Cinque Terre - one day tour out of Florence

<p>I will be in Italy in a couple of weeks and saw a one day tour to Cinque Terre out of Florence on TripAdvisor.com. Link to the tour is http://tinyurl.com/3mgoaa5. <strong></strong><br>

Is anyone familiar with this tour company, or been on this particular tour? Are there other tours you might recommend?<br>

Thanks,<br>

Howard</p>

I don't know that tour group but Cinque Terre is one of my favorite places in the world and certainly deserves a visit.

But I can't imagine that you can really see it on a one day tour out of Florence, especially since you have to get there

and back. If you have the time, spend 2 nights in Vernazza and use the trails and the trains to really explore the place

- the towns are beautiful but you get spectacular views on the trails between the towns, which you can hike in 30-120

minutes depending on which you take. They don't really do hotels there, so what you want to do is pick up a copy of

Rick Steves Italy which has contacts for a lot of individuals and booking agents who will rent you an apartment for 60-

80 Euro a night (or if it's not high season, show up at the train station with a bag and somebody will walk up to you

and offer to rent you a place). IIRC coming from Florence (you'll be coming up the coast from the south) you just go to

La Spezia, which you can do on a Eurostar) and change to a local.

 

The photography is amazing. The towns are bright and colorful with harbors and boats everywhere, the coast is steep

and rocky and the water is a deep, dark blue. One of the towns... I forget which, maybe Manarola... has what's called

the vineyard trail, which isn't part of the national park, but it's a circuit above the town with fantastic views down, and I

highly recommend being up there at sunset because the light renders everything in the most beautiful way.

<p>Andy - I'm a bit surprised by your comment about the lack of hotel accommodations in Cinque Terre. This <a href="http://www.cinqueterrehotels.com/en/hotelsres-new.php">page lists a good selection of hotels </a>in the region. I also plan to visit Cinque Terre later this year.</p>

Oh, well, Monterosso has hotels but that's the town that most beach-resort-ish - what I meant was that most of the

lodging available isn't in the hotels. The other towns are better for staying it, and you can take the train to Monterosso

if you want to hit the big beach. I recognize a couple of the names on that list that don't actually have hotel in the name

as booking agents. I rented an apartment in Vernazza last year through Gianni Franzi and they were very good.

<p>Andy - Thanks for your reply, Gianni Franzi appears to be also the <a href="http://www.giannifranzi.it/index2.html">name of a hotel in Vernazza</a>, and the room rates seem reasonable.</p>

<p>Its about a hundred miles from Florence to the Cinque Terre. The idea that you can travel there and back, walk between the five villages, get lunch and still have time for a swim implies a long and energetic day. I presume you've done some reading about the trails- if you're not pretty fit, used to walking on steep and sometimes narrow trails, then you will struggle to get the walk done in a day. The sections leading up to Corniglia - about 350 steps up to the town from the station area- and to and from Vernazza are hilly and steep- tiring rather than dangerous but certainly tiring. I've been to the Cinque Terre three, maybe four times, and have yet to find it quiet outside of first thing in the morning (when you won't have arrived) and after the tourists have left for the day ( and I imagine that will include you) . Quality photography within the villages won't be easy once tourists and the many school trips arrive in numbers. It might be at least warm and possibly hot by mid-May.</p>

<p>Howard, is there a reason you need a tour? It's quite easy to catch the train from Florence to Levanto or La Spezia and only costs 16-23 euros one way. Once there, you'll be on a very established tourist trail -- do you really need a guide for that? The only reason I ask is that if you travel independently you'll be able to set your own hours, rather than be tied to those of a group -- much better for photography, in my opinion.</p>

<p>Doing it independently is a real option though you'd need to get a further train from Levanto or La Spezia to walk the heart of the Cinque Terre- can't be done in a day walking from either place. My concern would be that by the time you get to stations, wait for trains etc you'll have even less of the day left for sightseeing and photography. In addition the trains running between the villages are relatively complex- busy, oddly timetabled and tend to finish quite early. Its easy enough to learn all this if you intend to spend a few days there, but for a one-day trip I'd have thought the tour would result in you seeing more. </p>

<p>Thanks for all the responses. From what I am reading, traveling from Florence to Cinque Terre for a one-day excursion may be unrealistic, correct?</p>

<p>Any thoughts on the practicality of traveling from Venice to Cinque Terre and, <strong>then</strong>, going to Florence?</p>

<p>I don't think its unrealistic , otherwise they wouldn't offer the tour. I do think it would be a long, tough day with very little opportunity for quality photography and the possibility that for some people that much hilly walking in a day will prove quite arduous. In short it isn't IMO the best way to see the Cinque Terre.</p>

<p>From Venice? You do need to look at a map. Venice is much further from Cinque Terre than Florence and for all i know the rail journey to say Las Spezia would be more complex and less frequent. You'd need to check . Doing it that way round would be possible for a multi-day trip. </p>

<p>If you really want to see the Cinque Terre then IMO you will be better off staying close, investing in multi-days and doing it independently so you can choose after some research which bits you want to walk and where you want to get the train. </p>

<p>Been there. I would recommend two or three days at least. Catch a normal train to get there, then commute by train to a village and walk back one or two stops. Lots of pension type accommodation but in summer or holidays I would book ahead. Definitely reccommend a visit, something a little different.<br>

I would think Venice-Cinque Terre is going to be an all day trip. From memory Cinque Terre is on a coastal railway, whereas Florence/venice are on separate line(s), so changing trains will be needed. Not really a problem but it does sometimes chew up time.<br>

European trains are on the web, do a search and the timetables should come up. Similarly for the accommodation</p>