We will travel from Avignon to Grasse and then on to Cinque Terre. We will travel to Cinque Terre on April 30th (Saturday, May 1 is a national holiday in both France and Italy)so we are concerned about both crowded trains and crowded parking. Which is the lesser of the evils? Any advice? We will stay in Vernazza on the 1st and 2nd, then on to Lucca and Florence where we will need a car again to see Tuscany. Thanks!
Posted by
Minneapolis, MN, USA
8700 posts
If you pick up a car in one country and drop it off in another, you will have to pay a stiff fee. Here's a quote from cinqueterreonline.com: "In the Cinque Terre towns there are small pay parking lots in Monterosso and Riomaggiore. During the summer, from May to August, the car park is usually full and the roads to Monterosso and Riomaggiore are closed because there is no parking available. The other villages are always closed to cars, except for the residents."
Take the train.
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
I agree with Tim. Except for a few exceptions, tourist cars are not permitted in any of the five CT towns. You must either park in the few parking lots above the towns, or towns more distant to the North and South and take the train in. Take the train. You can easily take the train to Lucca from the CT and rent a car there for the remainder of your trip through Tuscany. THEN, make sure you turn in the car before going into Florence. Florence, as does Pisa, has the dreaded ZTL's (restricted zones) where they will take pictures of your rear license plate and send you a $150 ticket up to a year later. Most of the historic areas are ZTLs. Don't drive in Florence.
Posted by
US Pacific Northwest
10344 posts
By finding the parking warning on the CT website, Tim has done everyone a favor who is about to make the mistake of under-estimating the difficulty of parking overnight in the CT during May through August. Here's the website why you don't want to drive to the CT May - August