just wondering...

[stavy]

How difficult is the tour to cinque terre? Is it alot of uphill hiking? We stop in Livorno and DH would like to go...don't know how strenuous it will be? Also is there a worry if you take a non ships tour about getting back to the ship in time???

[ORDMan]

Having been to the Cinque Terre probably 10 times I can tell you a tour is not necessary. The attraction is the towns themselves, and the stunning views from the hiking trails between them. Riomaggiore in particular has a few restaurants and a nice wine bar overlooking the sea, as well as some shops.

 

From Livorno Centrale, the train takes just under 2 hours to get to Riomaggiore, connecting in La Spezia. Leave yourself some time as Italian trains can have erratic schedules. So if the ship offers some sort of transport-only option to and from, I would suggest that. But you don't need a tour guide to get around.

 

Note that last year severe floods and landslides all but destroyed two towns, Vernazza and Monterosso. Vernazza in particular is very scenic and popular with tourists.

 

The other two, Manarola and Corniglia, are pretty but much smaller. Manarola is accessible from the walking trail(see below) but Corniglia is hiking over mostly level but unimproved trails. Stunning scenery from anywhere.

 

There is a trail that connects all of the towns, and it gets quite rugged in places. BUT, the section from Riomaggiore to Manarola is called "Via del Amore" and is paved and level-you could push a baby stroller over it if needed.

[Cruise Junky]

Anyone know the state it's in after the floods this winter?

[stavy]

Anyone know the state it's in after the floods this winter?

 

I contacted romeinlimo about a tour there and this was their response...Thank you for your interest in our company.

 

At the moment we do not offer any services in Cinque terre. Unfortunately 2 of the towns are still under constructions after heavy rain last year, they were both severely damaged and there is no much of them left. As a company we have decide to wait until all the 5 towns are visible to people, otherwise visiting only 3 of them is not really something that for would make much sense, since they are 5 Terre and we don't want to disappoint our clients. Also disturb the people that live in these towns while they are trying to built up their town and lives again.

[We're The Groupnors]

I contacted romeinlimo about a tour there and this was their response...Thank you for your interest in our company.

 

At the moment we do not offer any services in Cinque terre. Unfortunately 2 of the towns are still under constructions after heavy rain last year, they were both severely damaged and there is no much of them left. As a company we have decide to wait until all the 5 towns are visible to people, otherwise visiting only 3 of them is not really something that for would make much sense, since they are 5 Terre and we don't want to disappoint our clients. Also disturb the people that live in these towns while they are trying to built up their town and lives again.

 

The tour company makes an excellent point. You may wish to opt for a different tour. We did a tour out of Livorno to San Gimignano, a small medieval hill town in Tuscany, and it was fabulous.

[stavy]

San Gimignano is beautiful! We stayed there for 3 days 12 years ago....ah memories. When you did the tour did they just drop you off and you had time there? I noticed romeinlimo has a tour to san jimmy and volterra...haven't been there yet....

[deserttraveler]

Since Rick is the travel guru who brought Cinque Terre into tourism prominence, he posts about it sometimes on Facebook or his website. Last I saw, he said it was still pretty dicey to go there. I'm sure they're trying to get it back into good condition as quickly as possible.

[We're The Groupnors]

San Gimignano is beautiful! We stayed there for 3 days 12 years ago....ah memories. When you did the tour did they just drop you off and you had time there? I noticed romeinlimo has a tour to san jimmy and volterra...haven't been there yet....

 

We did a set tour that dropped off for the morning in San Gimignano, where we wandered around on our own, then we met back up with the tour for an afternoon at a winery (Tenuta Torchiano, my cup runneth over...).