travelfan1

I have a party of 8 and I'm looking at all modes of transportation between these two locations and would like to know if anyone has any recommendations for a transfer service.

Thank you.

nytraveler

For 8 people plus luggage you will need a sizable van or small bus. Suggest you contact the local tourist office for their list of companies offering them.

Dukey1

From where on Lake Como?

bobthenavigator

You can contact Davide for a quote, but that will be quite expensive.
http://www.davideguerrera.com/eng/index.html

travelfan1

Thanks Bob....I had just found his website and got a quote from him...and the drive time which I wanted to be less. I was in a fantasy world hoping his quoted time would match what I got at Google maps.....3.5 - 4.

Improviser

How long do you plan to spend in Cinque Terre and doing what? I ask because the cost for 8 people to get there and onwards vs. the reward for getting there might not add up.

Frankly, I consider it vastly over-rated today and that is thanks in no small part to Rick Steves who has popularized it for US tourists.

First, you need to know that the 5 villages are connected by trail and it takes about 5 hours to walk the entire length passing through the 5 villages. There is also a 'high' path as well but that doesn't change the basic concept. People do not always know that and don't bother to do any research that would tell them that. They seem to envision more walking than actually exists for some reason.

Yes, people do go and spend several days in the Cinque Terre. But they don't spend a lot of that time in actual activities. Most only even walk (wouldn't really classify it as a hike) between a few of the villages and not the whole length.

Back around 25-30 years ago, the Cinque Terre was a sleepy little group of villages with a somewhat unusual location and only a path between them. Well worth visiting. Well off the 'beaten track' whereas today it is literally the 'beaten' track. Today, it is not the same at all and how worth visiting is debatable. While the scenery hasn't changed and is still lovely, everything else has.

The trail is now a National Park with an entrance fee and in high season, a quota on the number of people allowed on the path at any one time. That should tell you something. The villages are now full of tourist kitsch shops. What was a nice little coffee shop is now a t-shirt shop, etc.

Sometimes what first made a place popular disappears as its popularity increases. In the case of a popular tourist stop like Rome or London or Paris, the impact of tourism can't overwhelm why the place is popular. Back in the day, to go and spend even a week relaxing in the Cinque Terre was well worthwhile. Lazy days, a cold swim, a 2 hour coffee watching nothing much happen. A stroll to the next village to work of lunch calories. Another 2 hour coffee stop before strolling back. Idyllic. That isn't the case today in Cinque Terre, in my opinion.

Cinque Terre used to be a place to relax and do nothing for a few days; recharge the traveller's batteries before moving on to wherever. Now it is just another place on the tour list to tick off.

My suggestion is to do some more reseach on the Cinque Terre using Google and then consider again how much of your precious time it is worth if any at all.

bobthenavigator

Davide is based in Como and has to go RT.
Let me guess---over 500E.

Dukey1

I suspect one railroad car and one change in Milan would be a lot cheaper.

Jean

Just FYI... Google.maps drive time estimates are almost always too optimistic. Viamichelin.com estimates the drive at about 4.5 hours with about 58 euros in tolls and petrol. Petrol is calculated for a medium-sized vehicles, so a van's fuel costs will be higher.

travelfan1

Imp - I'm well aware of all of the trails - including the fact they aren't all open yet from the 2011 storm and I have done research on the CT. We were going to visit the CT on a prior trip to Italy but changed our itinerary and didn't make it.

CT for two nights(our shortest stay of the trip)....then onto Tuscany for 6 nights.

Improviser

For anyone who feels they want to visit CT, there is an alternative to consider that I think is worthwhile.

You could consider Portovenere which is just down the coast from the CT. It is a larger town but you can get more of a feel of real life in my opinion. There is also a ferry which goes to CT and you can take it to Monerosso and walk to Riomaggiore and catch the ferry back to Portovenere again. So you can tick CT off the list as a day trip.

Byron, Shelley and D. H. Lawrence all spent time in Portovenere. It does get tourists but not like the CT. So I would not see it is off the beaten track but it is on a far less beaten track. It is part of the same UNESCO world heritage site as the CT funnily enough.

Google it and see what you think. Many people say that Portovenere is what Portofino used to look like 30 years ago.

bobthenavigator

WE have been to the CT 4 times. WE stayed in Portovenere 3 of those times and the other in Levanto. But, we are not really hikers. If you saw one of those 7 villages it should be Portovenere IMHO.

Improviser

Congratulations on your choice in the area bob. I obviously agree with you but of course Portovenere is NOT considered to be part of Cinque Terre. Only the 5 villages linked by the trail are. That being the case, it never even comes up on most people's radar when they decide they have to visit the CT.

Really, it is a shame that the CT is no longer what it was 30 years ago. But what is, is. People go now because everyone else goes. It's on the oh so well travelled tourist path. We can't blame the average tourist for going there, they don't know any better. Nothing stays the same forever unfortunately.