We just returned from 3 nights in Vernazza. Unfortunately, it has become an overcrowded, hot mess. The biggest group of crowds are those from the cruise ships. They are escorted from La Spezia, by train, to an extremely small train station in Vernazza where they are all given 30 minutes to hustle thru the little village and then return to the station and back to their ship. This goes on with multiple groups arriving and departing all day long. Over and over and over. My hotel owner said there are approximately 2,000 people per day coming and going on their one little street. The only time we felt a calm and welcoming feel was before 10 am and after 5 pm. Finally the cruise tour groups were over for the day and we could all stay the night and enjoy a beautiful little jewel of a city. Hopefully, the town of Vernazza will take steps to curb this influx of overcrowding and masses of people who aren't spending nights there. It certainly wasn't the experience I'd hope to have.
Posted by
Portland, Oregon
5687 posts
Sorry to hear about your negative experience with the crowds in Vernazza, but it sounds about right based on what we've been hearing for years about the Cinque Terre. Unless you want to hike, basing in Vernazza but doing day trips elsewhere in the region isn't a bad plan - come back in the evening after things have quieted down. But there are other beautiful areas of the Italian Riviera besides the Cinque Terre. Last year I spent three nights in Camogli, a lovely town about an hour north of the Cinque Terre by train. It had a very different feel to it: didn't feel touristy at all (in May). You can also hike in this region - in the Portofino Peninsula. This area isn't exactly tourist-free but it was much less crowded that the CT when I visited both last May.
Posted by
Peterborough, ON, Canada
1631 posts
I'd agree, having just returned from CT myself.
I overheard some people from the cruise ship tour complaining about the tour. Perhaps if the experience is letting them down, the word will get out with the cruise companies and they will adjust or change the day trip. Probably a very long term result to wait for.
Posted by
Truro, NS, Canada
3941 posts
We visited in 08 and 2012. Almost the exact same days during the 3rd week of Sept, so it wasn't a different time of year thing. The difference in the crowds was palpable in those 4 years. If our 1st visit had been like the 2nd, we wouldn't have returned. The train stations, especially, were so overcrowded.
We stayed in Corniglia both times, so didn't feel the crowds there (which is why I chose it - it may be harder to get to and small, but that tames the crowds). I would still love to return some year, but most likely will be sometime in early spring.
Posted by
San Franciso Bay Area, USA
1028 posts
We were in the Cinque Terre in early June for a few nights. I agree that that from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00, especially in Monterosso and Vernazza, the crowds can be a bit overwhelming, especially since most of the tours are taking the train.
However, we still had an amazing time. It was the favorite place of our college-aged girls on our trip to italy. There were six of us total and the key to avoiding the worse of the crowds was to start early. We were in Vernazza before 10:00 and were leaving as the crowds started to arrive. In each of the towns, we seemed to be just in front of the crowds. Since our friends had mobility issues, we did not do any of the hikes, but we did rent a private boat for a sunset tour. Staying the night and getting on the water are two ways to deal with the overcrowding.
Sandy
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16538 posts
Hopefully, the town of Vernazza will take steps to curb this influx of
overcrowding and masses of people who aren't spending nights there.
But exactly what sort of steps might those be? The whole of the CT KNOWS it has a problem and has known it for some years now (I'm a little surprised that you'd expected a "calm" feel during peak hours). At the same time it's all but impossible to close a town/towns. While the amount/size of escorted tours, either from ships or from larger urban areas like Florence or Genoa, might be able to be regulated, that wouldn't manage the mass of independent day-trippers.
The problem hasn't been ignored but general crowd-reducing efforts to date haven't exactly been met with support either, especially from the cruise/tour industries. Just a few of the many bits out there:
https://www.facebook.com/savecinqueterre/
https://www.italianfix.com/cinque-terre-to-impose-limits-to-italy-tourists-with-ticketing/
https://www.travelandleisure.com/trip-ideas/cinque-terre-tourist-overflow
(As far as I know the app is not yet available)
Of more concern for me is the decline of local populations and in traditional terraced farming critical to the safety of the villages. From the FB page:
"The model to be considered must take into account the territorial identity and the worrying decline in population in countries that endangers the permanence of primary services. Every year we fight to keep schools open and encourage the opening of public exercises during the winter."