Cinque Terre..

[Hlitner]

Our whole itinerary has been reversed due to overcrowding at Venice apparently. Although it's great for those planning to see Cinque Terre it's not so great for us as we had our hearts set on Florence. :mad:

 

We can understand that feeling. But it is possible to get to Florence from LaSpezia although it does add about a half hour to each direction of the drive. Its about a 1:45 min drive and we assume your ship is offering some kind of tour or transportation.

 

Hank

[kuldalai]

The quickest way to get from La Spezia to Portovenere and the Gulf of Poets is by urban bus P departing from Bus Stop P in Via Garabaldi near Corso Cavour . (takes 30 minutes, and departs from this stop at 25 & 55 minutes past the hour .)

 

Pisa is only 1 hour by train from La Spezia . Firenze is 2 hours by train from La Spezia with a change of trains required in Pisa .

 

Trains from La Spezia to the 5 villages of the Cinque Terre run regularly. It takes around 8 minutes to the first village at Riomaggiore and up to 25 minutes to the furthest at Monterosso . Order of the villages from La Spezia is Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza & Monterosso .

Train Timetable Details here updated each month :

 

http://www.cinqueterre.com/eng/information/cinque_terre/where_train.php

[Ebbwboy]

We can understand that feeling. But it is possible to get to Florence from LaSpezia although it does add about a half hour to each direction of the drive. Its about a 1:45 min drive and we assume your ship is offering some kind of tour or transportation.

 

Hank

 

The change is very recent so there aren't any excursions loaded into the system yet. Until we know what they're offering and how much they're charging we can't plan what to do :(.

 

Thanks for the train info but we wouldn't be confident that we could get back in time if a connection was missed. We don't have a good track record on public transport :o

[Carolyn R]

On the subject of the Cinque Terre. When I was there in October I purchased melon cream liquor and a small bag of sea salt with herbs in Vernazza. The liquor was out of this world delish. I only wish I had bought a bigger bottle. I have the sea salt in a pot and use it sparingly as table seasoning. I would love to have more of that as well.

[travelberlin]

We will be staying at Corniglia for a week after our Cruise in May. Any tips for hiking and restaurants? Are hikings difficult in the Cinque Terre area?

[LostFan#1]

Rick Steves' Italy book has a huge section on all 5 towns, hiking trails included. This website is up-to-date, showing which trails are closed (+ alternatives) as well as a color guide to difficulty levels.

 

http://savevernazza.com/traveladvisortrailupdates/

[Zqueeze1]

We are group of 8. And we would like to see Cinque Terre. I looked at the train timetable and noticed that it takes 1,5 to 2 hours to get there from Livorno. It is a lot of time. Could somebody recommend some privat tours company? Or maybe other possibility to get there?

 

We've booked a tour from Livorno to Cinque Terre with Joe Bananas Tours (recommended by our TA) for 450 Euros for a vehicle for two. Their web site quotes 7-8 passengers for 550 Euros.

 

Z and TB

[pete_coach]

Our whole itinerary has been reversed due to overcrowding at Venice apparently. Although it's great for those planning to see Cinque Terre it's not so great for us as we had our hearts set on Florence. :mad:

 

The change is very recent so there aren't any excursions loaded into the system yet. Until we know what they're offering and how much they're charging we can't plan what to do :(.

 

Thanks for the train info but we wouldn't be confident that we could get back in time if a connection was missed. We don't have a good track record on public transport :o

I don't know what budget you have but by car, (private tour like Romeinlimo) it is only a 15 minute farther drive to Florence from La Spezia than from Livorno (1 3/4 hrs vs 1 1/2 hrs). That is driving like a normal person, but an Italian can cut some significant time out of the drive LOL.

So, don't be heartbroken and still go to Florence.

[Elcruzer]

We toured these by taking the water taxi between each town, staying as long as we wanted, and take another water taxi to the next town. We had a driver drop us off at the start, and pick us up at the last village. Wonderful! :)

Did you start in Livorno? Do you have a website or email for driver? Approximately what is the cost of water taxi between towns?

[FinelyRetired]

Interesting! One wonders why they would make major itinerary changes only a few months in advance. As any rate, LaSpezia does make it easy to get to Riomaggiore (short train ride).

 

Hank

 

Actually, this just happened to me within an even shorter timeframe for my May4th sailing on Eurodam. Port changed from Portofino to La Spezia

on April 17th due to some sort of new environmental regs that required

ship to anchor out so far in Portofino, tendering too long for the excursions.

 

Overseas members on my Roll Call were advised pretty quickly by their TA's. New shore excursions went up on our bookings about 3 days out for one day. Most of us never did get an email on this prior to sailing. In fact,

the port change wasn't even mentioned to me at check in until I asked about it! A good example of why Cruise Critic is so invaluable!

 

Too late to really absorb the train schedules, bus etc. for me to venture out to Cinque Terre DIY. We were very lucky via "Google" to get a great local taxi driver pre-booked over the internet 2 days before sailing. Used taxi to go to the covered market in La Spezia, then was dropped off in Riomaggiore & walked to Manarola to meet driver and then spent a couple of hours in Portovenere. Turned out to be a nice day.

[lintont]

We are group of 8. And we would like to see Cinque Terre. I looked at the train timetable and noticed that it takes 1,5 to 2 hours to get there from Livorno. It is a lot of time. Could somebody recommend some privat tours company? Or maybe other possibility to get there?

 

 

Franco and Stefano of www.tuscansunshinetours.it do a fabulous job. Tell them that Theresa and Paul from Canada sent you...:)

[Hlitner]

Franco and Stefano of www.tuscansunshinetours.it do a fabulous job. Tell them that Theresa and Paul from Canada sent you...:)

 

Just keep in mind that it can take up to 1 1/2 hours (one way) even if you are driven (or drive yourself) directly from the port to Riomaggiore. Much of the drive is on a major Autostrade (4 lane highway) until you get near La Spezia where things slow down as you drive through the town and along the 2 lane road to Riomaggiore. With a group of 8 you should do fine by hiring a private van/driver. Another option would be to simply rent a large van from a rental car company such as the local hertz franchise who is called "Sifracar." They do rent large vans (they call them mini-buses) that can hold 9 persons and will deliver a car directly to the pier. Keep in mind that once you get to Riomaggiore its just a matter of parking your car (they have a paid parking area or you can try and find a free spot along the road that snakes into town). Once you are at Riomaggiore your transportation is a matter of walking/hiking, using ferries, or the local train...so you are paying your driver (if you hire a driver) to just sit.

 

Hank