NEED a tour for Cinque Terre

We are in Florence for one day and would love to do a guided tour to Cinque Terre.

I have tried to contact Cinque Terre Private Tours three times. So far no answer. (not very promising)

I do NOT want to do this trip on our own.

I have researched and researched with no luck :-(

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thank you so much

We are in Florence for one day and would love to do a guided tour to Cinque Terre.

I have tried to contact Cinque Terre Private Tours three times. So far no answer. (not very promising)

I do NOT want to do this trip on our own.

I have researched and researched with no luck :-(

Does anyone have any suggestions?

Thank you so much

Sure. You do not need a guided tour; what you need is to read a guidebook, and you will quickly see that there is nothing a tour is going to show you that you cannot easily do or see on your own. BTW, while these are five lovely towns, and well worth seeing---though Corniglia can be tricky if you're not in shape---they are a long RT from Florence.

When you say "in Florence" do you mean a land trip based in the city or are you talking about a port day docked in Livorno?

Also, what is your budget?

I have communicated with cinqueterre-travel and have gotten a few emails in a very prompt time.

They are one of the only companies that I have seen to do transportation and a 'tour' of the villages.

We are docked in LaSpezia the day I was interested.

(I appreciate your question, stating that you do NOT want to do it on your own - although I think this may be what we are going to do.)

Hi everyone, thank you for your responses.

We are docked in Liverno.

I know its possible to go on our own but right or wrong it would worry me the entire time, that we would not make it back in time :-(

as far as budget we have 6-8 of us that want to go so we can split the costs

Actually, the only way I would try and get to Cinque Terre on my own from Livorno would be either with a car and driver service or renting a car and driving. The train schedule simply doesn't work for a port day.

Actually, the only way I would try and get to Cinque Terre on my own from Livorno would be either with a car and driver service or renting a car and driving. The train schedule simply doesn't work for a port day.

What he said ;)

BUT, don't waste your money on a guide. Just get a car and driver if you are skittish about driving yourself. There is nothing in CT that would require a guide to interpret what you are seeing.

We used Prestige Rent (they have a website) when we went to the Cinque Terre in May. They take you to the first village, Riomaggiore & you met up with them in Monterosso in the afternoon. Our driver made made sure to provide us with the ferry & the train schedules so we would be there on time. It was a wonderful day where we set our own agenda to visit the villages but still pretty rushed. We used the ferry to get to two of the villages but at Vernazza we ended up taking a 3 minute train ride to Monterosso. The ferrry schedule shut down for about 2 hours at lunch time. And the ferries got very busy. There was a line for boarding them & limited seats. Still we had a enjoyable day exploring this wonderful area of Italy. By the way, there were 9 of us on this trip. And expect the Cinque Terre to be crowded.

No matter how you do it, it's a long way from Livorno for a day trip and I think you are courting disaster if anything goes wrong. Doing it from La Spezia is another matter, and much easier.

No matter how you do it, it's a long way from Livorno for a day trip and I think you are courting disaster if anything goes wrong. Doing it from La Spezia is another matter, and much easier.

Agree with you but we did do it from Livorno. And we got back around 5:15 if I remember. Ship tours did not get back till 6 at the earliest. Our driver set our meeting time in Monterosso for around 3 to 3:30 Good roads all the way (2 lanes both ways) to La Spezia. A bit of time to get through La Spezia & then you are almost there. She took us back along the scenic route through the Cinque Terre. Some of the corners made me long for the Amalfi Coast. No guardrails!!

We did the Cinque Terre while docked in Livorno and had plenty of time. This was one of the few excursions we booked through the ship as it basically was bus transportation to and from and tickets for the ferry boat rides to each of the towns. It also provided a guide who accompanied us and assisted with the ferry transfers. Very easy. As we had been to Florence previously, this was a very enjoyable alternative day. If your ship has a similar excursion, then I would recommend it as opposed to trying to do it yourself.

I have made an inquiry with Papillon Service for our stop in Livorna next May. They have a tour to Cinque Terre and Pisa. I haven't heard back from them yet but will let you know. Website is papillonservice dot com. Our ship also offers an excursion so if all else fails I will do that.

I have made an inquiry with Papillon Service for our stop in Livorna next May. They have a tour to Cinque Terre and Pisa. I haven't heard back from them yet but will let you know. Website is papillonservice dot com. Our ship also offers an excursion so if all else fails I will do that.

We used this company and tour in August, 2013. It was wonderful. They purchased our Pisa tower tickets as well. We took the ferry and visited 3 of the 5 towns. The company essentially picked us up from Livorna and took us to Riomaggorie. We were told what to do and boarded the ferry on our own. We were not quick enough to get off the ferry on at Manarola. Stops are short. It was very busy that day.

We went on to Vernazza and Monterosso Al Mara. The driver picked us up there and we went to Pisa. We had a great day. Some people have reported rough seas, but our trip was wonderful. I think in 2013 , it was the one company that took guests to both the Cinque Terra and Pisa. One of our favourite exclusion.

We just got back and used Tuscany by taxi. Our driver Alessandro did a wonderful job! It was E74 for 6 people and we were picked up at 7:30 am and dropped back off at our ship about 4:30 pm. Our driver took us to Riomaggiore and waited there for us, we went to Vernazza by ferry and then Manerola and back to Riomaggiore. The train schedule between towns is a bit tricky and there's not much "lingering" time but we enjoyed our day very much.

Our Princess ship offers Cinque Terre excursions both from our port stops of Livorno and from Genoa. Both seem to involve a 2 hour bus ride. In this case since we have some OBC to use and want to see the CT, we will probably do a ship tour. Any opinions on whether it is better to go from Genoa or Livorno?

Try http://www.taxi-finder.com

All you need too do is state the tour and taxi firms will contact you with a quote.

We had a fantastic price for a tour to the Cinqueterre from Livorno http://www.tuscanytastetours.com they charges us 450 euro (party of 8 in a Merc Sprinter minibus) when all others wanted 600-700 euro. Highly recommended.

If you need any future info about itinerary, timing, ferry, trains give me a bell mhs.welsh@gmail.com

Our Princess ship offers Cinque Terre excursions both from our port stops of Livorno and from Genoa. Both seem to involve a 2 hour bus ride. In this case since we have some OBC to use and want to see the CT, we will probably do a ship tour. Any opinions on whether it is better to go from Genoa or Livorno?

I would do it from Genoa. Why? Because Livorno port has more options for alternate excursions: Pisa, Lucca, Firenze, etc.....

I have made an inquiry with Papillon Service for our stop in Livorna next May. They have a tour to Cinque Terre and Pisa. I haven't heard back from them yet but will let you know. Website is papillonservice dot com. Our ship also offers an excursion so if all else fails I will do that.

We have used Papillon when we last sailed and ported in Florence; they were wonderful and we did a fabulous tour including Pisa, San Gemigno and a fabulous farm lunch with wine at Castello di Verrazzaon winery (same family as the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge in NYC) We plan to use them next year when we do a tour of the Cinque Terre. While tour guides are not necessary, our driver Sabrina gave us so much background as we traveled, and she got us to Tuscany and back to the ship in plenty of time. Would not hesitate to recommend this company.

Hi everyone, thank you for your responses.

We are docked in Liverno.

I know its possible to go on our own but right or wrong it would worry me the entire time, that we would not make it back in time :-(

as far as budget we have 6-8 of us that want to go so we can split the costs

I am going to Liverno too next spring and started to look at shore excursion...

I found two private tour that offers Cinque terre tour from Liverno. I don't know if they are good or not, I am starting my reserach...

Here they are:

http://www.shareashoreexcursioninitaly.com/excursion/details

http://www.shoreexcursionsinitaly.net/

I am starting to look at CC reviews and Trip Advisor... still confuse and wondering if this is woth the long drive from Liverno...:confused:

I've personally used joe bananas limo for a private tour to cinque terre. I've alo see italytoursharing.com to book through my roll call ( group of 8)

Both were excellent!. Giovanni is the owner. He is awesome with great drivers.

Hi, I am interested in doing a tour from Livorno port to cinque terra also. Does anybody have any experience with Nicola Scovenna doing this? I found her on tripadvisor as the top rated tour in Livorno, but the reviews are mostly about Florence, but she does offer a tour to cinque terra