rajshiv

Hi,

We are going for a friend's wedding in Genoa on 28th June. We will take the ryan air flight from London and would be there by 1:00pm . We woudl have to get dressed and leave for the church at 3:00pm. We woudl be at the wedding reception.

We were hoping to extend this trip to maybe Cinque Terra or Nice for three days. we would leave Genoa early morning and want to be back to London on 1st night. That would give us about three days.

Could you please suggest what might be the best option for us. We are in our mid thrities and like walking, being on the beach, visiting small unique towns and eating good food.

Any ideas would be most helpful.

mamcalice

Why not Cinque Terre? It fits the things you like very well. The only thing you will have to work out at this late date is a place to stay.

rajshiv

Mamcalice we are thinking of Cinque Terre...but our friends who are getting married suggested that we should also consider the area around Nice. If we were to go there...what do you feel might be the best place to base ourselves?

As long as it is not a complete mad house we don't mind crowds ( we have lived in India for a large portion of our lives....so kind of used to it).

tarquin

Don't overlook Genoa itself, which is good for a few hours of interesting walking and very good food. The Palazzo Cicala is a very nice and central (opposite the duomo) place to stay. I would not travel all the way to Nice when you will be so close to all the small towns along the Ligurian coast.

rajshiv

Tarquin we were thinking about spending some time in the evening walking around...but let's see how tht plan goes.

What places would you recommend as a good base on the Ligurian coast. Should we look at staying in Vernazza...or some other place might be better?

Treesa

You might consider staying in Rapallo, Santa Margarita Ligure or Portofino. Very easy train ride from Genoa. It's a lovely area to visit.

rajshiv

Treesa in my imagination I would like us to be perfect travellers...who get up early...watch the sun rise...have a leisurely breakfast and are up and about by 9:00am. Believe you me that is what 'our plan' is in my head. However the reality is that we never get out before 11:00... Maybe on a bad day around 12:00...and then like to stay out late.

Would the trains be running late in the night even on weekends? Will it be safe o travel...most people have said that the five villages get really busy during the day...would it not be good to experience them in the night when the day trippers have left?

HappyTrvlr

I would stay in Santa Margherita Ligure, or Camogli, charming seafront towns.

Treesa

Hey, raj, you sound like a night owl. Perhaps charming little towns are not for you. You'll probably be happier staying in big cities with lots of nightlife. Nice would fit the bill. Plenty of good restaurants and lots of interesting places close by. In any event, enjoy the wedding and wishing you sunny skies.

stevewith

rajshiv,

By noon, almost everything in Italy is closing for lunch and it doesn't re-open until 4pm. So you need to pick a location that you enjoy for itself, that has easy access to hiking and swimming, and forget the idea of "day tripping" to go sightseeing. Most of the towns along the coast are so small, a walk on the beach takes 5 minutes, and you're done. If you go to le Cinque Terre, a seaside walk is even less than 5 minutes. If you go hiking after 11am in the morning, be prepared for extremely hot sun

There is no nightlife on the coast, except sometimes in August is a few places.

Given your interests, I recommend that you consider taking the train to Torino after the wedding. Or Milan. You can fly to London from there. If you stayed in Milan, you could get up at 11am and take a train to Lago di Como, spend a few hours at the lake, and then come back to Milan for some nightlife.

It is harder to find pretty scenery within day trip distance of Torino unless you have a car, but you can visit interesting small towns using the trains, and eat some great lunches if you can arrive by 1.30pm.

stevewith

Your friends might be right in suggesting Nice. Things don't close in the middle of the day, and the beach front is more about strolling than hill climbing.

rajshiv

I am sorry if we gave the wrong impression...we don't want any night life...all that I was trying to say that we can only get out late...and start late. We are more than happy to hike for a couple of hours...have a long leisurely lunch...have tea and coffee breaks...as long as we can get places that are open till about 2:00 for lunch and till around 9:00- 9:30 pm for dinner...we are happy.

I was asking about living in one of the five villages...because I understood that it was easy to walk between them...and I thought once the crowds had left for the day...maybe it would be nice to walk between them.

We like charming little towns...as long as they have a few restaurants. Instead of starting our hikes at 11 in the morning can't we start our hike t four in the afternoon? Are there beaches where we could spend our day?

We would be just as contend to walk on empty streets with great views...

rajshiv

Anyways I thought mealtimes in Italy are anyways slightly later...so I don't think we should have a problem there...

mamcalice

You are unlikely to find "empty streets with great views" at any time of day in either Nice or the Cinque Terre. If you are hiking only between one or two of the CT towns you can start at 4:00 and still be ready for dinner at 9:00. The villages have a good selection of restaurants, especially Monterosso and Vernazza. If you plan to stay in CT at the end of June, you better make reservations ASAP.

stevewith

rajshiv,

If you are that undemanding, then just go to Camogli. You can hike around there and have great views, quiet paths, plus enjoy the sea for swims, If you feel like it, you can use the trains and boats and buses to easily go to other places to walk some more and enjoy the sea, some beautiful coves. During weekdays, you can definitely enjoy largely empty streets with great views around Camogli. You can go up into the hills and find marvelous little bars hidden away. If the weekend weather is nice, the Genovese will crowd the seafront, but it is a relaxing scene, not a desperate foreign tourist scene.

Whether you pick Camogli or le Cinque Terre, I suggest you make a point of spending one late afternoon/sunset in Zoagli, especially on a nice weekday.

rajshiv

mamcalice when I wrote about the empty streets I was trying to say that we don't need a throbbing city to enjoy ourselves...however we are not as averse to crowds either.

Stevewith my understanding was that even if we stayed in Santa Margherita Ligure, Camogli or Portofino we could still go to the Cinque Terre area.

We would like to do the walk between the villages. Would we be able to do it in two days? On the last day maybe we could spend some time in Santa Margherita Ligure, Camogli or Portofino and catch the sunset in Zoagli as suggested by stevewith.

Given these plans what would be the best place to stay?

stevewith

If you want to spend 2 afternoons hiking in le Cinque Terre, stay in le Cinque Terre since you don't mind crowds. You may be able to find a flight out of Pisa to London. You should check to see what trails are open in le Cinque Terre. Bear in mind that these are real hikes, not walks.

There is a coastal train that stops in every town except Portofino. You can reach Portofino by boat or bus, however, from Santa Margherita Ligure or Rapallo.

You said in your first post that you wanted to go to le Cinque Terre, so just go. People have been concerned you have the wrong impression of the place and want something different from what they offer. But apparently what they offer is what you are looking for. I woulnd't push too hard, though, on that 9pm dinner hour. And don't expect to find tea in the local village bars other than being handed a cup of hot water from the espresso machine and a tea bag.

it is possible you are being too optimistic about getting off a plane in Genoa airport at 1pm and being dressed and headed to a wedding reception by 3pm.