Cinque Terre, also known as Italy´s fabulous 5 is a must see after Florence and Rome if planning on traveling to Italy. We highly recommend going there for the weekend if you live in Europe or are flying in from abroad. The Amalfi Coast is also a great place to visit, especially Positano if you have an Air BnB or Hotel on the hill, however Cinque Terre in my opinion was definitely more impressive in terms of the views, colours & lanscape. Whether you are visiting Cinque Terre with Babies or not it is definitely one to add to your bucket-list. The 5 coastal villages that make up Cinque Terre Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore.
General Tips
They are all extremely beautiful in their own way and if you asked me which ones to see if you only had a limited amount of time I would say go see Manarola, Riomaggiore and Vernazza. Well those were the places I was able to take the best pictures and I am assuming that´s what most people want to do 🙂 as you are in Italy the food will be amazing everywhere.
The best times to go are between April and September.
Leave the stroller at home. Be Prepared to walk a lot and taking a baby stroller would not be advisable. We made that mistake and learned the hard way. If you have a baby carrier that would be the best option as the path is quite bumpy and challenging. If you insist on taking thr stroller Monterosso is the most stroller friendly out of all the towns.
It can get very crowded in the afternoons so try to start your day earlier.
Each village has a kids playground and in italian they are called ‘parco giochi’.
You will have little cell phone coverage when in the cities apart from at the train stations.
Do not expect to find a baby change table anywhere and the same goes for all across Italy therefore be prepared to change your baby out on a park bench or anywhere else in public.
I would also make sure to bring hand sanitiser as the public toilets in Italy are also not the cleanest.
Dont forget the sunscreen.
Transportation
We flew into Genoa as that was the cheapest. From there we rented a car and drove to La Spezia where we stayed in an Air BnB. The drive took approximately 1 hour from the airport.
Milan & Florence are also cities you can fly into to get to Cinque Terre. You can either rent a car or take a train. Depending on where you are staying taking a train might be the easiest as it is not easy to find parking.
Kids under 4 travel for free on the trains.
If you are planning on driving through Italy and seeing various cities renting a car is probably your best bet as Italy is so small, you can practically drive to any big city within 1-2 hours. I think we managed to see Genoa, Cinque Terre, Pisa and Florence all in 3 days and it was sufficient.
Taking a ferry is also an excellent option when travelling with babies or more specifically toddlers. Kids under 5 travel for free on the Ferry.
Accommodation
One of the reasons why we stayed in la Spezia is because it is a lot cheaper than staying in a hotel or Air BnB in one of the 5 coastal cities and it is only 10 minutes or so away by train via the Cinque Terre Express. In addition we were able to park are car there at the Air BnB with no issues.
In addition the regional train line runs frequently from la Spezia through all of the 5 coastal cities if you don´t walk through all of them. And obviously it is not an easy takes if traveling with a baby. I would not really recommend doing that either because the trails are quite bumpy/rocky.
Therefore if considering traveling to Cinque Terre with your baby my suggestion would be to find an Air BnB in la Spezia and take a train to see the other cities and hop on and off the train at any time.
If you stay in la Spezia there are also quite a few supermarkets close by unlike the 5 coastal cities where everything is so expensive there including the food, corner shops, etc.
Alternatively see this website for Family friendly accommodation options. http://www.cinqueterreriviera.com/
Baby Food/ Breastfeeding/ Restaurants
The italians are quite liberal and accepting when it comes to Breastfeeding and it is accepted everywhere.
La Spezia is more of a residential town and we were easily able to find supermarkets and prepared food for our daughter in the Air BnB to bring along. If staying in one of the 5 towns expect to find smaller and more expensive supermarkets. We also struggled to find baby formula there and were lucky we brought some along.
My suggestion would be to bring enough formula & baby weaning foods for your trip as the main dishes you can order in the restaurants is seafood. Alternatively they made plain pasta for our daughter who was 7/8 months she ate bread & cooked veggies.
Restaurants are very baby friendly and accomodating. Some might have high chairs, hoever the majority dont have change tables.
Vernazza “Pizzeria da Ercole” on Via Visconti 34 & Riomaggiore
“Trattoria la Lanterna” on via Giacomo 46 were our favourites.
Quick selfie while Havana is napping
We hope that you will find this information useful while planning your trip. Please feel free to email us with questions if you have any. Additional pictures to be added shortly.
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