La Spezia as a base for the Cinque Terre

Why use La Spezia as a base

The Cinque Terre are five small villages with few beds and high prices in season. La Spezia is right next door, with far more accommodation and a rail hub with frequent trains in both directions. In practice you live like a commuter: breakfast in town, train in the morning, back in the evening.

The biggest advantage is the car: parking in the villages is scarce and expensive and the roads are narrow and winding. From La Spezia you do not need one. In the evening you also have a real city with trattorias, a seafront and open shops. The downside is that you miss the villages at dawn and late at night, after the day-trippers have gone.

By train: the Cinque Terre Express

Regional trains on the La Spezia–Levanto line stop at all five villages: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso. From 14 March to 1 November 2026 Trenitalia adds the Cinque Terre Express, 46 extra daily services between Levanto and La Spezia, roughly every half hour. Each hop between villages takes only a few minutes.

In La Spezia trains leave from Centrale; some services also start or end at La Spezia Migliarina, the city’s other station. Always check the station on your ticket or in the app.

Single tickets or the card?

In season, journeys between Cinque Terre stations have a special fare that changes according to a crowd calendar with three bands: A (low), B (medium) and C (high). In 2026 a single journey costs 5 euros in band A, 8 in band B and 10 in band C; children aged 4 to 12 pay half. A ticket covers one journey with no stopovers and is valid for 75 minutes after validation.

The National Park’s Cinque Terre Train Card gives unlimited second-class travel between La Spezia and Levanto all day. In 2026 an adult one-day card costs 22 euros in band A, 29.50 in band B and 35 in band C; two days cost 36.50, 51 and 61 euros; three days 49, 68 and 81 euros. There are fares for children, over-70s and families. From 2 November to 31 December a single, lower price applies.

The maths is simple: if you make four or more train journeys a day, say out, two hops between villages and back, the card pays off. If you visit one village and return, two single tickets are cheaper. The card also covers the Sentiero Verde Azzurro between Monterosso, Vernazza and Corniglia and the Via dell’Amore, park buses in the villages, station toilets, free entry to the CAMeC in La Spezia and reduced entry to the civic museums. It is personal: carry ID.

If you only want to hike and arrive on foot or by boat, there is the Cinque Terre Trekking Card, without trains, from 10 euros a day (15 on high-demand days). Prices and the band calendar are on the Cinque Terre National Park website and on Trenitalia.

Where to buy and the evening fare

You can buy the card at the Park Infopoints in the stations from La Spezia to Levanto, at Trenitalia ticket offices and machines, in the app or online. In high season the queues at Centrale are long: buy the day before. After 7.30 pm and until 4 am, an evening fare equal to band A applies on the Levanto–La Spezia line: handy if you have dinner in a village and come back late.

By boat

Boats run by the Consorzio Marittimo Turistico 5 Terre Golfo dei Poeti leave from the Passeggiata Morin. One line links La Spezia with Portovenere, Palmaria island and Lerici; another continues from Portovenere along the Cinque Terre coast. The service runs from late March to early November and stops in rough seas.

The boat is slower and pricier than the train, but it shows you the villages from the sea, the best view of all. A good plan is the train in the morning and the boat back in the afternoon via Portovenere. Timetables and fares on Navigazione Golfo dei Poeti.

Where to park and where to stay

If you arrive by car, leave it in La Spezia for your whole stay. For the train, look for the multi-storey car park near the central station; for the boats, Porto Mirabello next to the Passeggiata Morin is convenient. Parts of the centre are a ZTL: check the city council website before driving in.

The best area to stay is around the central station: you are on the train in minutes, even first thing in the morning when the villages are still empty. If you prefer evenings in town, Via del Prione and the Passeggiata Morin are ten minutes’ walk from the platforms.

A sample day

• 8 am: train from Centrale to Monterosso, the furthest village, before the crowds arrive.
• Morning: the Sentiero Verde Azzurro to Vernazza, if open and included in your card.
• Lunch: in Vernazza, then the train to Corniglia or Manarola.
• Afternoon: Manarola and Riomaggiore, the two villages closest to La Spezia.
• Evening: ten minutes back by train, dinner in La Spezia.

Spend the next day on the Gulf of Poets: the boat to Portovenere and Palmaria, or the bus to Lerici.