Cinque Terre - Please help

[Emma1]

We are a family of 5 ( 3 young teens) and will be doing Cinque Terre on our own from La Spezia for the day. Have never been. Bought Rick Steves Italy 2011 and checked out the ferry schedule website. Am still confused and need help. Some questions:

1) Thought of taking the ferry to the furthest town and then taking the train back thru the towns and finally to La Spezia. Looking at the ferry website, which ticket makes sense to buy?

2) For the train tickets - do we buy right away in La Spezia before boarding the ferry? Or can we get when we get off the first stop from the ferry?

3) Which train ticket makes sense to buy?

4) Thought of doing 2 or possibly 3 towns. Which ones to do and should it be 2 or 3?

5) Should we hike bet the towns or train it?

6) Best town for lunch ( and to celebrate my son's 12th birthday)?

7) If ferry not running for whatever reason, which train ticket to buy for round trip?

8) If it ends up rainning, which towns do we do?

 

Any thoughts /recommendations would be really welcome for this day. Thank you. If I am missing anything, please let me know.

[nparmelee]

For the ferry, you just wait until you get there and tell them how far you want to go, easy peasy. There was a ticket booth right next to where you board the ferry. Don't pre-buy those since the weather is a big factor on if the ferry is even running.

 

Which towns to hike between? Depends on how much time and energy you all have that day. Monterosso to Vernazza is the longest hike, the sign on the trail says it will take about 2 hours some people take longer, took us about 90 minutes. The last one between Manarolo and Riomaggiore is the easiest and more of a stroll. If you decide to hike between any of the towns, you can buy a combo trail and train ticket.. If you start hiking the paths there were booths to buy your trail ticket as you start off, at least there was between Monterosso and Vernazza.

 

We had lunch in Vernazza, but any of the towns are quite cute. The tickets between the towns are all regional train tickets unless you buy the other one from above. Which towns? Depends on your interests and how much time you have. We spent a little time in each and enjoyed them all. They each have their own personality and views.

[mapleleaves]

we were staying in Monterrosso for a few days so our trip was different that yours. But we took the boat from Monterrosso #1 to Riomaggiore #5 and started walking, with the idea that we would hop on the train when we'd had enough. I had knee surgery 2 months prior.

Rick Steves book at that time, described the walks accurately, The first leg was an easy stroll on a paved sidewalk. The next leg was a dirt trail so not quite as easy. The next leg had an incline and washout so a little more difficult. The next was even more difficult. That's where we hopped on the train. Wing it !

[CathyCruises]

We love the Blue Marlin in Vernazza, but it's more of a cafe/bar. The owner (Massimo?) is hilarious, turns up the stereo and belts out the opera. When I showed him his name in the Rick Steve's book, he planted a big kiss on me. They only had two specials the day we were there, both outstanding--pasta with local homemade pesto, and pasta with fresh mussels--not sure how your kids would like it. Mine would have loved it at that age but they're weird.

 

Last time we were there (middle of winter) it was closed and we ate next door--okay but not memorable.