Cinque Terre Day Trip from Florence: The Hike, the Trains and Which Village to Pick
How to do Cinque Terre as a day trip from Florence — the easy coastal hike between the villages, whether you need the Cinque Terre Card, which trails close, and the one village I'd go back to.
Cinque Terre is five villages stacked onto the Ligurian coast, connected by a railway line and a network of walking paths. It's about two and a half hours from Florence, which makes it a long day trip — but an entirely doable one, and I got to all five villages inside a single day.
This is how I'd do it again, including the one thing that surprised me most: the hiking is genuinely easy.
The hike is much easier than people make it sound
I went in expecting a serious walk. It isn't one.
It took about an hour to walk from village to village, on a well-made path, with no scrambling and no navigation to worry about. If you can walk for an hour you can do this — there's no need for hiking boots or any particular fitness.
What you get in exchange is the best part of the entire day. The path runs along the coast with the sea below you the whole way, and it passes through lemon groves — so for long stretches you're walking through the smell of fresh lemons with the Mediterranean underneath you. That detail is the thing I remember most clearly about Cinque Terre, and nobody had mentioned it to me beforehand.
Do you need the Cinque Terre Card?
When I went, no — the trails I walked didn't require it.
I'd flag this as the thing most likely to have changed since. The card's coverage and which paths sit behind it have been revised repeatedly over the years, so check the current position before you travel rather than taking my word or anyone else's.
What you will want regardless is a day pass for the regional trains, which is what lets you hop between the villages freely for the rest of the day.
Expect at least one path to be closed
The coastal path was closed when I visited, which is completely normal here — this coastline is steep, unstable, and sections of trail shut for repairs regularly, sometimes for years at a time.
Plan for it rather than around it. The train connects all five villages in minutes, so a closed path costs you a walk, not a village. My route ended up being a mix of both:
- Walk Monterosso → Vernazza → Corniglia
- Train onward to Manarola and Riomaggiore
That gave me two hours of the best walking and still got me to all five.
A realistic day plan from Florence
Early train from Florence to La Spezia. This is the gateway station and you want the earliest one you can face — the journey is around 2.5 hours and the day is tight.
Buy the regional train day pass when you arrive.
Start at Monterosso and walk to Vernazza, then Corniglia. Roughly an hour each, plus however long you spend standing around looking at the sea, which will be longer than you plan.
Train to Manarola and Riomaggiore for the last two villages.
Back in Florence by about 8 PM.
It's a full day and you'll be tired. It's worth it.
Which village to pick
If you only have time for one, or you want somewhere to settle for the afternoon: Manarola. That's the one I'd go back to.
All five are beautiful and they share the same basic character — coloured houses stacked above a small harbour — but Manarola is the one that stayed with me.
Would I stay overnight instead?
If you have the time, yes. Doing it from Florence means five hours of trains bracketing your day, and Cinque Terre in the early morning and evening — after the day-trippers have gone — is a different and better place.
But if a day trip is what you've got, it works. I did it, I saw all five villages, and I'd do it that way again rather than skip it.
Related reading
- 11-day Italy itinerary — the trip this day was part of
- Florence travel guide — where you'll be based
- One day in Venice