Cinqueterre
 

Hi! I am planning a road trip in july with my girlfriend (25 years old). We are renting a car and from Genova driving to Cinqueterre and then to Florence (and so on). We are wondering if its enough to arrive at Cinqueterre in the morning and visit the 5 towns in a day. And then sleep there before driving to Florence? Any advice is highly appreciated! Thanks :)

You must be kidding.
Where are you arriving from?

There is nothing to visit in the five 5Terre villages. They are just nice to see from the Sea or from the hiking trails.

They are lovely villages and very worth visiting. Just expect them to be mobbed with tourists during the day. However, I would visit (on a first visit, anyway) mostly because you want to spend the day hiking between towns, not just to pop in and see the towns.

Driving into the CT villages is tricky, though, and I wouldn't do it, especially in the limited time you suggest. I'd take the train instead from Genoa, and the villages are connected easily by trains (even if the trains will be crowded). It would probably not be possible to see them all in a day by train between Genoa and Florence, because the trains may run only once an hour or so, but you could stop and see maybe one or two of them. Better to spend a night at least and do some hiking.

bobthenavigator we are not kidding :) we are arriving in milan, spending 2 days there, then driving to Genoa, spend a night there, and we thought about stopping in Cinqueterre to take a look at the villages on our way to Florence. We were told there is a train that goes through the 5 villages, and we were wondering if its possible to hop by them all in a day to continue our trip on the following day. Does that sound biting more than we can chew? We are open to any suggestions! thanks!

Andrew thanks for your advice, its what we need to know. We had read in a blog about the hiking trail between the towns, but it wasn't clear if they had hiked it all in one single day, which is what we would liked to do. Thanks!

If you have a whole day, you can train from village to village, but as I said above, the trains may run only once an hour or so. So you'd either need to do a lot of waiting for trains or time your visits carefully. If you miss a train, will you mind waiting an hour or so for the next one, if you still have three more towns to visit?

And the main attraction of the area, in my opinion, is hiking from town to town (some of the hikes are challenging, and some shorter trails may still be closed due to slides). The towns are lovely, but I wouldn't see the need to stop and see all five of them if you aren't going to hike. One or two towns would be plenty if you just want to explore them, wander around for a bit, enjoy the views, maybe have a meal somewhere.

There is also a boat (in season?) that stops in each town, so you could maybe train to one town, take a boat to another one, then take the train to continue on.

We went last year in July and it was indeed mobbed. We took the train in and rented a place in Riomaggiore. Last summer many of the trails that connect the villages were still closed due to a terrible mud slide/storm from several years ago. You definitely need to research to see if the trails are open. Also the trains were on strike when we were there. That was actually a blessing it deterred some day trippers (no offense)....so you may want to check into ferry options as a back up. It is a magical place and we would love to go back.

I wrote a trip report about our 3 weeks in Italy last summer. I'm sure you can find it through my profile. Good luck. Enjoy and be flexible things don't always go as planned but you'll still be in Italy which is amazing.

We took two days to hike the whole trail but know others who did it in one day. If you take train, Coriglia is up high and you need to hike up there.

There are shuttle buses from the train station up to Corniglia the town.

Most of the lower trails are still closed, and the high trails take much longer to hike. The trains go through a lot of tunnels, so you don't see much. Your best option would be to get a boat tour in La Spezia or Portovenere. Expect insane crowds, and be pleasantly surprised if the crowds aren't so bad.

Thank you ALL so much for such helpful advice!!! We will read your trip reports now and continue to gather as much useful tips as we can!

Monterosso and Vernazza were our favorites and we hiked between them. The ferry has strange hours so don't depend on it. We did train and ferry. Some good places to eat and the hiking was beautiful. I loved going through the lemon trees and vineyards.

You are much better off traveling by train. About 1.5 hours to Genoa and the same to Riomaggiore. Plus you have ZTLs to worry about.

https://www.incinqueterre.com/en/cin...rre-in-one-day

I would only rent the car after getting to Florence - it would be a liability anywhere near the Cinque Terre, which are anyway well connected by rail. The CT is charming (we spent 2 nights there last September in 2016, as opposed to day tripping - very different experience) - however July will be incredibly busy.

Great information! Many thanks!

I just rechecked the park service website and see that two of the lower trails are now open, including the trail between Monterosso and Vernazza. The last time I checked, that trail had just recently been closed.

The other two lower trails have been closed since 2011 because of the risk of landslides, and are unlikely to reopen any time soon.

Sorry, I thought you were arriving in Genoa the first day.

The trail between Monterosso and Vernazza is very doable. My freind did it with two bad knees. Take a large bottle of water and the only iffy part is rain makes the rocks slippy. Some areas where it is single file only. The views are amazing.

We took an early train from Santa Margherita Ligure to Monterossa and hiked to all five towns, then took the train back and treated ourselves to a nice meal. The hike is not the nice flat trail you see in photos! It was rewarding however!

I see a lot of replies, because everyone loves this area. I have visited by foot, left by train. Arrived by boat, left by train. Arrived and left on foot. This area of 5 towns is a must see, but I believe there may be some restrictions on numbers who may visit this year. I don't know how that could be accomplished but that is what I have read.
I disagree with those who say you just need to pop in and see one or two towns. They are all unique and special in their own way. I would plan on taking the train between as many as you have time for. The schedule is easy to find, and you simply plan on being at the station on time. Not seeing as many as you could would be a mistake. Find a boat ride in, and then take a train out. It is the most beautiful way to see this area. Maybe boat in from La Spezia where tours are plentiful, then go on to another town by train? End up in Rapallo maybe? That is a great place to stop.

Masterphil, I don't know when you did this hike, but since 2011 it hasn't been possible to hike to all five towns. There are four trails involved, two of which have been closed because of the risk of landslides ever since 2011, when there was a terrible flood. A third trail was closed for over a month this spring, after heavy rains, but it's been reopened.

Here is the national park website which has the official trail descriptions. Those with a red circle are closed; the trails that begin with 592 are the low-level trails in what is commonly considered the Cinque Terre.

http://www.parconazionale5terre.it/sentieri-outdoor.php

There's an English version, which you can select at upper left, but it doesn't show the trail map or details. However, if you click on one of the trails on the Italian site, it will open a page with details, and on that page, you can select English.

bvlenci Yes. I remember a few years back of seeing cascading waters in CT that pretty much washed away lots of the hillsides.

I believe we did this back in 2009.

Beautiful area, wonderful people!

I had told my wife it was a nice walk between 5 towns.

After the first set of stairs out of Monterosso I got my first dirty look, then came the second set of stairs and more climbs..... :)

When all was said and done, my wife actually enjoyed the long trek.

Sorry it is no longer available!

Yes, it's feasible to see all 5 towns of the Cinque Terre, but might be too rushed if you want to enjoy lunch and dinner in say, Manarola and Vernazza (meals are never "quick" experiences in Italy), as well as explore the other towns. As others have mentioned, there is also the boat service that stops in all 5 towns too. Either way, I would not drive a car to each town. Carports/parking are usually out of the way and not very convenient. I would make one of the towns your base (i.e. Riomaggiore) and park your car there. Then you can hop on the train and see each of the towns starting at the top at Monterosso al Mare and ending in Riomaggiore. From there, on the following day you could proceed to Florence.

Thank you all!!! Such valuable information :)