I WILL HAVE A CAR IN FLORENCE. SHOULD I DRIVE TO MONTERROSA, PARK THE CAR AND TRAIN THE OTHER TOWNS? OR, SHOULD I TAKE TRAIN TO LA SPEZIA, THEN TO CINQUE TERRAS? WHICH IS FASTER. CAN YOU RECOMMEND A HOTEL,B&B ETC FOR AROUND$100.00 IN ONE OF THE TOWNS. WHICH TOWN IS BEST? THANKS
LARRY FOGEL
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
33834 posts
larry All caps on the internet, and especially around here on the Helpline is considered SHOUTING. Please cool the loud button. Thanks. You say that you will have a car in Florence. Are you aware of the dreaded (and fantastically expensive) ZTLs with which Florence is riddled? If so, and you still want to have a car in Florence, fine, but if not can I suggest you search on the term ZTL in the search box in the upper right corner of the page and read about some of the the problems with them. I would take the train to the CT, following the advice in the Guidebook. Others can suggest hotels there but I think you will be hard pressed to do it for only €60. Good luck.
Posted by
Seattle
4637 posts
Not a good idea to drive to Cinque Terra. Roads are steep, very narrow and winding. If you meet another car, one of you will be backing for some distance. Sometimes you cannot park in the village and then you would have to walk considerable distance. Take train. I like Vernazza but all of them are pretty.
Posted by
Lake Forest, CA, USA
1633 posts
Larry, also post your question on the "To the Boot" section of this forum. You will get more responses there than here. As the previous poster suggested, do not pick up or drive your car in the city of Florence. I suggest picking it up at the airport. We drove into Santa Margherita several years ago and it was a disaster. Mopeds zipping around you, road construction and trucks on extremely narrow roads. There's a reason why the Italian cars have dents on their bumpers. What is your itinerary? Florence before the Cinque Terre? What's after the Cinque Terre? Are you driving back to Tuscany or ? When are you travelling?