- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
Hiking Cinque Terre
Posted on 4/21/16 at 10:02 am
Posted on 4/21/16 at 10:02 am
Hello Travel Board, I'm back with another Italy question: has anyone here done the 5 city Cinque Terre hike? If so, any tips?
My gf and I will be taking a train from Florence to La Spezia area. We will not be spending the night in Cinque Terre despite recommendations to do so - just would rather not spend the coin. So, we are planning on doing a full day in the area. I know there is a coastal trail that runs through all 5 villages. Any recommendations on where to start and finish? What to wear? What to bring? I'd assume active wear is suffice there, but I know Italians are strange in their lack of shorts wearing
TIA
My gf and I will be taking a train from Florence to La Spezia area. We will not be spending the night in Cinque Terre despite recommendations to do so - just would rather not spend the coin. So, we are planning on doing a full day in the area. I know there is a coastal trail that runs through all 5 villages. Any recommendations on where to start and finish? What to wear? What to bring? I'd assume active wear is suffice there, but I know Italians are strange in their lack of shorts wearing
TIA
This post was edited on 4/21/16 at 10:03 am
Posted on 4/21/16 at 10:16 am to jordan21210
I hiked "the path of gods" in amalfi from positano to praiano and it was decent workout but the views were like no other, that is the most beautiful place on earth.
cant speak for Cinque Terre personally but I know people who tried to do a day trip and it took all day traveling and they had no time to really take in the town.
Why not drop an extra 100 on a room, do the hike then sit down and have a decent dinner somewhere looking over the coast.
cant speak for Cinque Terre personally but I know people who tried to do a day trip and it took all day traveling and they had no time to really take in the town.
Why not drop an extra 100 on a room, do the hike then sit down and have a decent dinner somewhere looking over the coast.
Posted on 4/21/16 at 10:27 am to MLSter
I suppose staying over night isn't out of the question...just a matter of which city and how are the accommodations? Also not sure how long it'd take to get there from Florence. I'm figuring around an hour?
Posted on 4/21/16 at 10:30 am to jordan21210
2.5-3 hours by train from Florence.
Posted on 4/21/16 at 10:33 am to jordan21210
It's a great hike. Not too arduous..I did it in sandals. Then again I only did a portion of it. I'd bring some water but I believe (it's been a few years) it drops into some of the towns if you need a refreshment.
Posted on 4/21/16 at 11:36 am to jordan21210
Was there this past September. Beautiful area. Will definitely return. I would stay a few days and find a boat tour. Incredible area.
In September the trail was not hike-able from 1-5. I think from Manarola to Riomaggiore the landslides took out the trail. The lower trail for sure but not exactly sure about the upper trail. That might be the only one but makes the hike a lot longer. Some portions of the trail are fairly steep and can be rough.
We did Air BnB and found very affordable places throughout but stayed in Monterosso. We saw a lot of active wear there since it is such a coastal town.
This was my favorite area in Italy
In September the trail was not hike-able from 1-5. I think from Manarola to Riomaggiore the landslides took out the trail. The lower trail for sure but not exactly sure about the upper trail. That might be the only one but makes the hike a lot longer. Some portions of the trail are fairly steep and can be rough.
We did Air BnB and found very affordable places throughout but stayed in Monterosso. We saw a lot of active wear there since it is such a coastal town.
This was my favorite area in Italy
Posted on 4/21/16 at 12:03 pm to jordan21210
I did it in May 2014. Unbelievable hike with incredible views. It's not very demanding, but definitely a good workout. I think the whole thing was a few hours. I think we did Corniglia to Monterosso. It was one of my girlfriend and I's favorite stops on the trip. We stayed at an AirBnB in La Spezia that was awesome.
Monterosso and Riomaggiore seemed to be the busiest. The area definitely attracts a lot of tourist. You can't go wrong there. And remember, always get the house red wine. Lots of it
Monterosso and Riomaggiore seemed to be the busiest. The area definitely attracts a lot of tourist. You can't go wrong there. And remember, always get the house red wine. Lots of it
Posted on 4/21/16 at 12:12 pm to jordan21210
We are going to be in Cinque Terre for 4 days in June. Staying in Vernazza. We wanted to pick the most beautiful out of the 5 towns so we went with this one after much research.
Monterroso is the biggest town. Corniglia is higher up on a cliff. If staying the night is an option I would recommend either Vernazza or Riomaggiore (village feel).
The villages are actually not spread out like most people (including me) initially think it to be. If you are active and in decent shape, you can hike it all in a day. But I felt that would be a little rushed. Hence, we decided to make this the highlight of our trip to take in the culture and our surroundings.
Monterroso is the biggest town. Corniglia is higher up on a cliff. If staying the night is an option I would recommend either Vernazza or Riomaggiore (village feel).
The villages are actually not spread out like most people (including me) initially think it to be. If you are active and in decent shape, you can hike it all in a day. But I felt that would be a little rushed. Hence, we decided to make this the highlight of our trip to take in the culture and our surroundings.
This post was edited on 4/21/16 at 12:14 pm
Posted on 4/21/16 at 12:45 pm to AmeriKop45
Went in June 2012, stayed two nights in Vernazza...one of my favorite places I've ever been.
Can't recommend Ristorante Belforte enough, also Trattoria da Sandro was very good as well. Make sure to drop in to the Blue Marlin Bar after dinner for a cocktail...when we went it was the first night since the mudslides in Fall 2011 that they were open.
As far as hikes, they are manageable...just wear comfortable shoes. We started in Monterroso and hiked to Vernazza (an hour or so). I'd recommend a brief rest/quick lunch before hiking from Vernazza to Corniglia (that stretch takes about 1 hr-1 hr 15 min). We only took a 10 minute water break, and I regret that
The trail was out from Corniglia to Manarola so we hiked down the 400 steps to grab a train to Manarola. The last portion of the "hike" from Manarola to Riomaggiore is paved with a metal railing and only takes 15-20 mins. You'll see the elderly in wheelchairs on that stretch.
I'd recommend taking the ferry boat from Riomaggiore back to wherever you're staying or getting on a train, that way you can see the stretch you just hiked from afar.
Truly rewarding experience...a can't miss for any trip to Italy.
Can't recommend Ristorante Belforte enough, also Trattoria da Sandro was very good as well. Make sure to drop in to the Blue Marlin Bar after dinner for a cocktail...when we went it was the first night since the mudslides in Fall 2011 that they were open.
As far as hikes, they are manageable...just wear comfortable shoes. We started in Monterroso and hiked to Vernazza (an hour or so). I'd recommend a brief rest/quick lunch before hiking from Vernazza to Corniglia (that stretch takes about 1 hr-1 hr 15 min). We only took a 10 minute water break, and I regret that
The trail was out from Corniglia to Manarola so we hiked down the 400 steps to grab a train to Manarola. The last portion of the "hike" from Manarola to Riomaggiore is paved with a metal railing and only takes 15-20 mins. You'll see the elderly in wheelchairs on that stretch.
I'd recommend taking the ferry boat from Riomaggiore back to wherever you're staying or getting on a train, that way you can see the stretch you just hiked from afar.
Truly rewarding experience...a can't miss for any trip to Italy.
Posted on 4/21/16 at 1:03 pm to jordan21210
I don't have my planning notebook with me but pending other activities we have planned in Florence, I am going to try to book a night in one of the 5 villages. Like many of you have said, it's worth the stay and I don't want to be dead tired and rushed to get on a train back to Florence. Thanks for all of the tips everyone.
Looks like there are many hotel options in La Spezia, may get a spot there if all of the 5 villages are booked in our price range.
Looks like there are many hotel options in La Spezia, may get a spot there if all of the 5 villages are booked in our price range.
Posted on 4/21/16 at 7:11 pm to jordan21210
Did this circa 2006. Amazing. Think we started on the south end and went back north. Such a fun day. It was hot but not grueling except for one of tbe cities. Collect a little lemoncello bottle from each city... Cool keepsake.
Posted on 4/21/16 at 9:49 pm to CaptainJ47
I had just graduated college and was a smoker but felt like I was in pretty good shape. Got humiliated hiking that trail with some elderly European couple. They were beasts. It truly is a beautiful home though.
Posted on 4/22/16 at 5:23 pm to hogfly
quote:
Was there this past September. Beautiful area. Will definitely return. I would stay a few days and find a boat tour. Incredible area.
In September the trail was not hike-able from 1-5. I think from Manarola to Riomaggiore the landslides took out the trail. The lower trail for sure but not exactly sure about the upper trail. That might be the only one but makes the hike a lot longer. Some portions of the trail are fairly steep and can be rough.
We did Air BnB and found very affordable places throughout but stayed in Monterosso. We saw a lot of active wear there since it is such a coastal town.
This was my favorite area in Italy
We went last July at the tail end of the heat wave they had. I'm in decent shape but sweat through everything I had on.
We stayed in a B&B in Monterosso, it was great..there is a bar there where a guy flies an Auburn flag..he said used to date an Auburn chick.
The hikes are worth it for views like this..make sure to take your camera
[/URL]
Posted on 4/22/16 at 6:11 pm to Warheel
Thanks for the replies.
After some more research, I've opted to stick with the day trip. Got a pretty expensive hotel (for my budget) in Florence and I don't want to waste a night that I've already paid for and then have to pay for an additional night elsewhere.
I also saw that the main route between Riomaggiore - Manarola - Corniglia is still closed from the 2013 landslide. A portion is open in Manarola, but you otherwise have to take the longer, steeper route.
Game plan now is to take the first high speed rail out of Florence to La Spezia, jump on the regional rail to Monterosso and hike Monterosso - Vernazza - Corniglia. Then take the regional rail from Corniglia to Manarola and maybe Riomaggiore before heading back to Florence late afternoon. Should be easily doable and using the Frecciabianca high speed rail makes the train travel right around 2/2.5 hours.
After some more research, I've opted to stick with the day trip. Got a pretty expensive hotel (for my budget) in Florence and I don't want to waste a night that I've already paid for and then have to pay for an additional night elsewhere.
I also saw that the main route between Riomaggiore - Manarola - Corniglia is still closed from the 2013 landslide. A portion is open in Manarola, but you otherwise have to take the longer, steeper route.
Game plan now is to take the first high speed rail out of Florence to La Spezia, jump on the regional rail to Monterosso and hike Monterosso - Vernazza - Corniglia. Then take the regional rail from Corniglia to Manarola and maybe Riomaggiore before heading back to Florence late afternoon. Should be easily doable and using the Frecciabianca high speed rail makes the train travel right around 2/2.5 hours.
Posted on 4/22/16 at 8:16 pm to jordan21210
While in Florence make sure you get a sandwich from Antico Noe.
Posted on 4/22/16 at 8:51 pm to jordan21210
You won't be unhappy spending time in Florence it is awesome. If you did decide to stay in Cinque Terre, I would stay in Vernazza(see picture above). It is that pretty, and there is a view like that everywhere in town. And I would mostly be concerned with the hikes from Vernazza to Corniglia, and Vernazza to Monterresso. Both are fantastic, and about 2 miles each. In Vernazza, go above the train station(higher on the mountian, up from the ocean) to the restuarant.. Best coffee, and best Italian food in town. Talk to Maximesio, he is the chatty of the twins.
In my opinion, it is worth it to fit in a couple of days there. But Italy is awesome, anywhere you stay.
In my opinion, it is worth it to fit in a couple of days there. But Italy is awesome, anywhere you stay.
Posted on 4/22/16 at 11:39 pm to MabshirTiger
Is it best to book a B&B in Vernazza before going or just show up and find one?
Posted on 4/23/16 at 4:04 am to jordan21210
I was in the Cinque Terre about 10 years ago. We did it as a day trip from Florence but we had a rental car. We parked at the La Spezia train station and got a pass that allowed us access to the trains and trails. We went to all 5 villages. The trail from Riomaggiore (1) to #2 was paved and easy. We also hiked from Vernazza (4) back to 3, Corniglia I believe. That walk was a little more demanding, especially after lunch with wine at Gambero Rosso in Vernazza. We took the train the rest of the way. Beautiful views of the Mediterranean from the trails. You will love it.
Posted on 4/23/16 at 8:11 am to juice4lsu
quote:
s it best to book a B&B in Vernazza before going or just show up and find one?
If you are going during high season, I would book in advance. We booked three months ahead of time and the pickings were slim, although we enjoyed what we ended up with.
Posted on 4/23/16 at 8:21 am to Warheel
Who did you book through? What site? We are bringing my parents to Italy late September early October 2017.
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News