Livorno to Cinque terre by rental car

Hi all,

I'm getting to Livorno port with NCL cruise in October and wants to spend the 1-day trip to Cinque terre(probably 3 of them).

I was thinking about renting a car in the port(I heard about Hertz and Sifracar) and driving to La Spezia train station or Riomaggiore train station , park the car there and travel 3 of the villages by the train.

is this reasonable and will leave me some time to travel the towns? I think that getting there by train is way dangerous time-wise and shore excursion is not considerable due to budget reasons.

I personally wouldn't do Cinque Terre from Livorno but if I had to, I'd only do it with the Frecciabianca train. It would leave Livorno at 9:32 and arrive at La Spezia at 10:44.and return on the 16:16 Frecciabianca arriving at Livorno at 17:22. I would pre-book the tickets and reserve the seats. That'll give you about 5 hours in the villages

http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en/Frecce/Frecciabianca

Renting a car would involve counter time, unfamiliar roads, looking for parking etc. I don't really think that you'll get anymore extra time in Cinque Terre.

I personally wouldn't do Cinque Terre from Livorno but if I had to, I'd only do it with the Frecciabianca train. It would leave Livorno at 9:32 and arrive at La Spezia at 10:44.and return on the 16:16 Frecciabianca arriving at Livorno at 17:22. I would pre-book the tickets and reserve the seats. That'll give you about 5 hours in the villages

 

 

http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en/Frecce/Frecciabianca

Renting a car would involve counter time, unfamiliar roads, looking for parking etc. I don't really think that you'll get anymore extra time in Cinque Terre.

Totally agree. Trying to see CT by car is probably the least efficient way to do it. Plus seeing CT from Livorno by any method is less than easy. If you are going to do it, take the train.

thank you very much for the answers! i would pre book my train tickets to la Spezia. what's the name of the train that i should book to the villages?

also, i am trying to order the ticket now to la spezia and in the way back it says that only base far available and the economy sold out(30+ Euro difference) .. is it logical ?

WARNING about Sifra Car Rental!!!! I know your trip has come and gone. But, I wanted to warn you and others. I booked Sifra Car Rental in October based on a review I saw on CC. They did not show up, nor did they answer their phone when I called them. I reconfirmed a few days prior to my arrival and they responded that they were confirming my reservation. BEWARE & don't get stuck at the port. Luckily we were able to get an Avis car at the last minute. This left a bad taste in my mouth re: car rentals. I figured since it was a Hertz contractor, they would be reliable. I was wrong.