd appreciate the name of that tour company if you can find it... thanks!

Edward- I totally get your not wanting any hassles or trying to figure it out on your own, with that being said, the figuring it out part is how you grow and become and "experienced traveler". We recently went with friends to Italy because they wanted to go with someone with experience, once they saw how smoothly everything went they were like "okay we could have done this on our own". You do need to be organized, understand your surroundings, how things work etc, but you never know until you try and that is part of the adventure of travel for my husband and I. The unknown is the exciting part, we are a team who depend on each other and watch each others back and at the end of the day we have deep satisfaction when things go right or what appears to be 'wrong" when actually we land up exactly where we should have been.

When we travel I do most of the planning but every once in a while I like to just do a day tour and let someone else figure it out, even if I have to pay a little more.

Suggestion: if you have any free time to grab some food while in Cinque Terre the Pesto is a must try in my opinion.

I understand as well that for some things and some travelers, convenience and personal comfort can be worth a price. :O)

Just for the benefit of anyone else who might be working with a smaller budget, I thought I'd cost out a close duplicate of this $400 Viator trip if done independently? The trip as described is minivan from Florence to Monterosso/time in Monterosso; boat to Vernazza/time in Vernazza; swing through tiny Corniglia (no stop) enroute back to Florence. No meals but ice cream in Vernazza, and gratuities are extra.

Choosing a random date of Sept 18 (month the OP is traveling and cost for two adults:

7: 36 train direct from Firenze Campo di Marte to La Spezia (1 hr, 36 minutes):
9,90 euro PP, 2nd class, Super Economy ticket = 19.80 euro

La Spezia to Manarola train tickets: 4 euro PP = 8 euro
Ferry from Manarola to Vernazza: 9 euro PP = 18 euro
Vernazza to La Spezia train ticket: 4 euro PP = 8 euro

20:03 train direct from La Spezia to Firenze Campo di Marte to La Spezia (1 hr, 37 minutes):
9,90 euro PP, 2nd class, Super Economy ticket = 19.80 euro

Total: 73.60 euro or $86.14 U.S. by today’s currency conversion rate.
So even if unable to land super-economy tickets, this trip can be done for roughly 1/4 of the price of a tour. I cancelled out the ice cream provided for the expected tour gratuity.

One additional benefit? If the morning of the trip is pouring buckets and generally a lousy day to go, you'd be out just the 39.60 euros for the advance-purchased, non-refundable train tickets (Florence> La Spezia>Florence) if scrapping the plan.

Urban Adventures offers one as well. They say if the weather is bad, they will transfer you to the Taste of Cinque Terre Tour or give a refund if you prefer.

Thanks for your helpful comments. You have given us things to think about.

I am heading to Florence on Saturday and have booked a day trip to CT on Monday, through a private driver/tour guide (for myself and my wife). Could we have done it ourselves? Of course. But with the limited time we have, we thought it best to have a local drive us there, give us info and recommendations, and we still get to go on our pace once there. Is it more expensive? Of course! But sometimes people are allowed to splurge on vacation. And, as an added benefit, we can close our eyes on the drive back if we want and not worry about train transfers or timing. Let's not forget for the OP, myself, and others who choose to take tours (whether private or big buses), that it is VACATION. And not everyone has the same wants and needs.

mjknycmjk, as I said in my last post....

I understand as well that for some things and some travelers,
convenience and personal comfort can be worth a price. :O)

But some people who are gleaning info from the forums for their OWN trips might not have the means to swing a private driver or small-group tour, especially students or folks traveling with a family. So, options can be a useful thing!

I'm not a big fan of day trips to the CT at ALL but heck, if someone is determined to do it, there are multiple ways to skin that cat. 🐱