I am planning a trip through Italy by car and need information on parking in the Monterosso area. <BR>My plan is to park there and take the ferry to Vernazza. Any suggestions for parking anywhere along the route would be greatly appreciated.

In my opinion, Cinque Terre is for hiking. I think that's the reason for going there! A car would just get in the way. Park at Santa Margherita, and go by train and by foot from there, from village to village.

We drove to Cinque Terra with little problem, except that the drive in is pretty wild! We stayed at Monterosso (I think that is first biggest town) and hiked and ferried to other villages. There is a big car park right at the end of the highway, jutting out in the water. We parked our car there for the three days we were there and just didn't move it.

Hi, <BR>Beth...how long did you stay? <BR>I have reservations to stay in S.Margherita and plan on doing what the Anne posted. But I am not sure how many days I should plan on staying in the area, we will be driving from Holland and need to make it back there at some point. <BR>Anne, what kind of boots (if any) did you use for hiking? <BR>Thanks <BR>kay

The Cinque Terre is charming and beautiful, but a couple of days is enough to hike all the villages and still have an afternoon to relax and drink in the views. <BR> <BR>The hiking is not really rugged enough to require special boots; I did it in sneakers. (Although many of the Italians were in full regalia, with elaborate packs, walking sticks, etc....)

Thanks for all your replies. I would not be driving the Cinque Terre if I didn't already have a car for the duration of my visit, thus the question. I will be staying in Santa Margherita, but plan on visiting the Cinque Terre en route from Lucca/Tuscany. <BR> <BR>I do, of course, plan to hike the trails, but need to find out the best way to deposit the beast of a car while in the area. : ) <BR> <BR>By the way, does anyone know if there is a ferry from La Spezia to Riomaggiore? (I am a photography buff and like the idea of being able to photograph the villages from the sea.

We are planning a trip to the cinque terre this June and have heard that Monterosso is over built. Does anyone know if this is true. We've thought about making reservations in in Levanto or Portovenere instead. We will NOT have a car so will go from village to village by train, hiking or boat.