Cinque Terre DIY......Tips?

We will be docking in La Spieza mid October for 12 hours. Since we have already been to Florence/Pisa we prefer something different and more laid back. I have read the many wonderful post here and taking the train to visit a few of the 5 villages is certainly doable.

We have contacted private tour guides but getting others on CC to join tours not including Florence and Pisa has been difficult so DIY sounds like a plan.

Any suggestions? Get off early? Taxi or walk to train station? Which ticket to purchase? Which villages to visit......we were planning 2-3 at most? (Why do many tour companies include Portovenere in their itinerary?) is it easier to go between villages via train or ferry?

And advice would really be helpful.

Thanks

Karen

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We will be docking in La Spieza mid October for 12 hours. Since we have already been to Florence/Pisa we prefer something different and more laid back. I have read the many wonderful post here and taking the train to visit a few of the 5 villages is certainly doable.

 

We have contacted private tour guides but getting others on CC to join tours not including Florence and Pisa has been difficult so DIY sounds like a plan.

 

Any suggestions? Get off early? Taxi or walk to train station? Which ticket to purchase? Which villages to visit......we were planning 2-3 at most? (Why do many tour companies include Portovenere in their itinerary?) is it easier to go between villages via train or ferry?

 

And advice would really be helpful.

 

Thanks

Karen

 

 

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Sorry....I meant La Spezia

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Cinque Terre is a great day out and easy to DIY from La Spezia.

The earlier you get off the ship the more time you will have to explore.

You can walk to the train station in about 20 to 30 minutes if you are normally mobile. You walk along the waterfront with the water on your left till you reach the end, then cross over the busy road and keep going straight on up a pedestrianised shopping street.

Inside the station there is a dedicated Cinque Terre ticket office with extremely helpful English-speaking staff. Tickets cost in the region of 16 euros per person, with discounts for certain age groups. The tickets come with an information leaflet and a timetable showing you the times of the different trains you can catch at the various stops. Note that you have to validate your tickets before you get on the first train by putting them into one of the yellow ticket punchers on the platform.

We particularly liked the first of the villages, Riomaggiore. The last one, Monterosso has a nice beach and we had some tasty paninis for lunch at one of the beach restaurants there. These two are probably the best for finding something to eat; we found the other three offered only very limited food options.

Note that if you are going mid-October there is a chance that the ferry will no longer be operating; it does not operate all year round and the cut-off is sometime in October.

Hope this helps. :)

We visited Cinque Terre from La Spezia in Oct.2017. We took a taxi from the port to the train station, 15euros each way for up to 4 people. We bought the CT ticket 16euros each.

We decided to ride to Monterosso and work our way back. It had a beautiful beach, we walked around about an hour and got back on the train to Vernazza, which was my favorite. It reminded me a little of Amalfi. Next we took the train to Corniglia. You climb the stairs at the train station and wait for a shuttle to take you to the top of the mountain. Show your train ticket and it is free for you, no train ticket ,then the cost is 2,50 euros each way.

We planned on stopping at the other 2 villages , but were tired so rode the train back to La Spezia, will do them another time. It was very easy and inexpensive to DIY.

Take a taxi from port to Bus Stop P in Via Garabaldi near Corso Cavour in La Spezia. Take the urban bus P to PORTOVENERE from there takes 35 mins and departs every 30 mins. On the Portovenere waterfront take the Ferry departing Summer 10am 11am Noon for the CT . Ferry takes 90 minutes to get to Monterosso calling at Riomaggiore, Manarola, Vernazza. In Monterosso ferries arriove in old town, and trains depart from New Monterosso . the two halves are joined by by a shared use pedestrian/road tunnel . Then work your way back by train to La Spezia . Vernazza, Manarola & Riommagiore are the 3 villages to visit .

Vernazza all the action is downhill from the station at the Waterfront.

At Manarola from the station walk through a pedestrian tunnel back towards Vernazza then down under the railway to the waterfront . Manarola ditto. Riomaggiore walk through a pedestrian tunnel parallel to the rail line and head in the direction of La Spezia . At the end of this tunnel turn right downstairs under the railway to the waterfront .

There are CT Tourist Offices at La Spezia and all five village stations . Here you buy the CT Daily Pass which gives you access to the walking paths of the CT plus unlimited rail travel between La Spezia and the villages of the CT. Valididate the Pass in rail validating machine before your first train ride . Ferries operate on full timetable till mid October, then a limited tt till early November . No Ferries early Nov to early April the following year.

Hope this helps . Rail tt available free from the CT Tourist offices, as the Italians seem to change the rail tt every time there is a new moon . Hope this helps . Also check out the official CT National park website .

Portovenere is a lovely place. We spent a day there, having previously visited the Cinque Terre villages. We caught the ferry across and back, not a bus. The ferry departure point is just a short walk from where the port shuttle bus drops you off.

I think we liked Portovenere better than the Cinque Terre villages, actually!

If you go to the Cinque Terre by boat, you pass it on the way.

Portovenere is a lovely place. We spent a day there, having previously visited the Cinque Terre villages. We caught the ferry across and back, not a bus. The ferry departure point is just a short walk from where the port shuttle bus drops you off.

 

I think we liked Portovenere better than the Cinque Terre villages, actually!

 

If you go to the Cinque Terre by boat, you pass it on the way.

Thank you....we will be in La Spieza for the one day in mid October. Not sure if the ferry will be operating. We have never been to CT but we do not want to make this a complicated DIY day.

We could take the train and spend time in 2, maybe 3 of the CT villages............or

We could take either the ferry, bus, taxi(?) to Porto Venere for the day. I have read that like you many love Porto Venere. Is there enough to see, do for half the day, have lunch, return to La Spieza?

We did not want to go to PV and then ferry to CT and either train or ferry back to the ship.....wanted something less complicated

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Thank you....we will be in La Spieza for the one day in mid October. Not sure if the ferry will be operating. We have never been to CT but we do not want to make this a complicated DIY day.

 

We could take the train and spend time in 2, maybe 3 of the CT villages............or

 

We could take either the ferry, bus, taxi(?) to Porto Venere for the day. I have read that like you many love Porto Venere. Is there enough to see, do for half the day, have lunch, return to La Spieza?

 

We did not want to go to PV and then ferry to CT and either train or ferry back to the ship.....wanted something less complicated

 

 

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Oh yes, we spent the whole day there. There is a castle to explore, as well as the shops and waterfront. We had a nice lunch by the water. Pleasant relaxed day. Probably our favourite day of that particular Med cruise. Check out the photos on Tripadvisor.

We took the ferry when there in October a few years ago.

We took the ferry there and the train back stopping at each village along the way, it was a nice both/and.

I have fond memories of Portovenere because of a picture. I'm a lousy photographer but something just worked that day and I got a spectacular and evocative shot of a flower arrangement on the altar of San Pietro (the small stone church up on the promontory overlooking the sea) that had been left behind after a wedding.