[Alina Ovesea]
2019-10-11 21:49:10
Cinque Terre Itinerary by train, hike and boat + bonus Pisa and Lucca
[cultural] [ artistic , archaeological , photographic , romantic , architectonic , medieval , panoramic , heritage UNESCO , educational ]
english
5
529 EUR
45
Difficulty
Accessibility
children older than 5 years
family
solo female travel
When to visit
This is a year-round destination, but the winter is not so please, and the summer is hot and crowded. This leaves us with spring and autumn. We visited in October, the weather was pleasant, but no swimming in the sea unless you are brave and the ferry trip was a little bumpy because of the strong winds and waves.
Description
Cinque Terre is a magic world of color, courage, nature caprices and human endurance. This place defies all the laws of nature: houses build on the steep mountains, train goes through the rock and just from time to time you see the light, grapes grow on the terraced hills, waves are powerful and unforgiving, and yet millions of people come here every year to witness the show, to be part of something unprecedented. Cinque Terre in Italian means "five lands", referring to the five villages: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare and all are included in UNESCO World Heritage. All the villages are nestled in golfs on the edge of the Ligurian Sea. In order to plan your trip you have to decide how many days you want to spend in Cinque Terre. The lowest accommodation is 100 euro and everything is expensive because the demand is really high and the offer is limited. If you stay one day, you can visit all 5 villages with train and it would be best to buy the daily pass (16 euro) otherwise each trip will be 4 euros - 5 cities mean 4 stops and one return. If you decide to spend and extra day here I highly recommend buying a ferry pass, or even a ticket. Seeing the villages of Cinque Terre from the sea will give you a new perspective. A full day ticket will cost you around 35 euro (if you include Portovenere). Remember when taking the ferry that the village or Corniglia does not have a port, so you won't be able to access the village from the water. Also another important factor is the weather. This waters are deep and troubled and there will e days when the ferry wont be able to work, or there will be villages that it won't be able to stop. On our trip we wanted to get of the ferry in Manarola, but the ferry did not stop, so just like that we had to reconsider. And if you have a third day to spare here, do a hike. The views are worthwhile: see the water and villages from every turn, the steep slopes and the waves braking down below will keep you interested all the way and the terraced vineyards will make you understand the power of human nature to create such order in an unwelcoming place like this. To sum up what we decided to do is visit all the 5 villages in 3 days with 3 means of transport. We stayed in Riomaggiore, we went for a hike between Monterosso al Mare and Vernazza, go by train to Corniglia, and by ferry to Manarola and Portovenere (this was a bonus). The plan did now work out as planed, but we saw a lot. If you want to throw in some more adrenaline, you can go in a kayak trip, but usually in the summer when the waters are calm. All of the villages have very strong policies for cars. You won't be able to enter the village, you would have to park outside, pay a lot for parking and if you go between villages with a car it is pretty scary because the roads are up in the hills, very narrow and very steep. So don't do it, leave the car in La Spezia if you are on a car trip and go by train, is the best way to do it. You will reach in no time any village and you will be right at the center.
Points
Pisa Airport
[starting point]
distance
6.4km
Duration
02:15 h
Description
Pisa Airport is a small airport and it is the closest to Cinque Terre. From the airport you can walk to the city in 15 minutes. You can take the train to Cinque Terre or you can go into Pisa city center because there are some things this city has to offer. Our itinerary include a visit in Pisa, but if you don't have the time, you can skip it.
Ponte din Mezzo
[landmark] [bridge]
Church San Michele in Borgo
[landmark] [church / monastery]
Leaning Tower of Pisa
[landmark] [tower]
Buy train ticket to Riomaggiore
[information] [payment point]
22.0 EUR
Train to Riomaggiore
[transport] [train]
distance
74.1km
Duration
01:23 h
Carrara
[landmark] [archaeological site]
La Spezia Centrale Train Station
[transport] [walk]
distance
7.3km
Duration
00:14 h
Description
The train stops in La Spezia Centrale and you have to change the train. We arrived at platform one and had to change to platform 5. Most of the trains will stop here and you have to change the train to go for the next 8 minutes to the first village of Cinque Terre - Riomaggiore (or to any other village for that matter).
Train from La Spezia to Riomaggiore
[transport] [train]
Description
A very short train ride to Riomaggiore. you don't need to buy a new ticket even if you change the train.
Riomaggiore Train Station
[transport] [walk]
Riomaggiore (Cinque Terre)
[landmark] [village]
Description
We decided to stay in Riomaggiore for our trip to Cinque Terre because it is one of the most beautiful village from Cinque Terre (Riomaggiore and Manarola are fighting for this title), it is well connected and it has a lot of accommodation options. This was our base for all the trips we did in our 3 days itinerary to Cinque Terre.
Riomaggiore Beach
[landmark] [beach]
end day 1
[end day]
Pizza
[food and beverages] [pizzeria]
8.0 EUR
Train tickets to Monterosso
[information] [payment point]
8.0 EUR
Train from Riomaggiore to Monterosso
[transport] [train]
Hike from Monterosso al Mare to Vernazza
[transport] [hike]
distance
13.1km
Duration
06:55 h
Description
All the five villages have a hiking path that connects them, but the trail Riomaggiore - Manarola and Manarola - Corniglia are closes, which leaves us with 2 hike options: Monterosso al Mare - Vernazza and Vernazza- Corniglia. We set out to do both of the trails, but we too tired from the first one and we decided to skip the second one as they offer similar views.
Monterosso Beach
[landmark] [beach]
Espresso with a view
[food and beverages] [coffee shop]
4.0 EUR
Monterosso al Mare to Vernazza Trail Check Point
[information] [payment point]
15.0 EUR
Bruschettae
[food and beverages] [fast food]
11.0 EUR
Gelato
[food and beverages] [cake and icecream]
Train from Vernazza to Riomaggiore
[transport] [train]
8.0 EUR
walk
[transport] [walk]
distance
0.8km
Duration
00:45 h
Market
[food and beverages] [others]
Casa del Borgo
[accommodation] [apartment ]
90.0 EUR
end day 2
[end day]
Ferry daily ticket for Cinque Terre and Portovenere + the tour of the 3 islands
[information] [payment point]
80.0 EUR
Description
Today is all about Cinque Terre from the sea. Get the perspective of the fishermen, after all the colorful villages were from them to recognize their house. The daily ticket is 35 euro and add to that 5 euro for a tour of the 3 islands. Consider starting the day early in order to enjoy your pass. when planning your trip, I highly recommend including Portovenere in your trip and also keep in mind that Corniglia is the only village that does not have a harbor so you can not visit it with a ferry trip.
Coffee with a view
[food and beverages] [coffee shop]
Ferry from Riomaggiore to Portovenere
[transport] [ferry]
Tour of the 3 islands
[transport] [ferry]
Back in Portovenere
[transport] [walk]
distance
0.2km
Duration
00:6 h
The ferry to Monterosso al Mare
[transport] [ferry]
Big waves at Vernazza
[information] [safety notifications]
Arrive in Monterosso al Mare
[transport] [walk]
distance
1.2km
Duration
01:12 h
Church of San Giovanni Battista
[landmark] [church / monastery]
Ferry to Riomaggiore
[transport] [ferry]
distance
9.3km
Duration
00:46 h
walk to the train station
[transport] [walk]
distance
4km
Duration
00:35 h
Train tickets
[information] [payment point]
8.0 EUR
Arrive in Manarola
[transport] [walk]
distance
3.3km
Duration
01:56 h
The trail to Corniglia
[landmark] [view point/ panorama]
Train to Riomaggiore
[transport] [train]
8.0 EUR
distance
0.7km
Duration
00:5 h
walk
[transport] [walk]
distance
0.8km
Duration
00:20 h
Casa del Borgo
[accommodation] [apartment ]
90.0 EUR
end day 3
[end day]
Train to La Spezia
[transport] [train]
11.0 EUR
distance
6.5km
Duration
00:9 h
Description
We leave Cinque Terre and we head to Lucca, an amazing Italian town. In order to reach Lucca we have to change the train 2 times: in La Spezia and in Viareggio.
Change train to Viareggio
[transport] [walk]
distance
0.2km
Duration
00:30 h
Train to Viareggio
[transport] [train]
distance
52.3km
Duration
00:43 h
Change train to Lucca
[transport] [walk]
distance
0.2km
Duration
00:7 h
Train to Lucca
[transport] [train]
distance
23km
Duration
00:35 h
Arrive in Lucca
[transport] [walk]
distance
1.9km
Duration
01:32 h
Rent a bycicle
[transport] [bicycle]
8.0 EUR
walk
[transport] [walk]
distance
3.8km
Duration
02:13 h
end day 4
[end day]
We rented a double bike with two seat tandem
[transport] [bicycle]
12.0 EUR
walk
[transport] [walk]
distance
2km
Duration
00:40 h
Pick up the luggage
[other services] [luggage storage ]
Train to Pisa
[transport] [train]
distance
23.5km
Duration
00:41 h
Walk to Pisa Airport
[transport] [walk]
Pisa Airport
[end point]
Description
We return to our departure airport
Statistics
220m
-19m
239m
4,588m
319km
33:19 h
Means of transport
train
202.6km
157.5m
04:24 h
ferry
54.2km
95m
03:40 h
walk
35.5km
94.5m
16:32 h
hike
13.1km
174.1m
06:55 h
bicycle
10.3km
26.6m
01:46 h