Getting to Cinque Terre from Florence
The Cinque Terre is a coastal stretch of 5 seaside towns in the Liguria region of Italy. The term Cinque Terre in Italian actually means Five Lands or Five Towns, so the origin of the name is pretty self explanatory.
The 5 towns that make up the Cinque Terre are Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso. Each town is connected by a series of walking and hiking trails which offer splendid views of the Ligurian sea and the candy-colored towns themselves.
The entire area is protected by the Italian government and lies within a national park, the Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre. The park has 48 walking and hiking trails, including the routes between the 5 different towns.
Getting to the Cinque Terre from Florence is simple and painless. Your 3 options are to take the train, get a rental car, or use a driver/guide. Which option is best for you depends on your budget, your comfort driving in Italy, and what you want to see and do once you arrive.
One thing to always keep in mind is that the nearby port city of La Spezia has regular cruise ship arrivals, and in the summer season there are days when as many as 3 ships, each carrying thousands of passengers, will arrive.
In order to avoid serious overcrowding during your visit to the Cinque Terre, be sure to check the cruise schedule and try to come on a day when there are no arrivals. You can check the schedules on Cruisemapper or Cruisedig.
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How to get to the Cinque Terre from Florence by Train
The easiest way to get to the towns of the Cinque Terre from Florence is to take the train. You have direct trains from Florence’s Santa Maria Novella station to the nearby city of La Spezia in Liguria, from where you can transfer to the Cinque Terre Express train that will take you to the actual 5 towns.
Here’s a quick overview:
S.M. Novella Station to La Spezia Centrale Station
La Spezia Centrale Station to the Cinque Terre
2.5-3 hours total travel time
33 euro cost: 15 euro train ticket + 18 euro Cinque Terre Train Card
Book on Trenitalia
There are no direct train connections to the Cinque Terre from Florence. All trains from Florence stop in the city of La Spezia where you will need to change to the Cinque Terre Express Train to continue into the park and towns.
There are trains every day from Florence’s Santa Maria Novella Station to La Spezia Centrale Station, which is the main train hub for the Cinque Terre.
The trip from Florence to La Spezia takes between 2 and 3 hours. Depending on the time of day, trains depart Florence every hour or half hour. The cost of a ticket is about 15 euro.
In high season trains depart Florence for La Spezia as early as 5 am and the last trains from La Spezia to Florence usually leave around 10 pm. Be aware that some trains departing Florence have a connection in Pisa, so if you don’t want the hassle of changing trains twice, make sure you are booking a direct train.
Once you arrive to La Spezia, you’ll need to get off your train from Florence and buy a new ticket for the Cinque Terre Express train to continue your journey.
Trains from La Spezia to the Cinque Terre leave every hour between 6:00 am and 10:00 pm and the ride takes 15-30 minutes. Travel from one town to the next takes 5 minutes.
While you can buy one-way tickets, the most cost-effective option is to buy a Cinque Terre Card which gives you unlimited rides on the Cinque Terre Express train as well as access to all of the hiking and walking trails of the national park. The card costs 18.40 euro for adults, 11.20 for children aged 4-12, and is free for infants and toddlers.
Where to buy train tickets
As a general rule, we always recommend booking your tickets directly with the service provider - Trenitalia - instead of 3rd party resellers which may be less flexible in the event you need to make changes to your reservation.
Getting to the Cinque Terre from Florence by Car
If you’ll have a car while you’re in Florence, driving is a good way to get to the Cinque Terre. However, renting a car just for this day trip doesn’t make much sense as it will cost more than taking the train and wind up being a hassle. Driving within the Cinque Terre is difficult and quite unpleasant.
Here’s a quick overview:
165 km (102 miles)
2 hours driving time
30 euro approximate cost with tolls and gas
18.20 euro Cinque Terre Card
1.50 euro/hour parking at Park Centro Stazione in La Spezia
Florence to the Cinque Terre by car is about 165 km (102 miles) and should take you around 2 hours, depending on where you plan to park once you arrive. While you can drive to the Cinque Terre and leave your car, it’s not advisable to use the car to get from one town to another.
The best option, unless you will be sleeping in one of the towns, is to go from Florence to La Spezia and leave your car there. This will take 2 hours on an excellent, easy-to-navigate highway. You can park your car in the large underground parking lot at the La Spezia train station and then take the train (or the ferry) into the Cinque Terre. You can find the parking lot location on Google Maps here.
If you are staying overnight in one of the towns, the coastal road SP51 (Strada Provinciale 51) runs from La Spezia through the mountains above the 5 towns. While there is no car access from town to town, you can park your car in a handful of places. Most of the towns do not have parking in their centers, but rather outside of town at exits from the provincial road. Only the town of Monterosso has parking in the center.
Parking in the Cinque Terre is quite limited and the parking lots don’t have many spaces. If you’re traveling during high season you will need to arrive very early to find a spot. Expect to pay around 15 euro for full-day parking. If you’re staying in a town in the Cinque Terre, check with your accommodation to see what options they provide.
Note that the roads leading down towards the towns offer stunning views, but are winding, narrow, and very slow going. For detailed information on driving and parking within the Cinque Terre, check out https://www.cinqueterre.eu.com/en/parking-cinque-terre.
If you plan on renting a car, I also always recommend checking prices on DiscoverCars. It’s an online aggregator that includes offerings from all the major international rental companies as well as lots of smaller local agencies, which often have much better pricing.
Visiting the Cinque Terre on a Guided Tour
For a stress-free experience and a lot of local insight during your visit, hiring a driver or tour guide is a great way to visit the Cinque Terre. We’d recommend hiring a private guide instead of doing a big group tour as you’ll have more freedom to enjoy the many towns at your own pace and make stops along the way.
Here’s a quick overview:
165 km (102 miles) drive
2 hours travel time
Park in La Spezia and take the train to Manarola to start your visit
700-1200 euro per group for a private tour
150-200 euro per person for a small group tour
Book a private tour with Stefano, our favorite local guide, at guidesofitalia.com/guides/stefano
A driver offering just transport from Florence to La Spezia and no guiding during your visit will cost around 300 euro each way. Many drivers won’t offer only one-way transfers because they’re not able to get a client for the return journey to Florence, making it not worth their while.
Full-day tours with a local guide vary in price, but typically wind up being similar in cost to a driver offering just round trip transport.
Here are a few tour options:
For a private Cinque Terre tour, our favorite local guide Stefano offers a fully customizable experience.
Alternatively, this guided small group tour includes pick up and drop off in Florence, train tickets, and an optional boat ride. Group sizes are capped at 8, keeping things intimate and manageable.
If you want to get out on the water during your day trip, Simone and the team at Cinque Terre Sea Tours offer a beautiful 2-hour private boat ride.
If you’ll make your own way to the CT by train, but want to have a walking/hiking guide once there, Pall, an American expat who’s lived in the Cinque Terre for years, runs good hiking tours between the villages.
How to get from La Spezia to the Cinque Terre
Whether you’re driving or taking the train, you will almost certainly want to park in La Spezia and then enter the towns of the Cinque Terre from there. Once you arrive to La Spezia, you have two options for how to reach the Cinque Terre: take the train or take a ferry.
Train
The easiest option is to take a train from La Spezia’s central station to any of the 5 towns. From La Spezia to Rio Maggiore or Manarola (the two southernmost towns in the Cinque Terre) takes 15 minutes. Getting from La Spezia to Monterosso (the northernmost town) takes about 25 minutes. It’s all very close.
La Spezia Centrale Station to Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, or Monterosso
15-25 minutes travel time
18.20 euro cost (11.40 euro for kids aged 4-12)
Buy Cinque Terre Card direct at La Spezia Centrale train station
Ferry
You can also take a boat from the port of La Spezia to Rio Maggiore, Manarola, Vernazza, or Monterosso. The boat ride takes 30 minutes to Manarola and 2 hours to Monteross. The price of the ferry is 20-25 euro depending on which town you choose to go to.
The boats are operated by a ferry company called Navigazione Golfo dei Poeti. You can check timetables and purchase tickets on their website or do it directly at the port.
Service is fairly infrequent, especially in low season, so keep that in mind. Cancellations of ferry service are common, so it’s advisable to purchase your tickets once you are there and not in advance.
La Spezia port to Riomaggiore, Manarola, Vernazza, or Monterosso
30-120 minutes travel time
30 euro cost
Buy direct at La Spezia’s port or online at Navigazione Golfo dei Poeti
How to get around in the Cinque Terre
Once you’re in the Cinque Terre, you have 3 options for getting between towns. While walking the path that connects all 5 Cinque Terre towns is a classic experience, not everyone wants to spend the day huffing and puffing! For those looking for a more leisurely experience, traveling with children, or with mobility limitations, fret not! You can also take a train or a ferry.
Train
The easiest way to travel between the towns of the Cinque Terre is to take the train. Each town has a train station and the journey from one town to the next is about 5 minutes. Individual journeys cost about 2 euro each, but the simplest thing to do is purchase a Cinque Terre card which gives you unlimited rides (and access to all the walking and hiking trails in the national park) for the entire day, including to and from La Spezia.
The Cinque Terre card costs 18.20 euro and can be purchased in all stations of the Cinque Terre towns and La Spezia as well as at any tourist information booth. In high season trains depart about every hour while in low season departures become much more intermittent.
Boat/ferry
Taking the ferry between towns is also an option. There is regular ferry service between 4 of the 5 towns of the Cinque Terre from the end of March until November 1st. Each leg takes about 30 minutes and affords spectacular views of the towns and coast. One village, Corniglia, is not accessible by boat because it does not have a port. Boat service is operated by the company Navigazione Golfo dei Poeti.
Tickets cost 30 euro for full-day unlimited hop-on hop-off rides between the towns. If you want to include travel to or from La Spezia, the cost is 37 euro. There is also a reduced-price half-day ticket (for travel after 12 pm) that costs 26 euro. Children under 6 ride for free and children between 6 and 11 years old have reduced fares. Tickets can be purchased directly at any port. It’s best not to purchase your tickets online in advance because rough seas, inclement weather, and disruptions do lead to regular cancellations.
In high season ferries depart roughly every hour or two, with a multi-hour lull after 12:00 pm. Service stops around 4:00 or 5:00 pm.
Walking
A series of walking trails connects each town of the Cinque Terre. The total length of the route, from Riomaggiore in the South to Monterosso in the North, is 12 km (about 7.5 miles). If you plan on walking the route and stopping to visit each town, expect for this to be a full day activity.
While 3 of the sections are free, you will need to purchase a Cinque Terre card if you wish to walk the Monerosso to Vernazza and Vernazza to Corniglia sections. As mentioned before, the Cinque Terre Card with train access costs 18.20 euro and is available at train stations and tourist information booths in the Cinque Terre and La Spezia. If you don’t intend to ever use the train, you can purchase just the Cinque Terre Trekking Card which costs 7.40 euro and gives access to all the footpaths and trails of the park.
An excellent resource for information on the walking paths and trails of the Cinque Terre towns and Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre, including detailed descriptions and maps, is https://www.cinqueterre.eu.com/en/footpaths-cinqueterre.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Cinque Terre?
The Cinque Terre is a national park in the northwestern Italian region of Liguria. It is a small stretch of coastline, made up of 5 towns; Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso. The coast is rocky and mountainous and the national park around the little towns is filled with excellent hiking and fabulous seaside views.
Where is the Cinque Terre?
The Cinque Terre is located inside the small Italian region of Liguria which lies to the north of Tuscany and to the south of Piedmont. The primary gateways to the park are the Italian cities of La Spezia and Portofino, both accessible by train from other parts of Italy. Liguria’s capital city is Genova, 94 km (58 miles) north of the Cinque Terre. Florence is 165 km (102 miles) to the south of the Cinque Terre.
Can you visit the Cinque Terre as a day trip from Florence?
You can easily visit the Cinque Terre on a day trip from Florence and tens of thousands of travelers do so every year. The towns of the Cinque Terre are small and each easily explored in an hour or so. A good local train connects all 5 towns and it runs frequently, making getting around very easy. That said, the park is full of fantastic hiking trails and if you want to hike, you could easily spend a few days exploring the area.
To maximize your time with just a day trip, definitely consider hiring a local guide. Our favorite guide for the Cinque Terre is always Stefano, who is based in Florence and provides pick up and drop off all over Tuscany.
How long do you need for a day trip to the Cinque Terre from Florence?
To do a day trip, figure that you will need about 12 hours in total. If driving, it will take you at least two hours to get to the city of La Spezia, where you will want to leave your car and then take the Cinque Terre Express train to begin your visit to the park and towns. If coming by train, it’ll take you about 3 hours to get into the park.
So, if you figure that you’ll spend 4-6 hours in transit (round trip), a 12-hour day will give you anywhere from 8 to 6 hours to visit the park. That’s enough time to see all 5 towns via train, boat, hiking, or a combination of all 3.
Is a day trip to the Cinque Terre worth it?
If you’re staying in Florence and want to visit the Cinque Terre, a day trip is absolutely worth it. It provides a nice break from urban Italy and gives visitors a chance to get out into nature, visit charming little towns, and enjoy fabulous scenery.
However, you should plan well and try to come on a day when there are no cruise ship dockings. Some days, you have multiple cruise ship arrivals and this translates to thousands of visitors clogging the towns, boats, trains, and hiking trails, all making for a rather unpleasant visit.
Also, Florence itself is worth at least two days of exploring, so if you have two days or less, you should dedicate them to Florence and save the Cinque Terre for another time. If you have 3 days, then you could consider a day trip.
Is the Cinque Terre expensive?
The Cinque Terre is one of Italy’s premier tourist destinations and hundreds of thousands of people visit every year. So yes, it is rather expensive. In high season, everything from meals to hotels to beach loungers cost a fair bit more than in most other parts of Italy. Even so, if you plan well in advance you can visit very affordably.
How much is the entrance ticket to the Cinque Terre?
There is no cost to enter the national park, however the Cinque Terre Train Card, which gives you unlimited rides on the train and access to hiking on all the park’s trails for one full day, costs 18.20 euros. If you don’t plan to use the train, you can also buy just the Cinque Terre Trekking Card which costs 7.50 euros for a single day.
Of the park’s 48 hiking trails, only two of them have a charge; Monterosso to Vernazza and Vernazza to Corniglia. The other 46 trails are free and do not require that you buy a ticket.
In the off season, from November to early March, there is no fee to use any of the park’s trails.
How long does it take to walk between all 5 Cinque Terre towns?
If you want to walk the entire route between the 5 towns, a reasonably fit person should plan to spend around 6 hours walking, assuming you take only short breaks. If you also want to spend some time visiting the 5 towns, you should plan on the entire day taking at least 9 hours. To do so, start your day very early and expect to finish in the early evening.
Is the Cinque Terre hike challenging?
Not particularly. Some sections of the walk are paved while others are on hilly sections of trail, often with steeps steps in various states of maintenance. Even so, none of it is a very challenging hike and people of all ages and abilities are able to complete it. A set of trekking poles is a good idea for older walkers or those who struggle with steps and/or steep grades.
What is there to do in the Cinque Terre?
The Cinque Terre is a mountainous national park and the main thing to do is hike. The park’s 48 hiking trails take hikers and trekkers high up onto ridges, offering fantastic views over the coast. You also have boat trips, either to get you between towns or to explore the coast and go swimming, and wandering around each of the little town’s is also very pleasant.
Are the beaches in the Cinque Terre nice?
While each of the towns in the Cinque Terre has its own little beach and the sea is a beautiful color of blue, the beaches themselves are not anything special. They are city beaches and, in summer, get extremely crowded. The towns themselves are charming and the views over the coast are stunning, but the beaches themselves are not really a highlight.
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