Need advice on Cinque Terra excursion from Livorno port

[marie1318]

Has anyone been to Cinque Terra from the Livorno port this summer. Any advice on best way to get there, shore excursion tours etc. would be most welcome. Is it worth the trip?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

Marie

[marie1318]

Sorry - It is spelled "Cinque TerrE"

[Hlitner]

You have a few options. When we want to go to Cinque Terre (there was a lot of damage in several of the villages last October) we simply rent a car in Livorno and drive (about 1:30 each way). It is possible to do it with the trains, but the schedule really is not very good for a port day and will severely limit your time at Cinque Terre. Your other options are to hire a car/driver, book a private excursion or take the cruise line's excursion.

 

Hank

[SwissMyst]

The easiest walk is between the first two southern most villages, Riomaggiore to Manarola if you have time. That one is a piece of cake, a stroll, the others are more daunting. I think they call the first one the Route of Love, because it is such a pleasure to do. Even wheelchair accessible. I have been finding wiki offers very good port info: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cinque_Terre#Transportation_and_tourism

 

Trenitalia has an excellent website in English to check out train schedules from Livorno to La Spezia, and then taking the local trains to the Cinque Terre villages. You do need to use the Italian place names however, so it is Livorno and not "Leghorn" as it can be referred to in English, but the rest of the place names for train destinations should be the same.

[SwissMyst]

Here is the link to Trenitalia to see if you the train times might work: http://www.trenitalia.com/cms/v/index.jsp?vgnextoid=ad1ce14114bc9110VgnVCM10000080a3e90aRCRD

 

Sample Route:

1. Ship to Livorno Centrale

 

2. Livorno Centrale to La Spezia Centrale

3. La Spezia Centrale by local train to Riomaggiore or Manarola

(Walk between the two villages - either way - 1 km - half hour - flat walk - little over one half mile)

4. Local train back to La Spezia Centrale

5. La Spezia Centrale back to Livorno Centrale

 

6. Livorno Centrale back to ship

 

Options if you have time:

A. Local Cinque terre trains to other villages just to walk around a bit

B. Local Cinque Terre train to Levanto which is a nice little town and lets you see more of the country side, though many tunnels block the seaside view when traveling between the Cinque Terre villages themselves, you might be able to get from Levanto back to La Spezia Centrale. (??)

[Harry1954]

Has anyone been to Cinque Terra from the Livorno port this summer. Any advice on best way to get there, shore excursion tours etc. would be most welcome. Is it worth the trip?

Thanks in advance!

Marie

 

We have taken several ship excursions to the Cinque Terre, also one of our favorite places to stay on our visits to Italy when not cruising.

 

We strongly suggest that you consider a ship tour .. there are two basic kinds: a) by boat and b) by bus. We have done both and they are both great in their own way.

 

The reason we suggest using ship is that you will spend a lot of time getting to/and from the Cinque Terre, a very remote part of Italy, and while there, unless you know the lay of the land, you will be extremely limited as to what to do - all with the clock running for you to get back to ship.

 

By using the ship excursion, they will pick out towns to visit, provide dependable transportation to get from one town to the next (typically by boat as trains go on strike unexpectedly - sometimes for just a couple of hours), and when you are in the most popular town, Vernazza, in most cases, you have time to get lunch at one of the great, small restaurants.

 

If you do go and happen to have lunch, you should try a dish that incorporates their local, fresh anchovies .. you have never tasted what real anchovies are like until you partake in these dishes .. either the appetizer (anchovies cerveiche or a main dish that is like lasagne but has anchovies/potatoes as filler) - you will never forget/regret it.

 

Cinque Terre is an excursion not to miss.

 

harry

[kazu]

You have a few options. When we want to go to Cinque Terre (there was a lot of damage in several of the villages last October) we simply rent a car in Livorno and drive (about 1:30 each way). It is possible to do it with the trains, but the schedule really is not very good for a port day and will severely limit your time at Cinque Terre. Your other options are to hire a car/driver, book a private excursion or take the cruise line's excursion.

 

Hank

 

Marie - Hank is absolutely right about the damage. There were further mud slides when we were supposed to go and could not go to Cinque Terre. You might want to do a bit of research as I don't know how well the area has recovered. There was a lot of damage last fall.:eek:

[Opinions]

Several years ago I took the all day tour to Cinque Terra with HAL out of Livorna...It consited of bus, walking, boat and train...It is a alternative if you do not want to do it on your own...We had rain most of the day which sort of hamperd our sightseeing...The boat portion was very crowded...Overall we were satisfied that we saw much of the Cinqe Terra.

[janmcn]

We took the ship's tour and highly recommend it…great tour! We didn't have to worry about returning to the ship on time which we might have otherwise. We traveled by bus, walked, ferried, and took the train and visited 3 of the 5 villages that way…time to walk around Vernazza and eat lunch…do not miss it!

[ClevelandOhio]

We were on the Prinsendam last fall immediately after the storm that caused the severe damage in Northern Italy and the French Riviera.

 

We had talked about going on our own because the ship was docking in La Spezia which would make the train trip much easier. But in the end we opted to go on the ships shore excursion which we had done several years previously. We are NOT fans of shore excursions, but this one was one of the best we have been on. Lunch was on your own and we weren't just herded around.

 

Unfortunately the shore excursion was cancelled because of the severe damage from the floods. The Prinsendam replaced it with a trip to Portofino which drove by the other sides of the mountains that form Cinque Terre. The damage was devastating. Portofino was very beautiful and interesting. However it was very late in the season and most businesses were closed down. We saw that as a plus while the "shoppers" on the trip were disappointed.

 

I have no idea if Cinque Terre has been restored to its former glory. Getting there is not simple and I think you would be better served to take the shore excursion rather than trying it on your own. I think trying the trip from Livorno would be very difficult.

 

In any case I wish you luck and hope that Cinque Terre has been reopened.

[woody73]

 

We strongly suggest that you consider a ship tour .. there are two basic kinds: a) by boat and b) by bus.

We have stayed a few days in the Cinque Terre and found the trains unreliable. Fortunately, we did not have to be anywhere at a specific time.

 

For one day in port, I would agree with taking a ship tour.

 

Woody

[CtheW0rld]

if you end up not being able to get to cinque terre, pisa is very easy to get to from livirno via the train.

[lcand1923]

A friend has sponsored several students from Cinque Terre while they studied in the US. She is in regular contact with all of them. The families run various restaurants and hotels in 4 of the 5 towns. She was supposed to visit them this year. They told her to postpone the trip at least one more year since they are still in the process of rebuilding. They hope to be "close to ready" when the tourist season starts, but aren't certain.

[SwissMyst]

if you end up not being able to get to cinque terre, pisa is very easy to get to from livirno via the train.

 

Lucca is another very appealing closer destination by train. Intact walled city, with an elegant, wealthy and independent heritage as one of the historic centers of the Italian silk industry - still pretty much off the traditional beaten path in Italy.

[Oregonhiker]

Ships tour is fine, nice bus ride thru part of Tuscany, and I normally don't like bus rides. The village that is still recovering from storm damage is not part of tour, although the train goes thru it. Otherwise all the rest is up and running for this summer's season.

 

Have fun!

[Langoustine]

The Cinque Terre is well worth it and should not be missed. However, if you don't go there and have to choose between Lucca and Pisa, go for Lucca.