Cinque Terre Day Trip from Florence: Private Villages & Coastal Views

4.94

(391 reviews)

What’s the experience like?

The first thing I noticed was the sound — seagulls echoing above the minivan as we curved past Carrara’s marble slopes. Our guide, Marco, pointed out the pale cuts in the hills and said Michelangelo once came here for his stone. I tried to picture that, but honestly, I was distracted by the salty wind sneaking in through a cracked window. It smelled like wet rocks and something green. The drive from Florence is longer than you think (a couple of hours), but somehow it didn’t drag — maybe because Marco told stories about his childhood summers on this coast. He even stopped for espresso at a tiny bar where everyone seemed to know him.

Arriving in Manarola felt like stepping into someone else’s postcard — except it wasn’t quiet or perfect. There were old women arguing over laundry lines and kids chasing each other down painted alleys. We wandered with no real plan. The sea was louder here, and I kept stopping just to watch sunlight flicker on the water between boats. Lunch happened in Vernazza (I still remember the pesto — sharp and grassy — and how the waiter rolled his eyes when I asked for extra bread). You get time to just sit or poke around little shops; nobody rushed us.

Later, in Corniglia, there was this moment where everything slowed down — just me leaning against a sun-warmed wall eating gelato while Marco chatted with a friend about last winter’s storms. It’s not all smooth; trains can be crowded or late (ours was), but honestly that just made it feel more real. The whole day trip to Cinque Terre from Florence is sort of messy-beautiful like that. On the way back, tired and a bit sunburned, I realized I’d barely looked at my phone all day.