cinique Terre or Florence

[smokeynz]

hi

I have been thinking about what we are doing after our Greek Isle & Mediterranean cruise in May 2010. Our original plan was a few days in Venice then to Cinque Terre for a few days. I am now wondering if it would be better to go to Cinque Terre as a day trip from Livorno and travel back to Florence/Tuscany area after Venice. (Our Cruise ship is in Livorno on a Monday when some museums in Florence are closed.) Any thoughts on this from those who have been there before would be appreciated

 

Gayle

[-Lew-]

Visiting Cinque Terre as a day trip while calling on Livorno makes a lot of sense. It's easy to see everything Cinque Terre has to offer in a day.

 

After our Med cruise in '07 we drove to Tuscany from Venice where we stayed for two weeks. We stayed in Castellina in Chianti in a modest villa on the grounds of a winery. It was quite central for visits to Sienna, San Gimignano, Volterra and others and about 45 minutes to an hour outside of Florence.

 

Enjoy your cruise...

 

Lew

[Hlitner]

Keep in mind that Florence and the 5 villages that make up Cinque Terre are totally different kinds of places. Florence is a large city with amazing architecture, several world-class museums, very interesting shopping, great cafes and restaurants, etc etc. We have spent several nights in Florence (plus a few daytrips) and love the city. Cinque Terre is in a gorgeous location along the coast and is simply a very charming region. For many of us, the most fun around Cinque Terre is found by hiking the path between the villages. It is also possible to get between the villages using the local train line and/or ferries. We have spent many months exploring Italy (in our own rental cars) and have visited Cinque Terre on three ocassions. However, we have never stayed at any of the hotels in the villages. This past May, while driving in Europe, we met another American couple who loves the Cinque Terre region so much that they rent an apartment in Riomagiore for 1 or 2 weeks every year. They convinced us that we should spend a few days in the area on a future trip and I suspect we will eventually look at apartment rentals in the area.

 

Hank

 

Hank

[Eileen G]

This is one of those decisions that should be made by what you prefer. Florence is all about art, architecture, shopping and museums. Cinque Terre is about quaint cliff side towns on the water and hiking and amazing views. My DH and I prefer CT. We are outdoors hiking type people. We did enjoy Florence for a day but we are returning to CT for more time there. Also CT is much further from Livorno than Florence. Unless you have a very long port day, at least 7-8, you should take a ship tour there.