Hi there,

We will be staying in Lucca later this month and would like to see Cinque Terre while we are there.

As much as I would love to do the "hike" that connects all 5 villages, we are travelling w/a 3 and 5 year old which I assume will be too much walking. I've heard that there is a train that connects all 5 villages. Is this the best way to see Cinque Terre? We have a car so what village do we start at to p/up the train and where to park car. Also, any idea how much the train tkts are?

Thank you for any input!

There is also boat service between the towns. You can get off and back on at each village. Might consider driving to Monterossa.

Just returned from Cinque Terre last September. We stayed in Vernazza. First, leave the car and take the Train. A car is useful in Tuscany but will be an albatross in Cinque Terre. Trains connect all of the villages. Taking a ferry is fun and scenic as well.

The hiking is strenuous as there is a lot of vertical so likely too much for a five year old. It took us 1.5 - 2 hours to hike from Vernazza to Corniglia. It was about 3.7 miles and was UP most of the way. I am including a photo of Vernazza, taken at the beginning of our hike, just above the city. BTW, when in Lucca, be sure and eat at La Buca Di San Antonio. Great place.

Vernazza

The walks or hikes bewteen the five villages are progressively more challenging as you go from south to north. The total hike takes 4-5 hours. But the first leg -- Riomaggiore to Manarola -- is designated the Lovers' Stroll and might be manageable for a 3-year-old. If I recall, people were using baby strollers or carriages on this leg. After that, you'll probably want to rely on the train or ferry boat.

I read recently that Cinque Terre has been designated a national park and entrance fees, used to maintain trails, are charged to hike between the towns. A one-day hiking card is reported to cost 5 euros and cover all trails, shuttle buses, and park museums, but not trains or boats. A 9 euro 'treno' card adds use of the local trains from Levanto to La Spezia, covering all Cinque Terre towns.

If you decide to reach the region by car rather than train,
Monterosso (northernmost town) probably is your best bet for your base. I suspect that if you went by train from Lucca, you would change trains in nearby Pisa and then get the local CT train in La Spezia.

Definitely the boat is the way to go. Service depends upon weather and season, however, so check before you go and verify with your hotel that the boat is running on that day (high waves, etc., will prevent service.)

I was just there a couple of weeks ago. First of all, it's a great place; my favorite place of my trip to Italy.

As for the walk, we stayed in Riomaggiore, the southernmost town. The walk to the next town is quite easy -- I'm pretty sure it would be fine for kids.

The walk between the other towns is not a "walk" but a serious hike -- I would not take kids there. At some points, there's a narrow path with a mountain on one side and a big drop-off on the other. There are signs posted along the way instructing you in the international air rescue hand signals.


We wanted to take the boat as well, but the schedule for it was not convenient. Maybe as the days get longer, the boat runs longer (I would bet it does) but when we were there this month, the last run was pretty early.

The train is great, and cheap -- I think it was 1.40 Euro each direction, hop-on hop-off in any of the towns.

Overall, it was a very fun place. All of the towns are built on the side of a mountain -- you're either walking up the mountain or down the mountain. (Afterwards we went to Venice, where everything is flat -- a nice change!)

Also, I echo what someone else about leaving your car, if you have one, someplace else. The place is made for walking. Tourists are discouraged from bringing cars. We brought a car -- against advice -- and had to pay to garage it for the two days of our stay. Would have been better to take the train in.

We are planning to go to Cinque Terre in Sept. for 3 nights. We do want to some hiking. My wife has some knee problems but would like to join me on 2-3 trails. Which ones would you recommend?

The western end (Monteroso al Mare) of CT is very hilly and the trail has a lot of elevation changes. The eastern end after Manarola is relatively level.

Thats why most people hike west to east, so you get the hard stuff out of the way while your legs are still fresh. The good thing is you start your hike from either end or somewhere in the middle. You can move about easily via train or ferry.