GRevahs

We are spending most of our eight day trip to italy in Milan and Lake Como and Venice. We would love to see Portofino and Cinque Terre as well. Would a round trip from Milan by train give us enough time?

sandralist

What time of year are you coming? How early do you get up in the morning when you are on vacation?

If you take a very early train out of Milan to Camogli, you can catch a morning boat to Portofino (switch boats in San Fruttuoso). It takes less than an hour to see Portofino (the best part is the boat ride in). Next, you can catch another boat to Rapallo, pick up some lunch to go, and from Rapallo catch a train to any of the five le Cinque Terre villages. If you are going in summertime, you will have a fairly late sunset, but make sure you understand the train schedules so you don't miss the last trains back to Milan. (Especially if you are going in summertime you would have a hard time finding last minute accommodations by the sea.)

You didn't ask, but if you would like a lovely taste of what the Italian Riviera is all about, you can just go to Camogli and have lunch. If you are going in summer, it is especially nice to take the boat to the San Fruttuoso and have lunch and a swim. But not on a weekend, when it is too crowded. If you feel you must, you could take a boat to Portofino after, then another boat to Santa Margherita Ligure or Rapallo (the latter has a great gelateria, ) Then take the train back from either one. Or after lunch you could just go back to Camogli and take the train ride to Milan. If you like to hike, after lunch, take the boat to Punta Chiappa, walk up the hill to San Rocco, have a drink, and then walk back down to Camogli and take the train to Milan.

You wouldn't see le Cinque Terre, but you would still have a beautiful dray.

sandralist

I forgot to include the name of the gelateria in Rapallo. It is Frigidarium, and it is right near the boat docks, opposite the castle. To get to San Fruttuoso, you need to go first to Camogli and take the boat from there. You can look up on the web the names of the restaurants there, and it can be a good idea to make a reservation -- and absolutely mandatory if you are traveling on a weekend between now and the middle of September.

If you are going any later than September, boat trips into and out of Portofino will be over, so the only way to get there is to take a train to Santa Margherita and a bus or taxi from there.

cafegoddess

Bookmarking

HappyTrvlr

I have visited Portofino twice and spent an hour each time. Santa Margherita and Camogli are worth more time and are close by.