Visiting Cinque Terre from Florence
As a 22-year-old recent college graduate, I normally try to minimize all expenses during a vacation. Until now. After researching trains and buses to to go to Cinque Terre, a group of small fishing villages located on the north western coast of Italy, I realized it was a bit out of the way and expensive regardless of our mode of transportation.
With a few hours of google search history logged, I decided to look into a guided tour. I found the “Florence to Cinque Terre Scent of the Sea” tour guided by CiaoFlorence and immediately realized it would be the most convenient and cost effective option.
The best part? The tour is also only partially guided! You have free time in each village to do your own exploring and only meet with the group to travel from place to place.
What You Get on the Tour of Cinque Terre
On this tour all of your transportation is included and, for an extra 10 euros, your food can be included as well.
- Transportation by Air Conditioned bus to and from Florence
- Transportation by train between the villages (we did not have a boat ride my day)
- Guided tour information about the villages in your native language
- Additional: Three-Course Lunch with the group
Why I Choose This Tour of Cinque Terre
I picked this tour because it seemed – and was – highly flexible. My boyfriend and I were able to explore each village at our leisure and only meet up with the group to take the trains in between each one. This made the day organzied and enable us to see 4 of the 5 villages, whereas we would have probably only seen 2 if we went alone.
In addition, the bus ride was about 2.5 hours as opposed to about 3 hours in a train with extra time spent on connections. It was truly easier to go with a group and wound up being only a bit more expensive than buying all of our train tickets a la carte.
Why I Would Recommend This Tour of Cinque Terre
I would recommend this tour, and tours in general, because traveling by between villages could get quite confusing on your own and sticking with a schedule allowed us to see almost everything! In addition, the tour guides were flexible if you wanted to stay in one village longer and meet up with the group later on.
We found this to be one of our favorite days of our trip. Cinque Terre is truly picturesque and unique, so I am glad we weren’t just intimidated by the initial train schedule and still found a way to visit.
MY GOAL
As always on Sophistication and Sparkles, my goal is to help you get the most out of life during your college years and early twenties. When your traveling, sometimes that means spending an extra $20 to maximize the sights you see on your trip! I hope that this post gave you an idea of how you can find better deals and incorporate tours into your vacations.
~ALANA ROBIN
Disclaimer: I had the privilege to attend this tour in exchange for my sponsorship; however, all opinions are mine and I found the tour on my own!