One of the kindest guides we used in Italy for Cinque Terre was Salvatore at www.romeinlimo.com. My husband had to use a rollator/walker and he was always with us making sure we could get to the next stop (we were with a private tour). I liken Cinque Terre to Route 1 in California where there are the mountains on one side and the ocean on the other... in Cinque Terre you have the hills with olive groves..,.it was a magnificent tour and if I remember right we were taken for breakfast ahead of time.

Hi, We did an after Christmas shore excursion from Livorno Port to the 5 Terre, visiting 3 of them, due to the limited time (9.30 hrs) and it was an amazing tour.
We made our reservation for a private tour through the Internet with "Shore Excursions in Italy" company.
We were picked up by our driver at 07.30 a.m., right in front of the ship, and he drove us to the first town called Monterosso.
The road getting there was very scenic, especially when you go down towards the cities. He help us with buying the tickets to walk through the "Lovers Foothpath" a very nice walkway to the next town called Vernazza, where he picked us up after the 2 towns visit and a good local food lunch.
From Vernazza he drove us to Manarola where we had about 45 more minutes to visit this other village before driving back towards Livorno, where he dropped us back in front of the ship on time. Their site is: http://www.shoreexcursionsinitaly.net
We had a wonderful experience thanks to Carlo, our driver, very good driving in those scary but scenic roads..

One more vote to www.shoreexcursionsinitaly.net. We used them last summer for 3 excursions (Livorno, Civitavecchia and Naples) and we had great tours. From Livorno we went to the 5 Terre with Maurizio, our driver guide, who was awesome!
He drove us to visit 3 of the 5 villages, suggesting a good place for lunch where we could taste the Shacchetra wine (very good local one) and stopping at different places for incredible pictures. We highly recommend them!!

We cruised pretty much in the Mediterranean but never visited the Cinque Terre Area. We went to the Amalfi Coast and some people told us are quite similar. What do you think? Is it worthy? Thanks.

Visiting the Cinque Terre is absolutely worth! The similarity is just regarding the blue sea and the curving roads but to me the villages in this area have a more typical local taste than the ones on the Amalfi Coast that look more tourist places. Anyway high prices apart in both areas I would suggest you to visit both as we did!!

Runner 60 I agree with you. The Cinque Terre area is wonderful and not as busy as the Amalfi Coast. We really wanted to spend a couple of days overthere but we were on a cruise. For sure we will go back in the next future and enjoy this area longer!

I suggest you to visit the 5 Terre by sea (but I don't know if there are boats going on in April) or by hiring a private driver who will wait for you directly at the port of Livorno, this would be much easier.
I know the connection to the railway station there is not that good.

Hi, does anybody know if from Genoa where we will dock 09.00 a.m. to 06.00 p.m. is it possible to go to the Cinque Terre?
Thanks for your help!

If you dock at Genoa, the easiest way is to take a train and in a couple of hours, you will arrive at the C.T.area. Have a look at www.trenitalia.com. There are trains to Monterosso. Maybe you will have time enough to visit 2 of the 5 towns...

We booked an excursion from Livorno last Spring with Bella Vita Italia and had a magnificent day. Kate was an excellent local guide who made sure that we didn't miss a thing and our driver Bepe was polite and spoke great English. www.bellavitaitalia.com

Thank you dragonflypie. A recommendation for an excursion company was exactly what I was hoping for. I have sent them a request for pricing and more information. Glad to hear that it worked out well for you. We are also going in the spring - late April. Was the weather warm for you when you went?

bookmarking

Hi Flyer99 We did the 5T excursion from Genoa, by train, during our cruise stop and we could visit 3 of the 5 towns, so you can make it!

Bar11, thanks for your info. We are also checking the possibility for a private excursion since there are 8 of us and we could split the cost and it this case would be more relaxing.

Hi again-
We had great weather- not swimming weather but great for walking around.

Just happened to check in and after all these years I'm still amazed at people helping out people on Fodor's, especially this cruise site. FLYER99..I've always tried to play it forward as they say.. and the help you get from many of the regulars is absolutely true and they have nothing to gain and want to make your experience the best. Fodor's really rocks!!! Thanks Doug.