Hi

My boyfriend and I (28 years old) are planning on visiting Cinque Terre in early September for 5 days (4 nights) and we need some help with an itinerary. First of all, should we fly into Milan, Genoa or Pisa? Should we spend time in any of these cities? Then wehere should we go from there? We would like some peace and quiet but would also like nice places to go out to for dinner. A beach would also be good. My diea is as follows:

Fly into Milan and travel to Corniglia and spend a night there where we have heard there are beautiful views. From there travel to Vernazza, which we have hear is a bit quieter, and spend a night there. Then onto Monterosso which apparantly has a beach and spend the last 2 nights there. Any other suggestions would be welcome as well as suggestions for accommodation.

Thanks!

Stay in one place for all your nights in CT. The distance between each village is about 1 or 2 miles - you can go back and forth between the villages at your leisure.


If you could get a non-stop from your origin into Pisa or Milan I'd consider that, otherwise I'd pick between Pisa and Genoa based on flight options. I don't know Genoa airport, but nothing could be simpler than Pisa. It's served by rail - 5min outside Pisa where you'd connect to La Spezia.

Hi CT,

www.maps.google.com will help you with your planning.

You might also consider the Amalfi Coast instead of CT.

Agree with J62 on all counts. By all means, don't move around between towns. You should stay in one town and either hike, train or ferry between locations. CT doesn't have good beaches but Monterossa's are the best of the lot.

If you can fly into Pisa that provides the shortest trip to the CT. Genoa wouldn't be too far either. Both are easy rail connections. Milan is further and slightly more complicated, though if you can get much better flights/airfare into Milan (which I suspect) flying into there is no deal breaker.

As for where to stay I think you'd be making a mistake moving from hotel to hotel. The CT is a small area. Tain travel from one end to the other is something like 20-25 minutes (I can't recall exactly), and from town to town can be as little as 5. You can walk/hike between all of them and on nice days take a very scenic ferry ride between them. The hiking is part of the reason to go.

Best to pick one town as your base and explore the others from there. Changing hotels is a pain, IMO, and you really gain nothing in this case as the towns are all so close and well connected. Tarveling between them is part of the fun of being there, and I suspect something you will do everyday.

I would suggest either Vernazza or Monterosso. I like Vernazza the best in terms of the beauty of the harbor area. It really is nice and I could spend all day enjoying the scene while dining al fresco. It is in the middle so would give you the shortest trip between towns overall.

I've stayed in Monterosso and would probably choose there again. It offered both an old and new section, was the biggest while still offering charm (old section), and had the best beaches by far.

I would not suggest staying in Corniglia. It's a charmin town and you should certainly go, but it is the smallest of all of them and offers the least to do, particularly in the evening. It is also the most isolated, so your daily trips to other towns are more complicated.

Lastly, some may say you are spending too much time in the CT and that there isn't enough to do. I don't agree, as long as you know what you're going for. We spent 4 nights there last year adn had a great time. We like to hike, and we have no problem lingering over a three hour meal while enjoying a great view. We don't really hop between museums and what not. You go to appreciate the scenic beauty and uniqueness of the place. The food can be good (pesto, seafood), but don't expect anything on par with Tuscany or Rome or other parts of Italy.

Have a great time. And plan now because lodging is limited and hard to find.

Thanks! Those replies are all very useful. I think we will probably make Vernazza our base.

ira, we have considered the Amalfi Coast but CT flights to CT fit in better with our budget

Any recommendations for accommodation in Vernazza?

Go a bunch was there last year

Cheapest for me usually to fly into MXP

intercity or regional train 15 euro or so to

Santa Margaraita Ligure/Portofino station a couple of hours

one block downhill from the station on the sea my fav

www.hotelmetropole.it last may paid 120 euro/nt for

a red lodge suite with a great sea view awesome breakfast

Perfect base ferry to all towns or train easy a few euros.

the towns more remote expensive isolated

www.torrettas.com Manarola prettiest Vernazza ok not the best.

Have fun,

www.metropole.it oops the missing link

Sooo many Metropoles...

I'm your age and spent 4 days there last July w/ my boyfriend. I would highly recommend basing yourself in Montorosso - it has the best restaurants and is a bit more lively than the other towns. It's easy to move between the towns (on boat, by foot or by train). The beach in Monterosso is a rock beach and you'll probably want to pick one of the beach clubs so tha tyou can have a proper lounger next to the water. If you click on my name you can read my trip report with recommendations on restaurants and transportation