Florence or Cinque Terre?

[smarcbie]

I am sailing into the Port of La Spezia, Italy and will have one full day to spend. Just curious, would you visit the Cinque Terre which is close by or travel to Florence?

[John&LaLa]

Just now, smarcbie said:

I am sailing into the Port of La Spezia, Italy and will have one full day to spend. Just curious, would you visit the Cinque Terre which is close by or travel to Florence?

 

I'd do Cinque Terre, Florence needs a lot more time to properly see it. 

 

Plus Cinque Terre is getting harder to go to, I understand

[little britain]

No brainier - Cinque Terre. You can’t do justice to Florence in a day. 

[Parrotheadtoo]

Cinque Terre gets out vote instead of Florence.  

 

Ciao 

DO 

[gfkcruiser]

Cinque Terre

[LGW59]

35 minutes ago, smarcbie said:

I am sailing into the Port of La Spezia, Italy and will have one full day to spend. Just curious, would you visit the Cinque Terre which is close by or travel to Florence?

While Florence is IMO, one of the most incredible cities in all of Europe, for many reasons, with the travel time to and from, one day just not worth it.  Cinque Terre is lovely also, and again IMO, for the limited time you will have and to not feel rushed, it gets my vote. 

[green cruiser]

From La Spezia, my adult children went to Pisa and had plenty of time for the Tower &the Baptistry.

I went hiking at Cinque Terre (which was not hard to get to by train). Everyone was pleased with their choices.

Even a week in Florence isn't enough time. It is a lot of travel time that will give you the opportunity to enter the Duomo or see David.

 

[windex]

Cinque terre. Did it by train because the sea was too rough for the ferry, it was an easy walk to the train station . Saw 3 of the 5 stops. It is so so beautiful 

[Norwich Cruiser]

Cinque Terre

[Northbay]

Cinque Terre.

[BirdTravels]

3 hours ago, smarcbie said:

I am sailing into the Port of La Spezia, Italy and will have one full day to spend. Just curious, would you visit the Cinque Terre which is close by or travel to Florence?

If you have never been to Florence, then you have to go there. Otherwise, Cinque Terre is the place to go. 

Edited March 13, 2022 by BirdTravels

[ocean sounds]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

If you have never been to Florence, then you have to go there. Otherwise, Cinque Terre is the place to go. 

agree with above.  Unless the port stop is a Monday.  Several museums closed on Mondays. 

[sgmn]

We had a great day in Florence.  Didn't have time to do the museums but did get a feel of the city. Agreed if you've never been and unlikely to visit again,  then see Florence 

Edited March 13, 2022 by sgmn

[PurpleTraveller]

I would choose Cinque Terre as it is very close and beautiful. Florence is lovely but you will spend a long time travelling there and back. The most important decision is which one would you prefer to see?

[Missusdubbya]

Cinque Terre, short train ride away

[Aquahound]

2 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

If you have never been to Florence, then you have to go there. Otherwise, Cinque Terre is the place to go. 

 

Agreed.  If this might be your only visit to the region, I recommend Florence.  The city is incredible and has must-see icons like the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and the Ponte Vecchio bridge.  

 

Cinque Terre is beautiful but I wouldn't rate it as a "must" like I do Florence.  

[Eileen G]

I have been to both places and to help you decide ask yourself which would rather do. Visit quaint small towns and walk between them along the water or visit a larger city with beautiful cathedrel and art museums. Also consider the time it takes to get to Florence. For Florence you will need a ship tour since it is so far but for CT you can easily do it on your own by train or ferry.

[woneill63]

Oh boy, I was in the same situation as you are a month ago.  Our Barcelona Celebrity Infinity cruise was cancelled and we switched to an Edge cruise out of Rome.  Our first stop is La Spezia and I wanted to go to Florence, while my sister and husband wanted to do Cinque Terra.  My wife and I had been to Florence a few years back so I was ok with doing Cinque Terra, win some lose some.  We will get back to Florence one of these days, we had stayed there for three days before and had seen everything we wanted to.  

Now, if you have never been to Florence, in my opinion, you should go there, it is a spectacular city to visit, one of the best in all of Europe.

[topnole]

5 hours ago, Eileen G said:

I have been to both places and to help you decide ask yourself which would rather do. Visit quaint small towns and walk between them along the water or visit a larger city with beautiful cathedrel and art museums. Also consider the time it takes to get to Florence. For Florence you will need a ship tour since it is so far but for CT you can easily do it on your own by train or ferry.

Only comment here is the term larger.   In a relative sense given the dilemma, yes, but Florence is a very manageable city on foot.  I wouldn’t describe it as large.  I mention this in case the OP doesn’t have a feel for the size.  Florence is very small compared to Milan or Rome.  

[LGW59]

3 minutes ago, topnole said:

Only comment here is the term larger.   In a relative sense given the dilemma, yes, but Florence is a very manageable city on foot.  I wouldn’t describe it as large.  I mention this in case the OP doesn’t have a feel for the size.  Florence is very small compared to Milan or Rome.  

Totally agree but with limited time from a cruise ship, not sure it’s what I’d decide to do being so rushed.  Even though it is relatively small, it is packed with stuff to do, see and eat 🧀

[topnole]

Just now, LGW59 said:

Totally agree but with limited time from a cruise ship, not sure it’s what I’d decide to do being so rushed.  Even though it is relatively small, it is packed with stuff to do, see and eat 🧀

Yeah.  These stops where it takes so long to get to such a great city are tough.  I’ve only done cities like Rome and Florence on land based trips.  Never day stops.  The temptation to squeeze it in must be so strong (and you can’t really imagine the difficult reality of the travel time).  But if it was a once and only trip, I’d probably suggest Florence.  Too much amazing history.