Updated October 2026
BootsnAll Scorecard
5.8 / 10
The Cinque Terre scores well on getting around, because a train links all five villages two or three times an hour in season, and badly on crowds and value, because thousands of people want the same few kilometers of coast on the same spring and September weekends.
- Value
- 4
- Closer to the 5 anchor than the 2, since Hostelworld lists only seven hostels in the area with beds from about US$22 to $51 and a day on the train and coastal path costs €22 to €35 in park fees before you've eaten.
- Getting around
- 8
- Near the 8 anchor, because every village has a station and hops between neighbors take 2 to 4 minutes for €5 to €8, though Corniglia sits about 380 steps above its station and a car is close to useless.
- Crowds and timing
- 3.5
- Between the 2 and 5 anchors, with summer numbers up to ten times the 4,000 residents, 31 peak-price days on the park's 2026 calendar, and October to December bringing 6.5 to 7.9 inches of rain a month.
- Safety and hassle
- 7
- Low crime, but the hassles are real and specific, from pickpockets on crowded trains to fines for open shoes on the trails and whole-network closures when the region issues an orange weather alert.
- Food and drink
- 6.5
- Above the 5 anchor because Monterosso anchovies, trofie al pesto, farinata and Sciacchetrà are local and easy to find, but five small villages feeding day-trippers make it easy to eat a tired lunch at harbor prices.
- Indie fit
- 6
- Easy to run alone on trains and free trails, and the hill hamlets and wine cooperative reward it, but between 10am and 5pm the coastal core works more like a turnstile than a place.
Editorial scores, 1 to 10, against the same written anchors for every city. Half points allowed. The overall is the plain average of the six.
Overview and Things to Consider
The Cinque Terre are five villages on the Ligurian coast between Levanto and La Spezia: Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. Together they form Italy's smallest national park, 3,860 hectares, and its most densely populated, with about 4,000 residents. Four of the villages are stacks of painted houses dropping into tiny harbors. Corniglia sits on a cliff instead, and Monterosso is a beach town with a long sandy front and modern apartment blocks. Behind all five, dry-stone terraces climb the slopes, and the railway runs through tunnels underneath, which is how nearly everyone arrives.
You'll love the Cinque Terre if you like to walk, if you want to swim off rocks below a village and then sit with a glass of local white while the trains rumble through the cliff, or if you're happy to sleep somewhere small and get up early. You'll hate it if you want to stroll without queuing. Between mid-morning and late afternoon the main path and the station platforms fill, and in July and August the trails are hot, steep and exposed. If you need level streets or a car at the door, look elsewhere.
The 2026 moment is control. The Via dell'Amore, the cliff path from Riomaggiore to Manarola, reopened in July 2024 after 12 years, and in 2026 it's timed-entry, one-way and only reachable through a park card. The park also prices by crowd, charging more on the busiest days, and it still has the Manarola to Corniglia stretch of the coastal path closed. The coast is as good as it ever was. You just need a plan to see it without spending the day behind someone else.
Some of it is overrated. A day trip from Florence costs about five hours on trains for maybe five on the ground, during the worst crowds of the day. Monterosso is the easiest village and the least distinctive. The postcard shot of Manarola from the headland has a line of phones in front of it at sunset. The better parts are above the villages.
How Cinque Terre Got Here
The villages grew up between the 11th and 13th centuries, as conditions improved after the year 1000, and from then on the people here did something extraordinary with very little. They cut the slopes into narrow strips of flat ground, called ciàn, held up by walls of local sandstone laid without mortar, and carried in what little soil they could find. At their peak the terraces covered about 2,000 hectares, reaching 450 to 500 meters up from just above the waterline, many so narrow they held a single row of vines. Nothing was imported. That landscape, more than any one building, is what UNESCO listed in 1997.
For most of their history the villages lived under the Republic of Genoa and faced the sea with suspicion. In July 1545 the corsair Dragut raided Monterosso and Corniglia and carried people off as slaves, though Manarola drove him back with help from Riomaggiore. In that century villagers strengthened their forts and built new watchtowers, which is why Vernazza's towers still watch the horizon. Isolation ended in 1874, when the railway opened, and it pulled people away as much as it brought visitors. The poet Eugenio Montale summered in Monterosso and wrote its lemon trees into verse. A marine reserve followed in 1998 and the national park in 1999.
The place is fragile, and that explains most of the rules you'll meet. As farming declined, untended terraces stopped holding water. On October 25, 2011, a storm sent floods and mudslides through Vernazza and Monterosso, killing four people in the Cinque Terre and 13 across the area. In September 2012 a rockfall on the Via dell'Amore injured four Australian tourists and closed the path. Reopening it took helicopters, rope-access crews, steel mesh and more than €23 million, with work running from January 2022 to July 2024.
Getting There and Around
The nearest big airport is Pisa (PSA). The PisaMover shuttle reaches Pisa Centrale in about 5 minutes, and regional trains from there reach La Spezia Centrale in about 1 hour 15 for €8.90. Trenitalia's planner prices the whole run from Pisa Airport station to La Spezia at €15.40 to €17.50, about 1 hour 30 to 1 hour 40 with the change. Genoa (GOA) is the other close option, and Florence (FLR) works too. Milan Malpensa has the most long-haul flights but adds about an hour on the Malpensa Express before a three-hour train ride.
Most people come from Florence, so here's the concrete version. Regional trains from Firenze Santa Maria Novella to La Spezia Centrale take 2 hours 21 minutes to 2 hours 33 and cost €15.90 on a mid-October 2026 weekday, some direct and most with a change at Pisa. Going straight to Monterosso takes 2 hours 40 to 3 hours 12 for €20.45 to €22.60, changing again at La Spezia. Faster Frecce connections cost more and save little. From Genoa, an Intercity reaches Monterosso in 1 hour 9 for €11, and from Milan Centrale a direct Intercity takes 3 hours for €20.90. Buy on Trenitalia or its app, which shows every connection and fare.
Italy is in the Schengen area. Citizens of the US, UK, Canada and Australia can stay up to 90 days in any 180 without a visa, counting time anywhere else in Schengen, and EU citizens need only ID. The UK government says your passport must have been issued less than 10 years before you arrive and remain valid for three months after you plan to leave. The EU's Entry/Exit System started on October 12, 2025 and fully replaced passport stamps on April 10, 2026, so expect fingerprints and a photo at your first Schengen border. ETIAS, the €20 online authorization, isn't running yet, and the European Commission says it will announce the start date months ahead.
Once you're here, the train is the whole system. Regional trains run La Spezia to Levanto through all five villages, and hops between neighbors take 2 to 4 minutes. Single tickets follow a crowd calendar set with the park, so Riomaggiore to Manarola cost €5 on a mid-October 2026 weekday and €8 on a weekend, falling to €2.40 in November. The park's Treno card buys unlimited rides for the day instead. Corniglia's station sits below the village, so either climb the zigzag staircase or ride the small ATC shuttle bus, free with a park card. The card doesn't cover ATC buses to La Spezia or Portovenere, where an extra-urban ticket starts at €3 and a network day pass costs €7.50.
Boats are the scenic alternative. Navigazione Golfo dei Poeti runs Line 02 along the coast with a hop-on, hop-off day ticket, sold online until eight hours before service, and posts weather changes each morning from 8am. Corniglia has no landing, and rough seas cancel sailings. Don't drive. If you arrive by car, leave it in La Spezia.
What's Changed Since 2016
The Via dell'Amore reopened on July 27, 2024, after a rockfall closed it in September 2012. The 900-meter path from Riomaggiore to Manarola, set into the cliff above the sea, is the coast's most famous walk, and for 12 years almost nobody could use it. It came back changed, with a booking system and one direction of travel, and five installations of work by the painter Gino Covili along the way.
On December 30, 2025, the park scrapped the old Cinque Terre Card Plus and folded Via dell'Amore access into the Treno card, and the Trekking card includes it too. The Cinque Terre Card now comes as a Trekking card, €10 a day or €15 on 31 peak days, and a Treno card with unlimited regional trains between La Spezia and Levanto, priced €22, €29.50 or €35 a day on a three-color calendar from March 14 to November 1, 2026, and €17.30 from November 2. Via dell'Amore entry requires a slot booked at purchase or later with a voucher, runs from Riomaggiore only, and closes at 9pm until October 24, 2026, then 6pm.
Prices have climbed since the last time most guidebooks checked. In October 2017, Wikivoyage recorded the trekking pass at €7.50, the train pass at €16 and a flat €5 single train ticket between villages valid for six hours. In 2026 those are €10 to €15, €22 to €35, and €5 to €8 a hop depending on the day.
Riomaggiore raised its tourist tax from €2 to €3 per person per night on January 1, 2025, and a 2025 follow-up capped it at three consecutive nights, so a week costs the same tax as a long weekend. If you change hotels within Riomaggiore, keep the receipts, since the next host has to count nights you've already paid for.
What the Usual Advice Gets Wrong
"Buy the Cinque Terre Card and you've paid to hike the national park." On foot, the card covers only the coastal path from Corniglia to Vernazza to Monterosso and the booked Via dell'Amore. Every other marked trail in the park is free, including the high routes to the sanctuaries and Volastra, and some of them have better views than the paid stretch.
"Walk the Blue Trail end to end, all five villages, in one day." You can't. The park's trail bulletin of September 22, 2026 still lists the Manarola to Corniglia section as closed, and the Via dell'Amore only runs one way, from Riomaggiore. The workable version is Corniglia to Vernazza (about 1 hour 30) and Vernazza to Monterosso (about 2 hours), both rated for experienced hikers, with trains to fill the gaps.
"July and August are when the crowds peak, so go in spring or September." The park's own list of 31 peak-price trekking days for 2026 has none in July or August. They're Easter weekend, April 25, the May 1 weekend, the June 2 holiday, other May and June weekends, and every September weekend from the 12th. The sweet spot is a spring or September weekday.
"Sandals are fine, it's a coastal stroll." The park bans open shoes and smooth soles on its trails, and says hikers need closed shoes with a grippy sole. Wikivoyage reports fines of €50 to €2,500, the top end when a rescue is needed, and the trail from Vernazza to Monterosso climbs over 250 meters on uneven rock with real drops.
"The Via dell'Amore is a romantic stroll you can wander anytime." In 2026 it's a timed slot booked in advance, entered at Riomaggiore and exited at Manarola, about 30 minutes, with no turning back unless you're a resident or another authorized group. You can't enter without a Cinque Terre Card. The free alternative is trail 531 over the hill via Beccara, about an hour and steep.
"Rent a car and drive between the villages." The villages are closed to outside traffic and what parking there is lies well outside them. Getting from one village to the next means climbing to the ridge road and down again, which takes longer than the 2 to 4 minute train.
Ideas to Consider for Your Visit
Have you thought about skipping the paid path altogether? The free trails above the villages show you the terraces from inside, and they carry a fraction of the coastal path's traffic. Trail 509 climbs from Monterosso to the sanctuary of Madonna di Soviore in about 1 hour 45. Trail 506 goes from Manarola up to the ridge at Sella di Monte Marvede in 2 hours 40, and trail 530, the Via dei Santuari, runs from Telegrafo to Volastra in about the same time. Check the park's trail network page the morning you go, since closures change with the weather.
The wine is the reason the terraces exist, so drink it where it's made. Cantina Cinque Terre, the cooperative at Groppo above Manarola, brings together 220 growers working 46 hectares and bottles about 200,000 bottles a year of Cinque Terre DOC white and Sciacchetrà, the sweet wine made from grapes dried until there's almost no juice left. A shuttle bus runs up from Manarola. A tasting with a transfer from Riomaggiore, Manarola or La Spezia, including a stop at the Costa da Posa vineyards, costs €50 (€30 without the ride), and the light-lunch version with focaccia, savory pies and lasagne al pesto costs €65 with transfer or €45 without.
Eat what the coast is known for and you'll eat well. Monterosso's anchovies come salted in oil, fried, or as cotoletta di acciuga, split, stuffed and fried. Trofie with pesto is the default pasta. Farinata, the thin chickpea-flour pancake, comes from pizzeria ovens, and torta di riso is the rice pie every grandmother makes, which Manarola bakes for San Lorenzo on August 10. Mussels from the Gulf of La Spezia turn up stuffed or stewed, and Corniglia is known for gelato made with local honey.
Have you thought about walking in from outside the park? The coastal path from Levanto to Monterosso crosses the Punta Mesco headland, with the Monterosso to Sant'Antonio Mesco stretch taking about 1 hour 15, and it passes Podere Case Lovara, a farm run by the Italian heritage trust FAI that's free with a park card.
Swim. Manarola has a deep swimming hole off a concrete pier, Corniglia's little harbor sits at the bottom of a long staircase and stays the quietest, and Monterosso has the only real sandy beaches. The water belongs to a marine protected area set up in 1998. Bring water shoes for the rocks, which are covered in sharp mussels and barnacles.
Go to Portovenere for the afternoon. It's part of the same UNESCO listing, with the islands of Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto offshore, and the boats on the coast line connect it with the villages. By land, take an ATC bus from La Spezia, since the park card doesn't cover it. If you're here in winter, Manarola lights up the hillside with a huge Nativity from December 8 to late January.
The Part Most Guides Miss
Most guides stop at the waterline, but the best of the Cinque Terre is a few hundred meters up, in the hamlets that hang above the villages. Volastra and Groppo sit above Manarola, and San Bernardino above Corniglia. The park's small ATC buses climb to them, free with a Cinque Terre Card, and from up there you see the whole system, terraces, monorail tracks for hauling grapes and the railway tunnels, instead of the backs of other visitors. Ride up, walk down through the vines, and you'll understand why the place is a farming landscape before it's a beach.
Where to Base Yourself
Riomaggiore and Manarola. The southern pair suits anyone arriving from Florence or Pisa, since they're the first stops out of La Spezia, and it puts you at the start of the one-way Via dell'Amore and close to the free Beccara trail and the wine cooperative. Manarola has the deep-water swimming and Riomaggiore the most going on in the evening along Via Colombo. The catch is the stairs, steep and many, and Riomaggiore's €3 a night tourist tax for up to three nights.
Vernazza or Corniglia. Vernazza is the classic harbor and the busiest by day, but it empties after the last boats and trains and has the liveliest evenings. Corniglia, up on its cliff, is the quietest village and sits between the two open sections of coastal path. The catch in Corniglia is the climb from the station, and in both, very few beds, so book early for anything between April and October.
Monterosso. The northern village has plenty of hotels, the big sandy beaches and the flattest streets, and it's the easiest if you have luggage, children or tired knees. It's also the least like the others, with a resort front and modern apartment blocks. Stay here for a beach holiday with walking on the side, and walk into Vernazza on the coastal path for the postcard.
La Spezia or Levanto. The two ends of the line are where the value is. La Spezia is a real city of about 92,700 people with more hostels, normal restaurants and every train, and it's where the Treno card starts. Levanto, just past Monterosso, has a beach and campgrounds a short walk from the station, the only ones near the park. The catch is that you commute in on trains that get packed from mid-morning in season.
Realities to Be Aware Of
Budget carefully, because the costs stack up. Hostelworld lists seven hostels around the Cinque Terre, with beds from about US$22 to $51 (roughly €19 to €46 at October's rate). Add a Treno card at €22 to €35 a day and food bought from bakeries and grocery shops, and a backpacker day lands around €60 to €100. Sleeping in La Spezia or Levanto and using single tickets on days you don't hike cuts that. Toilets at the village stations cost €1 without a card.
Safety here is about terrain and weather more than crime. The coastal paths have narrow sections with drops of a few meters, and the park bans open shoes on all trails. When the region issues a yellow weather alert the park advises against hiking and may stop selling Trekking cards, and on an orange or red alert every trail closes and all card sales stop. The emergency number is 112. Petty crime is mostly bag-snatching and pickpocketing, and the UK government warns about crowded stations and trains, which describes La Spezia Centrale on a holiday morning.
Summer heat matters on exposed trails, with average highs of 84°F (29°C) in July and August, so start early and carry water. Autumn is the wet season, with 6.5 inches in October and 7.9 in November and December, and that's when the floods and landslides happen. Cards aren't refunded for light rain, only for an official alert, so check the forecast before you buy.
Crowds have a rhythm. Day-trippers arrive on morning trains and thin out by evening, and the population of the villages can run ten times the resident number in summer. The park can restrict trail access on very busy days, so take the earliest train.
What things cost in Cinque Terre
Prices checked October 2026. Each links to where we read it.
| Item | Price | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Cinque Terre Trekking Card, 1 day, adult | €10, or €15 on 31 peak days (about $11-17), includes the Via dell'Amore with booking | Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre, 2026 tariff |
| Cinque Terre Treno Card, 1 day, adult | €22, €29.50 or €35 by calendar from March 14 to November 1, €17.30 from November 2 (about $19-39) | Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre, 2026 tariff resolution |
| Single train ticket between two villages | €5 to €8 in October 2026 depending on the day, €2.40 to €2.70 from November | Trenitalia journey planner, searched Oct 2026 |
| Florence Santa Maria Novella to La Spezia Centrale, regional train | €15.90 (about $18), 2 hours 21 to 2 hours 33 | Trenitalia journey planner, searched Oct 2026 |
| Pisa Airport to La Spezia Centrale, PisaMover plus train | €15.40-17.50 (about $17-20), 1 hour 30 to 1 hour 40 | Trenitalia journey planner, searched Oct 2026 |
| Hostel bed | From about US$22 to $51 a night (€19-46) across seven listed hostels | Hostelworld, Oct 2026 |
| Riomaggiore tourist tax | €3 per person per night, up to three consecutive nights | Comune di Riomaggiore, resolutions 2024 and 2025 |
| ATC bus tickets around La Spezia and Portovenere | €1.50 urban (60 minutes), from €3 extra-urban, €7.50 network day pass | ATC Esercizio, Oct 2026 |
| Wine tasting at Cantina Cinque Terre with transfer | €50 per person, €65 with light lunch | Cantina Cinque Terre, Oct 2026 |
Dollar figures use the ECB reference rate of €1 = US$1.12 on October 2, 2026.
If Cinque Terre Is Part of a Longer Trip
The Cinque Terre sit on the main coastal railway, which makes them an easy link in an Italian rail trip. South, Pisa is 50 minutes to 1 hour 15 from La Spezia for €8.90 to €14.90, and Florence about 2 hours 20 to 2 hours 35 for €15.90. Rome via Florence takes about 4 hours 15 for around €44. North, Monterosso to Genoa Brignole is 1 hour 9 on an Intercity for €11, Milan is 3 hours for €20.90, and Ventimiglia, the border station for Nice and Monaco, is about 4 hours for €24.70 to €29.80.
A sensible order runs north to south. Fly into Milan or Nice, work along the coast through Genoa to the Cinque Terre, then drop into Tuscany via Pisa and Lucca to Florence and Siena, and fly home from Rome. That open-jaw shape saves backtracking, and it's the kind of routing AirTreks builds when Italy is one stop on a longer trip. Going the other way works too, but you'd reach the coast in the heat of the afternoon trains from Florence.
Yearly Things to Consider
The season runs on the park's calendar more than the weather. The cards' high season runs from March 14 to November 1, and the park's peak-price days in 2026 were spring holiday weekends, from Easter through the June 2 holiday, plus every September weekend from the 12th. Summer is busy on the beaches and trains but hot on the trails, with 84°F (29°C) highs. October brings the first heavy rains, and November and December are the wettest months, at 7.9 inches each.
The counterintuitive move is a spring or September weekday, when you get the trail weather without the weekend surcharge, or early November after the season flips. From November 2 the Treno card drops to €17.30 and single tickets between neighbors fall to €2.40, but you trade that for rain, shorter Via dell'Amore hours that close at 6pm, and storms that can close the trails. Avoid Easter, April 25 and May 1 unless you like queues on platforms.
Cinque Terre month by month
| Month | Temp | Rainfall | Season | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53°F (12°C) | 4.6 in | Low | Quiet villages, Manarola's lit Nativity, winter sea storms. |
| February | 54°F (12°C) | 4.3 in | Low | Cool and quiet, some places closed. |
| March | 58°F (15°C) | 4.5 in | Shoulder | Card season and higher fares start March 14. |
| April | 66°F (19°C) | 5.0 in | Shoulder | Good hiking; Easter and April 25 are peak days. |
| May | 72°F (22°C) | 2.3 in | High | Best trail weather; weekends priced as peak. |
| June | 79°F (26°C) | 2.0 in | High | Swimming starts; June 2 holiday is busy. |
| July | 84°F (29°C) | 1.4 in | High | Hot trails, crowded beaches and trains. |
| August | 84°F (29°C) | 2.1 in | High | Hottest and busiest on the coast; San Lorenzo in Manarola August 10. |
| September | 78°F (26°C) | 3.3 in | High | Warm sea, grape harvest, every weekend from the 12th is peak. |
| October | 70°F (21°C) | 6.5 in | Shoulder | Rain returns; Via dell'Amore closes at 6pm from late month. |
| November | 62°F (17°C) | 7.9 in | Low | Cheaper cards and fares from November 2, frequent storms. |
| December | 56°F (13°C) | 7.9 in | Low | As wet as November; Nativity lights up Manarola from December 8. |
Ideas for Itineraries
3 Days in Cinque Terre
Arrive from Florence or Pisa and check into Manarola or Riomaggiore. Walk the Via dell'Amore at your booked slot in the late afternoon, when the light is low and the day-trippers are heading for the trains, then swim off the rocks in Manarola. On day two, catch the first train to Corniglia, walk to Vernazza and on to Monterosso before the heat and the crowds, and train back for dinner. Spend day three above the coast, riding the bus to Groppo for the wine cooperative and walking down through the vineyards.
5 Days in Cinque Terre
Follow the three days, then use the extra two to get out of the coastal funnel. Walk from Levanto to Monterosso over Punta Mesco one morning, stopping at Podere Case Lovara, and spend the afternoon on Monterosso's beach. Use the last day for Portovenere, by boat if the sea is calm or by ATC bus from La Spezia if it isn't, and take a short walk on Palmaria before heading back.
1 Week in Cinque Terre
A week lets you hike on good days and rest on bad ones. Split it between Corniglia or Vernazza and La Spezia, where rooms cost less and you have a real city's restaurants. Do the coastal path once, the free high trails twice, to Madonna di Soviore from Monterosso and the Via dei Santuari to Volastra, and spend a long lunch on Sciacchetrà and farinata. Keep a day for Portovenere and one for Genoa, 69 minutes north of Monterosso, as a weather backup.
2 Weeks or More in Cinque Terre
Two weeks only makes sense outside summer, ideally September into October or late April into May. Rent an apartment in La Spezia, where you're on every train line and in a working city, then spend weekdays in the villages and weekends somewhere else, Genoa, Pisa or Lucca, when the trails hit peak prices. In September you may catch the grape harvest on the terraces. For remote work, a city with normal internet and cafés like La Spezia is a better bet than a stone house on a cliff.
Sources
What this guide is built on. Every page below was read for this guide; prices and rules were checked in October 2026.
- Cinque Terre Trekking Card, Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
- Cinque Terre Treno Card, Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
- Modalità di fruizione della Via dell'Amore, Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
- FAQ Cinque Terre Card, Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
- Cinque Terre Card: rimodulazione della tariffa per l'annualità 2026 (Deliberazione 67, 30.12.2025), Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
- Giorni di tariffa di picco, carte Trekking 2026, Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
- Calendario 2026 Tariffa 39/9 Cinque Terre e Carte Multiservizi, Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre / Trenitalia (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
- Rete sentieristica (trail status bulletin), Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
- Vademecum Escursionista, Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
- Il Parco dell'Uomo, Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
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- Cinque Terre Card shop, Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
- Via dell'Amore, Riomaggiore, Comune di Riomaggiore (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
- Cinque Terre, after twelve years the Via dell'Amore reopens, Finestre sull'Arte (accessed Oct 3, 2026)
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Cinque Terre Travel FAQ
No, park info points at the village stations, La Spezia and Levanto sell it, but buying online saves queuing and lets you book your Via dell'Amore slot at the same time. The card is named and you must show ID with it, though it doesn't need to be printed. You can change the date once, at least 24 hours ahead, and only to a day in the same price band.
Light rain or a bad forecast doesn't earn a refund. The park refunds only when there's an official weather alert, yellow for Trekking cards and orange or red for both types, or a train strike for the Treno card. Multi-day cards aren't refunded once any part is used, so buy one-day cards when the weather is uncertain.
Yes. Children under 4 ride the trains and enter park services free with an adult who has a card. Children from 4 to 12 pay €7 for a one-day Trekking card, or €10 on peak days, and €15 to €23.50 for a Treno card. Over-70s pay €8.50 to €12.50 for Trekking, and families of two adults with children aged 4 to 12 get a combined card from €27.10.
It's hard. The villages are built in steps, and Corniglia sits about 380 steps above its station, though the ATC shuttle bus takes you up. Monterosso is the flattest and easiest with luggage. If you're carrying a lot, sleep in La Spezia and leave the bags at your hotel.
They run seasonally and only when the sea allows, and the operator posts changes for weather and sea conditions every morning from 8am. Day tickets for the Cinque Terre line can be bought online until eight hours before the boats start, and other tickets only at the quayside on the day. Corniglia has no landing, so walk or take the train there.