Is It True You Can't Drive The Car Around Cinque Terre?
- Thread starter Linda
- Start date
hi! the problem is that a lots of old countries in italy have narrow streets, and at Cinque terre the streets are also full of tight bends, the center blocked to traffic and there are very few parking spaces. You can use the car but your visit can become stressful and it isn't recommended!
sorry for my english! I'm trying to learn
sorry for my english! I'm trying to learn
Hello Giul 
Welcome to the forums. Don't worry about your English, I'm not a native speaker either 
Also, thank you so much for clearing this up!
I've been watching this thread in hopes of getting some 'real' information and you just did that!
So, it's the narrow streets and nowhere to park, good to know!
I live close to Milan and I wanted to visit Cinque Terre soon, but was thinking of traveling there by train anyway, because I have also heard that you can barely use your car and I wouldn't want to park it somewhere and leave it there and be afraid for my whole journey that maybe my car is not ok hehe
Welcome to the forums. Don't worry about your English, I'm not a native speaker either Also, thank you so much for clearing this up!
I've been watching this thread in hopes of getting some 'real' information and you just did that!
So, it's the narrow streets and nowhere to park, good to know!
I live close to Milan and I wanted to visit Cinque Terre soon, but was thinking of traveling there by train anyway, because I have also heard that you can barely use your car and I wouldn't want to park it somewhere and leave it there and be afraid for my whole journey that maybe my car is not ok
hehe
Everyone arrives by train or by boat. The roads are really steep, I walked in Vernazza on the roads once and it was tiring. Beside there being nowhere to park, most people start at one village either Riomaggiore (end) or Monterosso (start) and walk through the villages. I would recommend the end and walk back to Monterosso as the Vernazza stretch is the longest and you walk along a cliff. The villages are very close and the whole walk can be done in under a few hours with breaks.
There is no where to park and it would be too stressful. If you must drive, park at a station nearby and then get the train from there. I always go from Santa Margherita Ligure.
There is no where to park and it would be too stressful. If you must drive, park at a station nearby and then get the train from there. I always go from Santa Margherita Ligure.
This is what I found at the official page, http://www.cinqueterre.eu.com/en/parking-cinque-terre
The Cinque Terre villages are closed to car traffic, except for the residents. The available parking spaces are very limited and are often at the entrance of the villages. To park in the Cinque Terre costs around 15 Euro per day, free parking is only available outside the villages.
The color of the lines on the parking space indicates the type of parking: white is for free parking, blue is for paid parking. When you park be sure that you do not park in areas reserved for residents (parcheggio residenti).
The parking fines in Italy are expensive, about 38€. Fines will be collected abroad.
It can be easier to find a parking spot in the nearby small town of Levanto where there are two big parking lots: one near the railway station and the other near the sea.
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It does look compact, just look at all the houses:
If the rest is just like this, I wouldn't dare venture in with a car... seems like a suicide mission
The Cinque Terre villages are closed to car traffic, except for the residents. The available parking spaces are very limited and are often at the entrance of the villages. To park in the Cinque Terre costs around 15 Euro per day, free parking is only available outside the villages.
The color of the lines on the parking space indicates the type of parking: white is for free parking, blue is for paid parking. When you park be sure that you do not park in areas reserved for residents (parcheggio residenti).
The parking fines in Italy are expensive, about 38€. Fines will be collected abroad.
It can be easier to find a parking spot in the nearby small town of Levanto where there are two big parking lots: one near the railway station and the other near the sea.
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It does look compact, just look at all the houses:
If the rest is just like this, I wouldn't dare venture in with a car... seems like a suicide mission
Thanks so much for the info, Aurelia!
I'm really looking forward to visiting this region and will probably do it this summer! But, of course, plan to visit the place by train!
Regarding the parking spaces, I really dislike the idea of having to leave the car outside the villages, at who knows what distance... It just doesn't feel like a safe thing to do. Besides, with the cost of parking, I can very well pay for the train tickets
I'm guessing that the place is not very car friendly because of another reason: pollution. I bet the air here is much cleaner than in other cities
I'm really looking forward to visiting this region and will probably do it this summer! But, of course, plan to visit the place by train!
Regarding the parking spaces, I really dislike the idea of having to leave the car outside the villages, at who knows what distance... It just doesn't feel like a safe thing to do. Besides, with the cost of parking, I can very well pay for the train tickets
I'm guessing that the place is not very car friendly because of another reason: pollution. I bet the air here is much cleaner than in other cities
It doesn't make sense to drive as you walk through the villages and to get back to the car you have to walk all the way back. People rarely get the train back from the same station they arrived at, that's why there is a station at each village. Besides that it's not a straight road anywhere, it's up and down and through the mountains (the full walk) so can be tiring if you do it twice in one go.