When I was an exchange student in Tuscany during university, everyone had a copy of Rick Steve’s Italy travel guide. Back then, Cinque Terre was the weekend destination for university students abroad and it remains a top vacation spot today.
Since I had missed out on visiting Cinque Terre years ago, I was ecstatic when I finally booked my trip there this summer. As a teacher, I naturally travelled during the summer. The weather in early July wasn’t as sweltering as cautioned by guidebooks. We also encountered a tour group or two, but there was plenty of space in Cinque Terre to go around!
Avoid this rookie mistake: Cinque Terre is not the name of any one particular city; it’s the term used for the region. At the La Spezia train station, a tourist had entered “Cinque Terre” in the ticket kiosk – it didn’t yield any search results. Be clear on the name of the specific Terre you want to visit. Click here for A Quick Guide to Cinque Terre and to learn more about each of the five towns.
How to Get to Cinque Terre
Airports in Milan, Florence and Pisa are the closest to Cinque Terre. These airports are not connected to its Central Train Station so you’ll have to make your way there via bus, train or the Pisa Mover. Use the self-serve ticket kiosks at the Central Station and look up the village you want to visit. Most trains make stops in La Spezia, Sestri Levante or Monterosso. From any of those cities, you’ll need to transfer to the regional trains making local stops in Cinque Terre.
I traveled to Cinque Terre from Milan Malpensa. Read about getting from Malpensa to the Central Station. The IC trains from Milan Central Station go directly to Monterosso, which take just under 3 hours. First class tickets are 37€, second class 27€. There isn’t a big difference between the classes, so don’t splurge.
Always validate your train ticket on the platform at the yellow or green machines, as there are frequent inspections on board.
How to Get Around in Cinque Terre
By Regional Train
You can purchase a day pass for unlimited use of the regionale trains for 12€, which includes the entrance fee to the hiking footpaths. This card is called Cinque Terre Treno Multiservizi. Unless you plan on taking the train more than 2 times a day, it’s a much better deal to buy train tickets per ride – one-way tickets cost no more than 2.40€.
The trains are very efficient. To get an idea of how long the ride is between cities in the Cinque Terre: Monterosso – Vernazza 5 min.; Vernazza – Corniglia 5 min.; Corniglia – Manarola 4 min.; Manarola -Riomaggiore 2 min.
The self-serve ticket kiosks at the regional stations only accepted credit cards so to pay cash, I had to visit the ticket window. The Manarola ticket booth also doubled as a little gift shop.
The platform in Vernazza was shorter than the length of the train so if you’re near the end of the train, you would get on/off while it’s still in the tunnel!
By Ferry
Taking the ferry will give you a different vantage point of the villages from a distance. The docks at some of the villages are so obscure with no signage that we completely missed the one in Riomaggiore.
The ticket booths are nondescript – like a makeshift table under a picnic umbrella! We couldn’t find the ticket booth in Riomaggiore; turned out there were hours of operation and it was closed between 12-3pm. The ticket company for the ferries is different from the Cinque Terre Trekking Card so you have to purchase ferry rides separately. It costs 4€ to take the ferry from Monterosso to Vernazza.
By Hiking Trail
You can hike between all five villages in about 5-6 hours. Running or hiking shoes are highly recommended. Along the footpaths, I encountered well-prepared hikers with hiking poles, hydration packs and hiking shoes, but also younger travelers wearing flip-flops!
To hike the trails in Cinque Terre, you need to purchase the Cinque Terre Trekking Card. The park only access card, called the Cinque Terre Trekking Card is 7.50€ (adult); the Cinque Terre Treno Multiservizi is 12€ (adult) and includes the use of regional trains. There are different price points for kids, adults, seniors, families and multi-day passes. The card includes reduced admission into some museums. Click here to visit the official park website for more info.
By Bus
Little known to visitors is Cinque Terre’s bus service offered by the National Park to both visitors and locals. These buses are electric in efforts to reduce the carbon footprint on the local environment. The buses do not travel between the five coastal villages of Cinque Terre, but links the villages to the parking lots and to other smaller inland villages. Bus service is included with the purchase of the Cinque Terre Trekking Card.
How Much Time To Spend in Cinque Terre
It’s a good idea to combine your Cinque Terre itinerary with other Italian cities. I spent 12 days total in Italy, 2 of those days were spent in Cinque Terre. Don’t get me wrong – I could stay here forever, but it’s possible to get a good basic overview of the villages in 2 days if you’re packing a tight itinerary – 3 days would be sufficient.
Which Village in Cinque Terre Should I Stay In?
That would depend on the experience you want to have. In Cinque Terre, accommodation can come in the form of guesthouses, hotels, a pensione (small hotel or boarding house) and rental rooms above restaurants. Your decision may also whittle down to availability during your visit. When booking my trip for early July, accommodation vacancy was scarce.
We ended up staying at Pensione Sorriso in Vernazza (Via Gavino 4) behind the train station. It cost 450€ for two rooms for two nights, which is pretty decent. We were so exhausted, the sound of the train didn’t even keep us up!
For more information on Cinque Terre read this post: Quick Guide to Cinque Terre
Safe Travels!
xx Deb
tea says
I haven’t been to ”Sink de Terry” yet but, would love to go and visit all these places
Deb Che says
Hi there, you should definitely visit if you get a chance, though Cinque Terre is imposing an annual tourist limit now. Thanks for reading!
Ivyvy says
Thanks so much for this, Deb! Exactly what I was looking for 🙂 Will you be doing a post on Bellagio as well? (can’t get over your IG pics haha)
Deb Che says
Thanks Ivy, much appreciated! Yes I will – stay tuned for a Bellagio post! Bellagio is so accessible if you’re ever in the north of Italy. Can’t wait to check out your blog too 🙂
Alyssa says
I love this post! I always wanted to visit Cinque Terre 🙂
xo
MONDAY PROJECTS
Deb Che says
Thanks Alyssa 🙂 I hope you’ll get a chance to visit soon, I’m sure you’ll love it!
Andrea @ Green and Turquoise - Travel Blog says
Great post! Hopefully I’ll make it there next summer or something, I look forward to stuffing myself with gelato!
Deb Che says
Thanks Andrea! You totally should visit – it should be close for you to go 😉 I want to go back already 🙂