MAM3

I'm looking for hotel recommendations for the Cinque Terra area? Since there are 5 villages I'm not sure which one to choose. There will be a total of 4 in the group. We will be in Cinque Terra from Sept. 29 - Oct. 3. We will be coming from Florence and returning to Rome. Would it be realistic to do day trips to Pisa, Lucca and Portofino?

Thank you.

CarlosSandoval

you might want to try renting an apartment. Here is one that you can find out availability and prices www.arbaspaa.com

skatterfly

First off, it's Cinque Terre. Just one of my pet peeves.

I would think that Portofino would be easy day trip by Train, but Lucca and or Pisa are more complicated but still doable. If you have a car, then by all means all of them are doable. That said, I can't imagine LEAVING any of the Cinque Terre villages for Lucca or Pisa. I would suggest visiting them from Florence, or seeing them on your way to the Cinque Terre.

There are quite a few apartments to rent in Manarola and Riomaggiore. Do a google search, and here's a good website for all things about Cinque Terre
http://homepage.sunrise.ch/homepage/avong/cinque_terre/

~k

Huitres

I would recommend staying in Riomaggiore in the Cinque Terre. The Hotel Villa Argentina has singles from 70 euros, doubles from 94 euros, triples @ 130 euros. The room rates include an ample breakfast each morning. Besides sea views from the rooms and a terrace, the hotel rents out villas and apartments all throughout town. Specifically, they have a 'Villa Rosa' that is a big house with balconies, terrace, complete kitchen, living room, etc that rents for 200 euros a day, includes daily maid service. Email them with your request ([email protected]) and check out their website for further information: http://www.emmeti.it/Welcome/Liguria.../index.uk.html

From Riomaggiore, you can easily do day trips to Portofino (50 mins away), Camogli (45 mins), Pisa (1.5 hours away), etc. Both Lucca (1.75-2 hours) and Florence would be longer (2.5-3 hours away) but are possible if you leave in the early morning to allow enough time to see the cities, respectively. Buon viaggio!

ssachida

I agree with skatterfly. Do Lucca on your way from Florence to cinque terre and Pisa on your way to Rome. The train to Rome goes via Pisa anyway. Lucca however is not on the most direct train route from Florence to LaSpezia, which also connects via Pisa, but is doable.
Of course, if you are driving , it shouldn't be a problem. At the risk of getting bashed, I'd say Pisa and Lucca are half day or less towns. But, to each their own ...

sammy123

Have stayed in the CT twice; once in 95
in Vernazza, once this May in Monte rossa; I'd suggest Monte rossa simply
because there is more to do in the evening.I stayed at the Villa Steno and
would recommend it. Vernazza is absolutely overrun with tourists during the day and deserted at night. Check the location of any hotel that you are interested in and make sure it is not near the train line; noise is horrendous. spend time in Lucca en route from Florence to CT; a delightful city that can be seen
in a 2-3 hour walking tour. I hope you are travelling by train. We had a car and it was not used in the CT and a pain to drive from CT to Rome ( took almost all day)

Burley

Sammy123:

Do you have a trip report? I would like to hear more about your experience with the car driving around Tuscany, as that's what we're considering, and are thinking a car is better than train. (Sorry to cut into the middle of this poster's question, but I don't know how to ask a particular user a question.)
Thanks,
Kimberly