Florence (La Spezia) - need options and help

[colesc15]

For those who have been here as a stop on their cruise, what are some options of things to do? 

 

None of the Royal excursions stick out. Not sure if we should somehow get to Florence, go to Cinque Terre somehow, or what? Either excursion or something do it yourself. Help please! 

[gfkcruiser]

Read up on Cinque Terre.  We walked to the La Spezia train station and visited a few of the cities.  The ferry was not running when we were there.  If you have not yet done so,  there is a website for Cinque Terre. Has a lot of information.  The short lovers walk is closed until 2024.  
Have only gone to Florence from Livorno.  

[colesc15]

8 minutes ago, gfkcruiser said:

Read up on Cinque Terre.  We walked to the La Spezia train station and visited a few of the cities.  The ferry was not running when we were there.  If you have not yet done so,  there is a website for Cinque Terre. Has a lot of information.  The short lovers walk is closed until 2024.  
Have only gone to Florence from Livorno.  

Right now we're leaning towards taking the train on our own to Cinque Terre. Seems fairly easy to do and looks gorgeous. Originally had planned to go to Florence but don't want to spend 4+ hours transporting there and back. 

[euro cruiser]

Florence is too far, the cruise lines are really stretching it to call La Spezia a port for Florence.

 

cinque Terre is easy to reach by train and by ferry, perhaps take one there and the other back, to see both perspectives.

 

Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre (parconazionale5terre.it)

[Over from NZ]

We've just spent 4-nights in La Spezia before catching the train to Rome for our cruise. From La Spezia it was approx an hour from memory on the train to Pisa. It was only about 10-15 mins from La Spezia to the first of the Cinque Terre villages (and so easy - get off the train and you're there) and then the other villages were only 10 mins further up the track. Another option which we enjoyed as much as the Cinque Terre - is to go to Porto Venere. Catch the Ferry from La Spezia (it also carries on up to the Cinque Terre). Short ride. From memory, no more than 30-mins. Porto Venere is beautiful. We didn't (as we'd been there on previous trip), but you can also get to Portofino from La Spezia. La Spezia itself isn't on par with say the CT or Porto Venere.. but we still found it an interesting city. Given the short times in port with cruise-ships - I would either go to Porto Venere or the CT (I prefer Porto Venere, however if you want the instagram pic to prove to people you've been to the CT..) unless you really want to see Pisa which is also doable. Less time on trains at PV or CT. 

[colesc15]

2 hours ago, Over from NZ said:

We've just spent 4-nights in La Spezia before catching the train to Rome for our cruise. From La Spezia it was approx an hour from memory on the train to Pisa. It was only about 10-15 mins from La Spezia to the first of the Cinque Terre villages (and so easy - get off the train and you're there) and then the other villages were only 10 mins further up the track. Another option which we enjoyed as much as the Cinque Terre - is to go to Porto Venere. Catch the Ferry from La Spezia (it also carries on up to the Cinque Terre). Short ride. From memory, no more than 30-mins. Porto Venere is beautiful. We didn't (as we'd been there on previous trip), but you can also get to Portofino from La Spezia. La Spezia itself isn't on par with say the CT or Porto Venere.. but we still found it an interesting city. Given the short times in port with cruise-ships - I would either go to Porto Venere or the CT (I prefer Porto Venere, however if you want the instagram pic to prove to people you've been to the CT..) unless you really want to see Pisa which is also doable. Less time on trains at PV or CT. 

With us being in Port for about 12 hours that day, I'm thinking our best "bang for our buck" is doing the train on our own to Cinque Terre. I've heard great things about Porto venere but idk if we'd be able to pull off getting there as well. 

[SharonK]

Our ship stays in La Spezia for 2 days so one day we are going to Cinque Terre on the train.  Not sure about the 2nd day.  We've already been to Pisa. The day before La Spezia we are in Santa Margharitta so we will see it and Portofino.  Any other ideas if we don't want to spend so much time getting to Florence?

[edinburgher]

6 hours ago, SharonK said:

Any other ideas if we don't want to spend so much time getting to Florence?

Have you searched  past threads for ideas? if not, this one could be a good starting point   (ignore the ref to driving as  the thread is much more than the subject line suggests)

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2911139-la-spezia-anything-to-do-within-a-short-drive/#comment-64723978

 

Porto Venere could be an easy option and mentioned more than once on that thread.

 

Edited August 27, 2023 by edinburgher

[Softball20]

We also have two days in La Spezia next year. The first day we are doing CT. I'm thinking to taking the train to Lucca for the second day.  We've been to Florence a few times, and it seems just too far for a day trip. We've never been to Lucca, so it's something different/new for us. 

[SharonK]

14 minutes ago, Softball20 said:

We also have two days in La Spezia next year. The first day we are doing CT. I'm thinking to taking the train to Lucca for the second day.  We've been to Florence a few times, and it seems just too far for a day trip. We've never been to Lucca, so it's something different/new for us. 

We’re going on Celebrity Equinox October 3.  Are you on our cruise?

[Softball20]

No; we sail next June.  Not soon enough!

[Hlitner]

While I agree that going to Florence (about 95 miles one-way) is a long trip, another option is to go to Florence on your own and spend the night in Florence before returning to La Spezia the following afternoon.  Lots of decent restaurants, strolling along the Arno in the evening is romantic,  and you get some quality time in a fabulous city.

 

Hank

[SharonK]

30 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

While I agree that going to Florence (about 95 miles one-way) is a long trip, another option is to go to Florence on your own and spend the night in Florence before returning to La Spezia the following afternoon.  Lots of decent restaurants, strolling along the Arno in the evening is romantic,  and you get some quality time in a fabulous city.

 

Hank

Hank,

That sounds wonderful but we are going to Cinque Terre the first day we are in La Spezia.  But that certainly is a good option for those who don't have plans for the other day.

[Hlitner]

3 hours ago, SharonK said:

Hank,

That sounds wonderful but we are going to Cinque Terre the first day we are in La Spezia.  But that certainly is a good option for those who don't have plans for the other day.

DW and I really enjoy Cinque Terre and you should pray for a rare day when the villages are not overrun with cruisers and land tourists.  For the 2nd day I would be thinking either Porto Venere or Lucca (about an hour's drive).

 

As to CQ, we have previously enjoyed walking between Riomaggiore and Manarolo on the "Via Dell'Amore" or Lovers Lane.  It has been closed for a few years due to mud/land slides, but might be opened by the time of your visit.  We have also done some of the much longer hikes between other villages, but this is probably best left to those on self-driving land tours where time is not a big issue.

 

Hank

[SharonK]

9 hours ago, Hlitner said:

DW and I really enjoy Cinque Terre and you should pray for a rare day when the villages are not overrun with cruisers and land tourists.  For the 2nd day I would be thinking either Porto Venere or Lucca (about an hour's drive).

 

As to CQ, we have previously enjoyed walking between Riomaggiore and Manarolo on the "Via Dell'Amore" or Lovers Lane.  It has been closed for a few years due to mud/land slides, but might be opened by the time of your visit.  We have also done some of the much longer hikes between other villages, but this is probably best left to those on self-driving land tours where time is not a big issue.

 

Hank

Thank you Hank!  We will be doing Cinque Terre on our own going by train.  I'll make not of the Via Dell Amore.  Sounds like something we would want to do.  Did you have a favorite town?

Sharon

[Hlitner]

5 minutes ago, SharonK said:

Thank you Hank!  We will be doing Cinque Terre on our own going by train.  I'll make not of the Via Dell Amore.  Sounds like something we would want to do.  Did you have a favorite town?

Sharon

That is a terrific question, and you might get 5 different answers from 5 folks :).  While it is difficult to choose one, for us it would be Manarola.   Unfortunately, all the villages are now suffering from the over tourism problem which the Italian government made a lot worse by encouraging large ships to port in La Spezia.  Even the government realizes their mistake, but as is too typical of the Italians they can quickly create problems and then take forever to actually implement a solution.  A great example is the Venice Maritima (cruise port) on which the government spent hundreds of millions to develop, spent many more millions building the "People Mover train" and then closed the facility in the interests of the environment!  Go figure.  One restaurant owner, in Riomaggiore, told me that his solution was that the government should charge some kind of outrageous daily admission fee to Cinque Terre and give the income to the residents :).

 

Hank

[edinburgher]

On 7/18/2023 at 2:50 PM, colesc15 said:

For those who have been here as a stop on their cruise, what are some options of things to do?

 there is also the option of Santa Margherita and Portofino.

 

Did you read this link given on another very recent thread about la Spezia?

Ignore the subject line reference to driving as the posts are much more than that.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2911139-la-spezia-anything-to-do-within-a-short-drive/#comment-64723978

 

 

Edited September 2, 2023 by edinburgher

[ANNA40]

Since our daughter is in a wheelchair and CT were extremely  crowded in August, we went to Pisa instead. We didn't risk to go all the way to Florence by ourselves...