Silly question but what's the difference between Cinque Terra & La Spezia?
Nov 5th, 2006, 12:37 AM
#1
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Silly question but what's the difference between Cinque Terra & La Spezia?
Don't mean to be ignorant but are these two places basically one and the same? Is it worth staying there for a couple of nights or is a day visit from Florence enough?
Nov 5th, 2006, 12:57 AM
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The Cinque Terre (sp) are the 5 "lands" of Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore, which cling to the shore at the bottom of steep hills along the Ligurian Coast. They were pretty much cut off by land from the rest of the area (not quite, but almost) until modern towns and are stunningly pretty and old.
La Spezia is a large, industrial, naval town south of the Cinque Terre, whose only connection with the Cinque Terre is that it's one of the places you can get the boat to get there. Either Lerici or Portovenere are prettier places to make teh connection.
La Spezia is a large, industrial, naval town south of the Cinque Terre, whose only connection with the Cinque Terre is that it's one of the places you can get the boat to get there. Either Lerici or Portovenere are prettier places to make teh connection.
Nov 5th, 2006, 01:52 AM
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Olsen
The Cinque Terre national park is worth dedicating time to visit and explore. It is too far to be just a day trip from Florence (approx 3 hours drive). You can choose to walk/hike all 5 villages or choose to walk/hike between 2 or 3 of them. The scenery on the trails will take your breath away! In lieu of walking, you can also travel amongst the villages by ferry (weather permitting).
Whilst in the region, you can also visit Portovenere, another seaside resort with a fort.
La Spezia is an industrial seaside city and a naval base.
S
The Cinque Terre national park is worth dedicating time to visit and explore. It is too far to be just a day trip from Florence (approx 3 hours drive). You can choose to walk/hike all 5 villages or choose to walk/hike between 2 or 3 of them. The scenery on the trails will take your breath away! In lieu of walking, you can also travel amongst the villages by ferry (weather permitting).
Whilst in the region, you can also visit Portovenere, another seaside resort with a fort.
La Spezia is an industrial seaside city and a naval base.
S
Nov 5th, 2006, 02:01 AM
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Hi H,
If you enter <Cinque Terre> in the "Search this forum" box, you will find lots of information of where to go, what to see and do.
Monterosso is about 3 hr by train from Florence. See www.trenitalia.com
If you enter <Cinque Terre> in the "Search this forum" box, you will find lots of information of where to go, what to see and do.
Monterosso is about 3 hr by train from Florence. See www.trenitalia.com
Nov 5th, 2006, 04:20 AM
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Hi Swagman - if you were to choose to walk between 2 or 3 of them, which ones would you pick? Any advantages or disadvantages to parts of the hike? Any parts have better views? thanks for your input!
Nov 5th, 2006, 12:37 PM
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Nov 5th, 2006, 11:43 PM
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kwren
Let's put it this way, it depends on how serious a walker/hiker one is. For a leisure walk, the easiest is the section between Riomaggiore and Manarola (30 mins), then the section to Corniglia except for the very last part where you have to climb over 300+ steps from the train station to reach the town of Corniglia (1+ hour).
For those who want to challenge themselves, the section between Monterosso and Vernazza is difficult, the trail is steep and narrow especially when you walk through some hillside vineyards.
If you don't want to walk, you can always take the train between the 5 towns. Your entry ticket to the national park includes the train fare and you can get on and off as many times as you like for the validity of the ticket.
If you just want to see 2-3 of the 5 towns, I would suggest you start at Riomaggiore, walk to Manarola and Corniglia, then train to Vernazza from the latter. Start early so that you end up having lunch at Gambero Rosso at Vernazza which arguably is the prettiest of the 5.
S
Let's put it this way, it depends on how serious a walker/hiker one is. For a leisure walk, the easiest is the section between Riomaggiore and Manarola (30 mins), then the section to Corniglia except for the very last part where you have to climb over 300+ steps from the train station to reach the town of Corniglia (1+ hour).
For those who want to challenge themselves, the section between Monterosso and Vernazza is difficult, the trail is steep and narrow especially when you walk through some hillside vineyards.
If you don't want to walk, you can always take the train between the 5 towns. Your entry ticket to the national park includes the train fare and you can get on and off as many times as you like for the validity of the ticket.
If you just want to see 2-3 of the 5 towns, I would suggest you start at Riomaggiore, walk to Manarola and Corniglia, then train to Vernazza from the latter. Start early so that you end up having lunch at Gambero Rosso at Vernazza which arguably is the prettiest of the 5.
S
