txspartan

On 6/25/2019 at 10:58 PM, Hlitner said:

We generally do not do tours, but have certainly gone to Cinque Terre from the Port of Livorno.  How do we do it?  Rent a car from Sifracar.com who will deliver a rental car right to the pier.  Get off the ship ASAP and pick up our car.  Then we drive up to Riomaggiore (one could drive a bit further to one of the other Cinque Terre Villages).  It takes about 1 1/2 hours for the drive to Riomaggiore where we park our car and spend the day in 1 or more of the villages.  One can move between the villages on the train or sometimes on ferries.  We later return to Riomaggiore, get our car, and drive back to Livorno.  It is also possible to do a detour to Pisa (we did this one time on our return drive) although we recommend spending all the available time at Cinque Terre.  

When comparing to tours consider that renting a car for 1 day will probably cost about $150 (rental car plus gas).  If you park at the paid parking lot/garage in Riomaggiore this would add another $15 - $20.  Assuming you have 4 in the car your cost per person for transportation (and parking) would be less than $50 per person.  Once at Riomaggiore your additional cost depends on how you spend the day.  One could rent a larger vehicle (Sifracar has vans that can hold up to 9) and reduce the cost per person.

 

I should add that there are many other options from Livorno if one rents a vehicle.  It is possible to get as far as Siena on a port day (we once did Siena, San Gimignano and Volterra in a day) or you could drive further East to the S-222 Chianti wine road and enjoy the charms of the Chianti wine district.

 

Hank

I was looking at renting a car in Livorno also, does Sifracar set up right when the ship docks (I believe at 7) or do they set up later b/c google searches keep showing they don't open till 9am.  Also is Sifracar the Hertz affiliate in Livorno? 

how was driving in Italy?  any unexpected challenges? thx

As an experienced cruiser in the Caribbean and Gulf planning our first Med Cruise has been an interesting learning experience, with everything to see and do it's almost like planning 6 separate trips and the cost too... headed to the Med in summer with stops planned in Livorno, Genoa, and Naples.  As i looked through the offerings from the cruise lines it seemed like picking and choosing between items that the family really wanted to do but logistically they didn't seem to far away.  I'm tempted to rent a car in port and do a truly DIY experience.  Was hoping to get some feedback on pros and cons of those who have thought of this or attempted this themselves.  Perhaps there is something I'm not thinking of when it comes to this idea.