We will be in Tuscany for a week. A day or two will be spent in Florence and the rest of the time in the countryside. We love hilltowns and will spend a lot of time visiting those, but we would also like to take a day and head over to the Cinque Terre. What is the best way to do the Cinque Terre as a daytrip? Should we try to hit all five towns? Or should we ignore the Cinque Terre and spend the day in Portovenere to get a similar experience? Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

Flagg-<BR><BR>From Florence, the best way, I would think, is by train to Pisa, then north to Cinque Terre. It is going to take about 4 hours by train, making a day trip a little difficult. I hope this little info helps.

We will not be staying in Florence. We will be staying in a villa about 12 miles NE of San Gimignano, and we'll have a rental car.

Flagg, Pick a good weather day and get an early start. Get to Portovenere by 10:00 and catch the ferry boat that stops at 4 of the 5 villages. Go all the way to Monterosso first and work your way back---stopping for lunch in Vernazza. The boats run all day--just be aware of the schedule. Get back to Portovenere by 16:00 and spend an hour before driving home. That will work.

I did the five-hour hike from Riomaggiore to Portovenere three weeks ago. Parts of it were extremely beautiful but I felt more exposed than I ever did on any of the hikes between the other towns, so don't do this one if you're afraid of heights. But mainly I wanted to say that I intended to take the boat from Portovenere back to the CT but it wasn't running because the sea was a little choppy, so I had to take the bus into La Spezia and then the train to the CT. Only the Italians and the Japanese can fit that many people on a bus - I'm not being nasty, just observant and a little humorous.

Hi - We were in Tuscany for a week in April in an apartment near Montespertoli southwest of Florence. We took a daytrip to Cinque Terre and were very glad we did. We got up early and drove to Riomaggiore in 2-3 hours (can't remember exactly but it was shorter than I thought). We parked in Riomaggiore and then hiked the trail towards Monterroso stopping in each town along the way for snacks and lunch. The scenery is spectacular and hiking the last two legs is tough. We hung out at the beach in Monterosso a while and took the train back first to Manarola that we wanted to see again and then Riomaggiore where we had dinner and then left for home. Make sure you know when the parking garage closes however, because we got stuck there. We hadn't noticed the closing time when we got there in the morning and the lot was closed and the gate was down. We had to wait anxiously for a resident to drive down the street and into the garage to open the gate. We were very lucky to get out! A bad ending to a great day that could have been avoided if we had been paying attention. Cinque Terre is wonderful. We enjoyed the small square in Corniglia. Vernazza was pretty and the most crowded. Riomaggiore and Manarola were less crowded. Monterosso is more of a regular seaside town with beaches. Don't miss it.<BR>Lori

Just returned from 2 weeks in southern Germany and Tuscany and it was wonderful!! We stayed in a B&B just south of Florence. One morning we drove to Pisa, spent a couple hours there then drove to Riomaggiore-the 1st town in Cinque Terre. It was spectacularly beautiful and definitely worth the trip.<BR>It's about 1 1/4 hour drive from Florence to Pisa and another 1 1/4 hour drive to Riomaggiore. Take the autostrada to LaSpezia and then follow the signs (watch carefully!) to Cinque Terre/Riomaggiore. We just hung out in this town for a couple hour and loved it. From there you can take the train or walk to the other towns.

Thanks all for good ideas to fit CT in a day trip.

What do you think about basing in Genoa and then going to CT by car?

Why? There are better options.