Portofino-Santa Margherita
 

Question for experienced Cinque Territes: how do we get from Portofino to the station at Santa Margherita? Is there a bus? Can we walk? How long does it take?

Well, those 2 lovely villages are at least an hour from the CT. However, the station is actually near Rapallo and is about 4 to 5 km from Portofino. There is a local bus but I do not know how often.

Thank you Bob. I didn't realise they were so far. According to my European Railway Timetable (courtesy of T Cook) Santa Margherita is only 5 minutes from Rapallo and the other places in Cinque Terra aren't much further. Which of these 5 villages do you recommend? We are thinking of a day trip from Portofino and back.

May I ask which station you are referring to: The Train Station or the Bus Station. Also, is this station in question located in Santa Margherita?

I'm a little confused because Portofino and S. Margherita are real close to each other.

I'm hoping to get to the train station at Santa Margherita to take a train along to the villages of Cinque Terra. I see that the nearest train station to Portofino is Santa Margherita.

I walked from Santa M to Portofino and it took about an hour or so along the main road - not an enjoyable route - also took the inland and hilly route, a very nice hike but strenuous - a great great hike however. There is regular bus service between SM and Portofino. When we finally got to Portofino it was elbow-elboow with tourists - the most hopelessly overrun tourist mecca i've seen - i don't see how anyone can find much romantic about this place - myself i revel in such tourist traps - people watching, etc., but any romance is lost. A good introduction to the Cinque Terre i guess.

Thank you PalQ. That is absolutely what I wanted to know. I don't fancy being stranded in Portofino all day which is why I'm planning my escape. A local bus service is just what I need.

I don't know how to cut and paste a thread, but you may want to search for: Santa Margherita to PORTOFINO. It is listed under my name (way down the list). If you enter i_am_kane, you will find it that way also.

Anyway, there was good information in that thread, which may be helpful to you.

It's been a while since I was there, but I remember taking a short boat ride from Santa Margherita (SML) to Portofino and then a short bus ride back. We stayed in SML and enjoyed it. From SML it was about an hour's train ride to the farthest village of the Cinque Terre.

we stayed in Camgoli right next to Portofino. It was lovely - and not touristy at all. In fact we loved it so much we never went to Portofino. We did take the train from Camogli to CT for a day trip. It was easy to navigate. Check out the hotel in Camogli we stayed at....Cenobio Dei Dogi. Very nice. Beautiful views, great location. If you go, eat dinner at La Rosa. Great views!!!!

Hi Gerti,

Luvtotravel has it exactly right. You can take a 10 minute boat ride from Portofino to SML. From there you can walk a couple blocks uphill to the SML train station. The Cinque Terre villages are easily accessable by train and the furthest south, Riomaggiore, is about 1 hour.

As far as Portofino went, we stayed in SML and took the first boat (9am) over to Portofino. Wandered and window shopped a little and plunked ourselves down at a marina-side cafe for a very long lunch with lots of great local wine. Watched the outrageous yachts come in. It didn't get busy until after lunch, in May.

Buon viaggio!

I would like to add my two cents since I was in the area recently.

We walked from Camogli to Portofino which was a hard walk but enjoyable. Camogli is a seaside town without the tourists. Great foccia! If I were to return to the area I would stay here rather than Cinque Terre.

Portofino is overrun by tourists. The boat rats takeover the small town from their ships in the harbor.

Escape from Portofino by boat to SML. Its approximately 5E and takes 10 minutes. You can walk to the train station and take the train to Cinque Terre. Make sure you take the local that stops at the Cinque Terre villages. Its a pleasant ride of an hour.

Thank you all so much. I'm already looking forward to the boat ride. Which Cinque Terra village do you recommend?

For what? Hiking, fishing, eating, staying. Take the boat from SML and see them all.

For hanging around being a tourist. Sightseeing, eating, drinking and taking pictures. I have only one day for this and have to be back in Portofino at the end. There's a boat which stops at all the CT villages?? Details?

Gertie - Here's the ferry link:

http://www.comune.rapallo.ge.it/citt.../battelli1.htm

It takes an hour by train - so it'll be 2-3 hrs by boat, I think. If it's a day-trip, you may need to go one way by train ...

Hope this helps ...

Steve

An alternative, shorter and equally scenic trip would be to Camogli IMO ...

Thank you Steve. I've just printed all that out. Exactly what I need. Much nicer to take the boat one way. It's looking good.