Lunch on the way to Cinque Terre
 

We will arrive at Malpensa early in the morning and will be driving to Riomaggiore via Parma. Does anyone have a suggestion for a place to stop for lunch along the way? I'm sure we'll be good and; hungry before we reach CT. Thanks for your help.

tt

If you arriving very early in the morning to Malpensa, you are likely to be in Riomaggiore by the time the lunch hour rolls around. You cannot find a restaurant that will serve you before 12:30 pm.

That said, Parma has some of the most wonderful food in all of Italy, and a gorgeous, gorgeous cathedral, as well simply being a beautiful small town. If you arrive in Parma before the lunch hour, you can easily fill the time enjoying fantastic things.

If you are coming in summer, expect it to be extremely hot.

But I hope you don't mind my asking:

Are you sure you want a car at all? Unless you are planning this trip for off-season, it is better to take a train to le Cinque Terre, and only rent a car on the day you leave if you need it for your next destination. You can rent a car in La Spezia, 5 minutes by train from Riomaggiore.

Thanks for the advice re lunch. I wanted to poke around Parma anyway, so that is just what we'll do.
I know everyone recommends against driving to CT. For some reason,my husband wants to have the rental car thing taken care of before we leave CT for Lake Como. Our apartment in CT has parking the there is no charge. However, I will tell him what you said and maybe he will want to reconsider.
Our trip is planned for the 20th of Sept. Will it still be very hot?

While one can never predict the weather of course, I'm guessing it will still be quite warm in Riomaggiore in late September. It certainly was in early October 2007 when I visited. I remember one of the hiking days I was wearing shorts and it very very, very hot! (Can't even imagine August!)

Parma is great - I'd definitely stop for lunch there and stroll around town for an hour or two.

Thanks, Andrew, I appreciate your input.
About the car, even though we will be paying for the car and won't be using it in CT, hubby thinks it would be quicker and simpler leaving Malpensa with a rental car than schlepping our luggage to the train station. Also, now I'm excited about Parma! By the way, where is the train station in relation to Malpensa?

You take a bus from Malpensa airport to get you the train station in Malpensa. The bus is right outside the air terminal, and it pulls right up to the train. You will actually be schlepping your luggage less than you will be finding the car rental office.

However, now I'm doubly puzzled. Is your itinerary to arrive in Milano around the 20th of Sept, rent a car to drive to Riomaggiore, and depart from there to Lago di Como?

Weather-wise, you have a better chance of having favorable weather all the way if you head first for Lago di Como. It's only about 90 minutes from Malpensa. Then move south to Le Cinque Terre. If you want to Lago di Como first, you'd have a much shorter drive after your flight -- 90 minutes as opposed to several hours plus a stop for lunch.