Cinque Terra
 

Can you please if there is a car park in La Spezia. We plan on renting a car in Florence
and take a day trip to the Cinque Terra.
thank you in advance Pat T

Yes plenty around the station have done it

www.cinqueterre.com

www.torrettas.com Manarola my fav

www.hostel5terre.com if budget.

You can also do that trip by train, which you should consider before renting a car for a day.

There is also a decent sized car park on the waterfront in the new town part of Monterosso - and its only 200 metres from the train station, from where you can access the other CT towns. A ferry can also get you to Portovenere from Monterosso; it also serves most of the other CT towns.

I wouldn't believe qwovadis if I were you. If he or she has done it, an awful lot of people would appreciate the details, since most people cannot find any parking around the train station in La Spezia. Qwovadis's cryptic and boastful posts are full of miraculous happenings that defy known geography and the laws of physics.

If you haven't already checked, make sure you can rent a car for just one day. If you can, it would make sense to drop the car off in La Spezia and take the train back, rather than leave le Cinque Terre early to return the car by the time the rental office closes. If you keep the car overnight in Florence, you will have find paid parking for it. Not easy -- and very expensive. (At some point, this cost of this jaunt to a formerly impoverished fishing village begins to rival the cost of hiring a private driver!)

You don't say when this day trip will be, but if it is a weekend or holiday, or any day between June and September, you will find it difficult to find parking in any of the towns in or near le Cinque Terre after 10am in the morning. It is very hard to find parking in Portovenere and the ferries don't run if the water is choppy (and run infrequently off-season.)

A better bet than La Spezia if you are traveling "off-peak" would be the town of Levanto.

But take another look at the train schedule and see if it appeals to you. Taking the train would allow you to stay until sunset.

Hey PT,

See www.trenitalia.com for train schedules.

Much more convenient than a car.

((I))