My husband and I are planning a trip to

Hi Debbie, I holiday in the Cinque Terre area for at least 6 weeks every year. My recommendation is to stay in the delightful, friendly town of Levanto which is the next town north of Monterosso. Use Levanto as your base. As lovely as the Cinque Terre is, you will have a far more authentic Italian experience if you stay here. The accomodation options are numerous. Restaurants are excellent, better value & more authentic, exceptional gelateria & the people are a joy. You must hire bikes (many hotels have them) & take the easy scenic ride through the magnificent old vaulted railway tunnels that open to the sea. The tunnels link Levanto, Bonasola & Framura. Hope this helps.

You don’t say where you are flying from, but assuming the UKWhy not fly to Nice and start from there?  Also – do you really need a car?  You could use trains for much of the trip – and they are much cheaper than in the UK.  For train times, I use http://reiseauskunft.bahn.de/bin/query.exe/en?newrequest=yes&protocol=http:&NICE - Spend a couple of days there – or more if you want to do Cannes and Antibes.  All can be visited by train, and it goes along the coast, giving great views.  Little need for a carThen catch a train to Levanto [or similar] from Nice – a great days sightseeing on the train. A pleasant day trip along the Ligurian Riviera, before going inland a bit.The Cinque Terre is best ‘done’ by a combination of the local trains and walking the coastal path.  Road access is ‘limited’.  There are 3 paths, the coastal one which is flat [and crowded with Americans “doing the 5 Cities”], a middle one, not too steep, less crowded, and reasonably easy to walk, and the upper path – steep in places, but empty of people, and with great views out to sea .[Once had a week’s walking holiday in the area – marvellous!]Then by train [again] to Naples, and on by local train to Sorrento [total about 7 hrs].  We stayed at Hotel Il Nido, just outside of Sorrento - http://www.hotelilnido.it/index-en.php  Lovely place and great views – try his home made Limoncello!!!!  When we were there [a few years ago now] the owner ran a minibus service for residents, so they could go to/from Sorrento free of charge.The Amalfi coast is well served by buses, and you can also walk the ‘Pathway of the Gods’, an old mule track on the top of the cliffs [hard work getting up to, and down from, it.]  I wouldn’t drive the coast road – you’ll be too busy watching the road and other drivers to appreciate the scenery.  A day trip to Capri is worth it – the pathway around the island is well worth doing That’s probably the best part of 2-3 weeks of your holiday sorted.  Then Naples to Florence is just over 2 hours by train – a car there would be a pain o park etc etc, but you could hire one to explore the countryside thereThen back to Nice by train

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