The Cinque Terre
 

I'm traveling to Northern Italy Solo in September and the Cinque Terre is on my list. I'm looking for some feedback on the number of days, 3 or 4. Right now I see hiking and eating great seafood on my list. What else is there (silly question, I'm sure). My itinery is Milan, Cinqe Terre, Pisa, Lucca, Florence and Venice in 13 days. Any other advice on number of days would be great. Thanks!

One full day was enough for me - having hiked the seven miles on the main trail between the 5 Lands - each tiny town was crowded with tourists - avoids weekends even in September.

I'd take a few days off there and put into Venice or Florence - do a day trip from Florence to Pisa and Lucca - easily done in a day by train.

There are other hikes however so if into hiking you could easily spend 3-4 days there. For me one or two would be max but everyone is different. Just too plastic a scene - like something more real - like fantastic Lucca or Siena, a short bus ride from Florence.

Your question isn't silly at all.

The villages of le Cinque Terre are truly villages. Apart from shops and bars for tourists, and few places only locals go (the local fish or wine cooperative, the church and town halls), there is only the steep vineyards and the views of the sea to enjoy, and the fabulously fresh seafood and interesting pasta dishes.

If it is really important to your trip to Italy to hike and have some time in the sunshine by the sea, then you might book yourself for 3 nights, especially at the end of September, because if you come for only 1 night, and it rains, you'll not have the experience you were hoping for at all. If you come for 3 nights and are bored by the middle of your second day, you can visit Pisa if you haven't done so already, or one of the smaller towns away from the see that tourists seldom visit, like Sarzana or Chiavari (both good choices for a rainy day).

If you can just shrug it off that it rained the one day you booked yourself into le Cinque Terre, and you really would rather be seeing more architecture and art and history sights, then you won't have "missed" anything if you stop into le Cinque Terre for one day/night and have lunch and dinner. That is time enough to see the beauty and enjoy the food.

You have a very limited amount of time and a long list of places to visit - all of which have way more to see and do than the CT. Unless you want to do a lot of hiking and sitting watching the sea I would move days to venice or florence.

(Actually I wouldn't bother with CT - but since St Steeeeve mandated everyone must go there you can't walk 2 feet withoyt falling over someone. But then I'm not a hiker.)

If you have only 13 days (or is that 13 nights?) in Italy, and are considering 3 days in the Cinque Terre, and want to visit five other cities, there isn't much point in your question. You'll have a maximum of two nights in each of the other places, which will give you one full day in each city, plus a bit of your travel day. If you spend four nights in the Cinque Terre (three full days), you'll have to drop one of the other places, because it makes no sense to spend a good part of a day getting to a place and then leaving the next day.

If you want great seafood in the Cinque Terre, you have to be prepared to understand what you're ordering. Avoid mixed fried seafood dishes, because the fish are likely to be frozen, not fresh. The same goes for a lot of the seafood pasta sauces. There are nowhere near enough fresh fish in the Ligurian waters to feed the hordes of tourists who descend on the Cinque Terre. You're best sticking to fresh whole fish, which are often served by weight; the price is often for one hectogram, which is about 1/4 pound with the bones and gut in. A person can usually eat 4 hg, depending on the type of fish; some have more waste than others. Ask the waiter what the fish is likely to weigh and how many people a single fish would feed.

Palenq is mainly right about the numbers of tourists in the Cinque Terre. I've only been there in the off season, but on weekends, and both times it was way too crowded for my comfort level. Also, the main trail he refers to has been closed for several years because of the risk of landslides, and with the rainy spring we've had, it's unlikely that it will be open any time soon. The high trails are mostly open, but these require good hiking shoes and a good level of fitness. The seaside trail is open only between Monterosso and Vernazza, which is 3.6 km, a little over two miles.

Not sure what you mean by "four days." Do you mean four full days? Three nights? I love the Cinque Terre and did have three nights there on my first visit. But that translated into two full days (one hiking, one mostly relaxing) and one half day (arrival day - hiking). My departure day was an early departure, so didn't count.

So if you mean three nights similar to mine, that might really be only about 2.5 days. If you want to relax one day and hike the other, that might not be too much time. One full day (two nights) is probably enough for most people if they do a long day of hiking with long stops in the towns to eat and explore. As was pointed out above, more days does give you a better chance of nice weather at least one of your hiking days.

I have no idea where bvlienci came up with the theories about eating in le Cinque Terre that are in that post, but they bear no relationship with reality. You should certainly do research about where to eat, but frozen fish will be listed on the menu as such, and very little fish in Liguria is priced by hectogram. It is not the local custom. If you are in a restaurant and want a whole fish (unlikely if you are traveling alone), you will be shown the fish and you should just ask what the bill will be. But in September you are well advised to focus on dishes with anchovies or mussels or tuna or swordfish (which is served as filets).

There is a lot of prejudice against going to the Italian Riviera from people who think that a trip to Italy should focus on cultural sightseeing first, and "doing it justice" by spending "sufficient" time there. So what you will hear is a lot of dire warnings about landslides, frozen fish, disappointment, boredom, blah blah. And guesss what? There are floods, lousy food, crowds and a lot of negatives in most other tourist destinations in Italy too.

Personally, I prefer other parts of the Italian Riviera to le Cinque Terre, because I like to get away from loads of English-speaking tourists when I travel, and I am sort of so-so when it comes to hiking. If you think you won't have enough to do in le Cinque Terre, that is a reasonable concern. If you are only now hearing about crowds or the possibility of poor tourist restaurants, you will want to factor that in. You might want to skip it -- you might want to try another spot in the Riviera -- or you might have a lovely time there. Many people do.

I did two there and loved it. The hiking was great and the views pretty. Loved hiking through lemon groves and vineyards. The villages are all charming and the food excellent. We went during the week in May, crowds were not bad. I also stayed in La Spezia, took the ferry and the train. La Spezia was a good base and loved our hotel there.

We stayed in Riomaggiore last weekend and really enjoyed our day & a half, one night stay. 30 year old son was tuckered out and sore from his day of hiking the trails and probably wouldn't have done a second day of hiking if we had had another day scheduled.

We had excellent weather and one more day would have been just a day of relaxation (which isn't necessarily bad on a true vacation!)Our son had only 10 days in Italy and I believe this was one of his highlights. We're glad we did it.

We came, we saw, we did, we moved on. With where you want to go and see, I would spend one or two days max. and put those extra days to better use as others have suggested.

For excellent seafood...
in Vernazza: http://www.ristorantebelforte.it/it
Riomaggiore: http://www.tripadvisor.it/Restaurant...a_Liguria.html

Reserve if possible.

The region around the CT (Italian Riviera/ Ligurian Riviera) is much more than the 5 tiny villages of the CT. Guide books, especially American, especially Rick Steves, promote the CT villages and hikes but there is much, much more. The town of Rapallo is a great town with an adorable castle jutting out into the sea, on the train line about a half hour north of the CT. Three minutes north of that is Santa Margherita and close by is Portofino, few minutes north of that is Camogli. All of these are very interesting to visit. And then just south of the CT is Portovenere. I spent five days based in Rapallo last summer and visited all the places I just mentioned. I've also stayed in Camogli to visit the CT towns.

The problem with staying IN one of the CT towns is that hiking is the main thing you can do and if it is raining the trails are closed. The other towns offer more diversity for rainy weather (or if you want to do anything other than hike, also more restaurant options).

With 13 days and the list of places you have I would do the following: Milan 2 nights, Rapallo or Santa Margherita 4 nights (day trips to CT, etc), 4 nights Florence (visit Pisa and Lucca on a day trip - both can be done on the same day), Venice 3 nights.

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