Anyone have any comments about going to this part of the Italian coast in late november? Planning on staying in Florence and taking a few days to visit this area. Train? Car? Weather? 3 to 4 star hotel as a base in SML or Portovenere?

We stayed at the Hotel Fiorina in Santa Margherita in March this year. Weather was great, mild and sunny. Hotel was 3 star, 5 min walk from the waterfront, opposite a small supermarket, clean, helpful front desk people. SML might be a better choice as a base than Portovenere as SML is on the train line but P is not. Portofino is a 20 min bus ride away from SML, well worth a half day trip.<BR>Kay

If you want to see Cinque Terre, then you should stay in Portovenere, a mere 8 minute train ride from Riomaggiore into La Spezia, then bus to Portovenere. Likewise, Portovenere is a quick boat ride from any of the 5 CT towns, so that is another direct alternative. SML is quite far up the coast from CT (40 minutes north by train) and would be better served if you split the coast to see the northern towns (Portofino, Genoa, etc) then used Portovenere as your southern base for the CT area. Cars tend to be minimal up and down this coastline, train travel seems easiest and most direct. The weather at that time will be quite chilly. You should check the following website for up-to-date weather in the cities you'd like to see: http://www.weather.com/common/welcom...from=globalnav <BR>Buon viaggio!

MJS, I am alsot going to Florence and then divingto Cinque Terre in early Nov. We're spending 3 days in Flor. then driving up the coast to Monaco. I don't care how the weather is... even if fall-like, i's still a nice area and the crowds will be less. Have a good time.

I am going to Italy with my family in March and we have discussed Cinque Terre and driving up the coast to Monaco. Any idea how long that will take?

Cinque Terre in November will be cool, probably clouds & some rain. To get more precise weather information, look on a few sites:<BR><BR>http://www.worldclimate.com/ -- has historical data<BR>http://www.nytimes.com/<BR>http://www.weather.com/<BR>http://www.cnn.com/WEATHER/<BR>http://www.usatoday.com/weather/<BR>http://www.rainorshine.com/<BR>http://www.timeout.com -- click on your city, then on weather<BR>http://www.bbc.co.uk/weather<BR>