Florence and Cinque Terre within a week : do-able?
 

My family and I (6 adults, no children) will be spending a week in Florence in May to visit a friend. We've been to Florence several times, but are interested in visiting an area that we've never been to. A few friends have recommended Cinque Terre which I believe the train ride is approx. 3hrs away. Is it worth the train ride and 3 days out of our week (including travel time) to head out to Cinque Terre? We've already been to Milan, Venice, Rome and Capri before. We were thinking of spending a few days in CT and spending the remaining days in Florence, taking one day trips into Siena and the surrounding areas of Tuscany; however, I haven't had much luck in finding accomodations in the CT region. Each hotel that I've checked within the region are already fully booked. I've only found available rooms outside CT in La Spezia or Santa Margherita Ligure (which appears to be further away from Florence). Does anyone have any recommendations as to where we can stay, or if we had to choose between SML or La Spezia, which city would be better for first timers in that region? By the way, we don't plan on renting cars, so we would be dependent on the trains. Help! We're trying to finalize our travel plans soon! Any thoughts would be appreciated!<BR><BR>Thanks, MT

I enjoyed Cinque Terre very much and since you have already been to Florence it would make a nice trip. Most of the hotels in CT are in Monterosso, hotel villa steno was wonderful. CT is a low key destination, mostly about the hike between the little towns. Monterosso has a nice beach if you are into that and there is kayaking etc. You might also consider Tuscany as a side trip if you can't find a hotel in CT. For 6 adults seeing the wine country and staying in a villa would be wonderful. You might check out San Gmignano,Lucca, Montelciano etc. Since you are already planning on seeing Sienna you are only 45 more minutes from San G.

You can stay in Moneglia or Lavagna, both nice towns just up the coast from the CT, and take the train into CT every day if you wish.

You can stay in Portovenere and assuming the weather is good, you take a short boat ride from the heart of town to 4 of the towns (the boat cannot dock at one of them, but I can't recall which one). Portovenere is a very pleasant town and a convenient base for the Cinque Terre.

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I've checked out Hotel villa Steno and unfortunately, they are already booked (Hotel Pasquale is also booked). I'll check on some hotels in Portovenere. Any hotel recommendations in Portovenere? We're looking at the $200 or below range. <BR><BR>By reading some of the other posts, it looks like I should cancel our reservations in La Spezia. If all else fails, I guess we can take the longer train ride and stay in Santa Margherita Ligure.<BR><BR>Thanks again!

-<BR>mt, either Portovenere or SML are much, much better options than La Spezia. Other towns on train line north (?) or west of the Cinque Terre are Rapallo or Camaglio or Sestri Levanto. I've stayed in Spezia because a friend lives there. Their apt overlooks the water, with a fabulous view. There are no hotels along Spezia's harbor. Probably the best hotel there is The Jolly. It's a high-rise and although several blocks from the water likely has rooms with a view. The city itself is new & modern, certainly by Italian standards. I like being there for a few days, cuz I can relax at my friend's place and feel like a native hanging out / going to the market. Spezia is devoid of any old world charm. It has small amount of tourist traffic, primarily those staying there for its' location and easy access to the CT. From the Spezia Centrale station, it's a 5 minute ride to Riomaggiore. You're more likely to spend more time waiting for the train than actually being on it. Or the boat departs for Portovenere & the Cinque Terre around 9 or 9:15 each morning. Several more runs follow during the day. <BR><BR>I stongly encourage you to explore other cities, especially for a first timer in the region.

-<BR>mt, a couple hotels in Portovenere that I've seen mentioned on this board are:<BR><BR>- Grand Hotel;<BR>- Hotel Royal Sporting.<BR>

i stayed at the royal sporting. it was supposed to be very nice for the area, but I didn't think it was up to the standard that had been set for us by other 4 star hotels in italy. I think its over the $200/nt limit set by the earlier message.

- Wanted to correct the names of other towns I'd suggested. It's LEVANTO, that's next town outside CT after Monterosso and SESTRI LEVANTE that's further up the line.

We stayed at a wonderful B&B/Apt. in Manarola last Oct., "Da Baranin". The owners were great, even checked our train/flight schedule on their computer and printed it out for us when we left. It had a really nice little kitchen and the bathroom was large with a really nice shower stall. www.baranin.com. Highly recommend it.

Thanks Barb and Robin,<BR>Is the train station accessible in Levanto? I've checked out Da Baranin, but they require a minimum 3 night stay. Unfortunately, we can only afford two nights in the area. My cousin's looked into the Hotel Continental in SML. Can anyone recommend that hotel? In the meantime, I'll do a search on this talk forum. Thanks again!

Last June my husband and I stayed a couple of nights in Manorola which is one of the 5 towns comprising CT. We also had difficulty securing accomodation however stayed at a wonderful apartment called Casa Capellinis. It was a self contained apartment complete with kitchen, bathroom and bedroom and a patio from which you had the most wonderful of the sea. I believe that there are 4 suites in total. You can check it out on www.home.sunrise.ch. Our travel plans were much the same as yours and CT was the most memorable. <BR>Enjoy<BR>Maureen

I just tried the website I left in my previous message and it didn't work however if you try yahoo and then type in casa capellini you will find it.<BR>Maureen<BR>

We were booked at Cenobi de Dogi (sp?) in Camogli which is close to CT. Canceled due to 9/11. Although heard great things about CT, we decided to stick around Florence, Cortona, Montalcino, Pienza, etc. Since you are only there a week, it may be easier (closer) and more fun to stay in one of the hilltowns within an hour or two and do day trips. We're staying a few nights in Cortona and a few nights in San Gimignano and then doing daytrips from there. San G is great at night (nightmare during the day with buses)