coachapril

Florence, Cinque Terre and the French Alps”
Apr 28, 2012, 6:07 PM
Hello Travelers- After a week with a cycling tour around Siena we'll have a full week on our own, We will leave Florence with 5 full days before leaving out of Geneva. Is it reasonable to try to see Cinque Terre for 2 days before we heading to Annecy to watch the Tour de France before flying home from Geneva. What would be the best way to travel from CT to the Annecy or Geneva (or Megeve), plane, train, car? Or both train & car, renting a car once in France as we'll need it for the rest of the week? Any advice would be appreciated as I am having a very hard time working it all out. Merci & Grazie

Anna_Galea

You might be interested to check out whether Ryan Air or EasyJet low cost airlines do flights close to destinations you are interested in visiting (like Pisa airport not too distant from Cinque Terre or Florence).

coachapril

Thanks but neither airline flies from Pisa to Geneva. So now I am considering taking trains to the French or Swiss border,then renting a car((since we are leaving from Geneva but we will need car in France). Anyone have suggestions of a scenic route from the borders of Switzerland or France to Chamonix or Annecy?

AussieFrance

Z days in Cinque Terre is fine. That's how long we were there, based in Levanto. There is a very efficient train service for which you can get a combined pass with the walking paths. The train only takes 5 to 10 minutes between each town because it goes through the mountain. Lovely place but there will probably be a lot of people in July. Be Italian and walk around in the morning, have a siesta then go out again. Lovely to have dinner on the village up on the hill.

AussieFrance

Just heard that the Cinque Terre were badly hit by storms last October. http://loganandabby.blogspot.fr/2012...que-terre.html and if you decide to go anyway http://www.aussieinfrance.com/2012/0...e-terre-italy/

Anna_Galea

How about hiring a car from Cinque Terre and driving to Geneva, stopping for a night or two on the way to break the trip? The scenary is magnificent, and you would not have the hassle of catching trains or planes.

jamikins

But you would likely incur a huge drop-off fee for renting a car in Italy and dropping in another country...

coachapril

Thanks for all your helpful replies. I knew about the flood but the updates I have read said they were further along then Abby's photos show! But I was also thinking a lot of tourists may stay away making it a good time to go. However,with the damage, the distance to Geneva, train changes or drop off fees and limited time, I have decided we will fly from Florence to Geneva, see The Tour and spend a few days in the Haute-Savoie region. I'll do CT when I come back for the Amalfi coast. I will post trip report when we return late July!

Anna_Galea

Great coachapril, especially if you prefer not to drive long distances, and have a more relaxing holiday. Air travel can be so convenient in that regard, and sometimes proves to be cheaper. I would not change touring by car for anything, but it is getting more and more costly every year.

There are still long distances between CT and Amalfi coast, but you can easily take a low-cost flight between the two areas or catch train. I do want to combine CT with the French Riviera, visiting Monaco, Nice etc. in the near future. Can't wait for that trip, but these last couple of years we just got hooked up on Italy. I really have to make the effort to start visiting again other countries, even my husband who just loves Italy seems to want a change. But here I go again, I am dying to visit Lake Magiore/Cpmo again, it has been years since my last visit there.