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 and Cinque Terre

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.

 

 

 

Leaning Tower of Pisa and Cinque Terre

 

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.

Cinque Terre, Manarola

 

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

Pisa Cinque Terre Pisa Cinque Terre

 

Vernazza

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

Cinque Terre, Vernazza

Pisa Cinque Terre

Pisa Cinque Terre

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.

Cinque Terre, Monterosso

 

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.

Cinque Terre Train

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.