cinque terre

The train is the simplest to arrange. If you are landing at Malpensa (MXP), you can train from there to Milano Centrale and get a train from there to Monterosso, Levanto, maybe Riomaggiore; if you are staying in another CT village, you'll need to change at Levanto or Monterosso to a local train to get the rest of the way.

See this website for train info:

www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en

or

www.trainline.eu

The easiest way we found was to take an Intercity train from Milano Centrale directly to the train station in Monterosso. I booked it online way in advance to take advantage of the lower price. We stayed in Monterroso as it had access to the local train to all the villages of the CT, ferry service as well as trains to other places.

Ten days us a very long time in tiny Cinque Terre. Perhaps spend some of those days in Santa Margherita Ligure or Portovenere?

hey mrfet
what are your dates and are you 7 adults or are their kids and ages? how many bedrooms and what's the budget?
aloha

As the others have mentioned, travel by train is the easiest option. It would help to know which of the five villages you plan to stay in?

With a group of seven and coming off an international flight, I'd suggest using one of the direct express trains from Milano Centrale to Monterosso, so that you don't have to deal with changes. As Monterosso is the largest of the five, it has the greatest number of hotels, restaurants and other tourist amenities, so would be a good place to start looking for accommodations. It also has the nicest beaches of the five.

When you arrive at MXP, you'll first have to get from the airport to Milano Centrale. The quickest option for that is the Malpensa Express (train) which makes the trip in about 52 minutes. If you'd like a slightly less expensive option, there's also the Malpensa Shuttle (bus), which is about the same travel time (depending on traffic). If you haven't made that trip before and need additional information, post another note here.

Ten days is a bit long for stays in the Cinque Terre, but if you're planning to use that as a home base for day trips to other locations in the area, that should work.

One other point..... when is this trip taking place?

I would agree that 10 days in Cinque Terre seems like a long time. Myabe establishing home base in Genoa and traveling to CT from there?

If you are interested in traveling inland a bit, you might consider Lucca as a home base. It is a quick day trip to CT.

I've stayed in Camogli and Levanto in the Italian Riviera. Levanto is part of the Cinque Terre park region (one town north by train from Monterosso) so not a bad place to stay for visiting the Cinque Terre. I'd much rather stay in one of the riviera towns, personally, and not Genoa or Lucca, at least part of the time. It is easy to zip up and down the riviera by train. Camogli is adorable but about an hour north of the Cinque Terre by train.

As to finding accommodations, my favorites are https://www.vrbo.com/, https://www.booking.com/, and locally to Liguria, https://www.arbaspaa.com/.

Don't hesitate to look a little outside the 5 villages of the Cinque Terre. La Spezia (more a city), Levanto, and other points north are feasible and may have better options for a group your size.

What time of year?