La Spezia to Cinque Terre On Your Own

[travelrabbitcrusing]

For CT, I'm thinking of doing the following:

 

1) take the train from La Spezia to Vernazza and have lunch there

 

2) take a boat ride from Vernazza back to Manarola

 

3) take the train from Manarola back to La Spezia

 

Is that doable?

 

As my parents, particular my mom, don't enjoy hiking as much, I'm concerned if the walk from where we get off the train in Vernazza to where we get on the ferry will involve too much of a hike? Or is that not the case? Are they far from each other

 

Also, do you think it's better to do it by ferry first then back to La Spezia by train, or vice versa?

 

Any suggestions / advice will be highly appreciated!!

 

Thank you!

 

Jane

[travelrabbitcrusing]

When we docked at LS last October I walked down to the ferry (about 7 minutes) but caught the train back and the walk from the station to the ship took 25 minutes, as it is just under 2 miles. It is very easy to find and it's all level ground. This was our day out - the rain forced us back earlier than I would have liked but it was still a very good day out. All the best, Tony

[YOUTUBE]MPZfm28F_lc[/YOUTUBE]

 

That was a great video, Tony!

 

How long was the ride from La Spezia to Manarola, do you still remember? Trying to understand the boat schedule....if I read the each column from top down, the schedule shows, say, La Spezia 09.15; Protovenere 10.00; Rimaggiore 10.35; Manarola 10:45 ... does it mean it'll take an hour and a half going from La Spezia to Manarola?

 

Also, do you know if we can buy these ferry tickets in the village, instead of La Spezia?

 

Many thanks!

Jane

[Cornishpastyman1]

That was a great video, Tony!

 

How long was the ride from La Spezia to Manarola, do you still remember? Trying to understand the boat schedule....if I read the each column from top down, the schedule shows, say, La Spezia 09.15; Protovenere 10.00; Rimaggiore 10.35; Manarola 10:45 ... does it mean it'll take an hour and a half going from La Spezia to Manarola?

 

Also, do you know if we can buy these ferry tickets in the village, instead of La Spezia?

 

Many thanks!

Jane

 

Hi Jane, thanks for your kind words. As others have said, it is 90 mins from LS to Manarola, but it goes by quickly as it's a scenic trip. I'm sure you can buy ferry tickets at each individual village as I recall passing an 'office' at Manarola. Of course the trains, which can take a direct route through the hillsides do all the journeys in a fraction of the time, and are very cheap, so unless you have loads of time I would get a return ferry ticket.

 

On a previous post you asked about the walk from Vernazza to the train station. It's very easy, less than 350 yards level walk along Via Roma. The only 'up' bit is the flight of steps from the road up to platform level.

 

I see you are planning on going to Pisa in the morning. No reason why you shouldn't but CT is so special that if you are only going to have a quick look at the Field of Miracles, which is realistically all you could do, I personally would just concentrate on CT.

 

The first half of this shows Pisa (my October cruise stopped at Livorno and La Spezia so I didn't have to wrestle with your dilemma). But whatever you decide to do, I hope the sun shines on you all, especially for CT :D All the best, Tony

 

[YOUTUBE]tV17niTbwmE[/YOUTUBE]

Edited August 8, 2014 by Cornishpastyman1