On one of the three days when we stayed in Florence, we visited the Leaning Tower of Pisa and 5 picturesque towns along the Italian riviera on our Pisa Cinque Terre day trip.

Leaning Tower of Pisa

The world famous Leaning Tower of Pisa is a tourist attraction that needs no introduction.

After an hour train ride from Florence to Pisa Centrale station and a 15-minute walk, we arrived at the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It was not only raining cats and dogs, but raining tourists as well. Of course, we had to do the most cliché thing that almost every tourist did i.e. take a photo of oneself pretending to support the Leaning Tower.

After the quick stop at Pisa, we boarded the ICE (fast) train (IC670) at 11:44am and arrived at La Spezia station in less than an hour. Reservations for seats on this train were compulsory even if you had the train pass.

Cinque Terre

Cinque Terre is a UNESCO world heritage site comprising of five villages set along the rugged coastline of the Italian Riviera. We wanted to take a boat to get a good view of each of the villages, but upon reaching La Spezia, we could not find any boat operators, so we took the train instead. We planned to visit four of the five villages and walk from the first to the second village, but due to a train breakdown, we only managed to see three. We did not plan to stop at Cornigilia because of the need to climb 365 steps to reach the village and then climbing back down to take the train again. It would be too strenuous for my young kids.

Pisa Cinque Terre Map

View Cinque Terre Italy in a larger map

Manarola

Amongst the five Cinque Terre villages, Manarola has the most picturesque view. Its colourful houses sitting on top of dramatic sea cliffs is like an artiste’s palette.

You can’t help but feel the warm and romantic atmosphere walking down the narrow streets and alleys with houses decorated with flowers.

Vernazza

Vernazza is another town in Cinque Terre that is worth visiting.

Pisa Cinque Terre

Vernazza had many cosy Italian eateries, making it a great place to snack or have lunch. A friend of mine recommended pizzas with fresh anchovies. Well, I suppose it is an acquired taste. Minus the anchovies, the pizza, cooked in a wood-fire oven, was simply perfect.

Monterosso

Monterosso is the only village in the Cinque Terre that had a beach and several beach resorts.

There were several evening trains that travelled between La Spezia and Florence. At the time when we travelled, there was only one ICE (fast) train at 7:19pm. This train took about 2 hours to reach Florence. The other regional trains took about 2.5-3 hours. Most required us to change trains at Pisa Centrale.

My costly lesson learnt – In all the excitement of the day, I had totally forgotten to write down the travel date on the train ticket. You see, when you buy a non-consecutive day train ticket, you must write the dates of travel on the ticket before boarding the train. The agent whom I collected the tickets from advised me against writing the dates in advance in case we change our plans. As a result of not writing the date, we got fined and had to pay the fine in cash on the spot.

Our Pisa Cinque Terre day trip was part of our 15 day Europe Adventures with Kids which included 5 days in Italy covering Florence, Venice and Rome.

If I were to visit Cinque Terre again, I would stay overnight there as the illuminations of the towns at night were simply spectacular. Here is a list of accommodations for the family in Cinque Terre.

4 Comments

Steph on April 4, 2014 at 11:57 am

Hi, I’m going to Italy in May and I stumble upon your useful site. May I know the total cost for this trip, Pisa and Cinque De Terra?
Thank you!
- admin on April 5, 2014 at 11:10 am
  
  Hi Steph, I had a 3-day Eurail Italy pass which can be used for the train rides even within Cinque Terre, except for the the fast train from Pisa to Cinque Terre which I had to pay somewhere around 10 Euro per person. On the return leg, I took the normal train with no additional fee. There are no additional cost unless you want to climb the Leaning Tower of Pisa. You can go to http://www.RailEurope.com to buy the pass and make reservations on the fast train.
Marg on June 24, 2014 at 7:04 pm

Hi! We found this website while searching for exactly the same plan! Thank you! I do have questions: we’re coming from Florence, going to Pisa first. But would it be easier do you think, to go straight to La Spezia and do Pisa early evening? Upon arrival, are the small towns easy to navigate (get to the sites in your pics)? We’ll likely need pizza for the kids’ lunch, which restaurant did you go to? We’d like to take a boat to see the towns from the sea; are there operators around? Which town? Thank you so much!!!
- Rosie on June 27, 2014 at 7:54 pm
  
  Hi Marg! It’s possible to go to Cinque Terre first, then head for Pisa later, but if you plan to go up the tower, then you should try to make it before closing time. Do also check the train schedule to ensure that you don’t miss the last train from Pisa to Florence. In Cinque Terre, you could walk from the first village to the second, and from the second to the third, depending how fit your kids are. The second to the third was further. We just went with the local trains which were very convenient. There are plenty of restaurants in Cinque Terre with great pizzas, some with great views too. I went to one at Vernazza but I can’t remember the name. As for the boat ride, I did look around for a boat company to bring us around while I was there but couldn’t find any. You might want to search for them online instead. I hope you and your family have a memorable vacation in Italy.