Description
This private day tour from Lucca to Portovenere and the Cinque Terre starts at your accommodation and puts the whole Ligurian coast in the hands of your own English-speaking driver. The drive to the first stop takes about an hour and a half, and the rest of the day is yours to pace.
First comes Portovenere, with its tall, colourful houses along the waterfront. Out on the promontory stands the Gothic Church of San Pietro, raised between 1256 and 1277 on the site of earlier religious buildings, and below it a small grotto named after Lord Byron.
Then the Cinque Terre, a UNESCO World Heritage landscape best seen from the water. You can take the local ferry (paid separately) to Manarola or Vernazza, pass Riomaggiore on the way for photos, and stop for lunch. Your driver meets you again to visit Corniglia, the oldest village, up on its hill. Another option is to ferry to Riomaggiore and walk the Via dell'Amore to Manarola, about 20 minutes on the level, then continue by train to Vernazza.
Squeezing in every village makes for a rushed day, so it is better to stay flexible and let the driver adapt to weather, sea conditions and your wishes. A standard day lasts up to nine hours, and being private it can be reshaped. The tour includes pick-up and drop-off in Lucca, your own Mercedes, either a sedan or a minivan seating up to 7, water, tolls, parking and fuel. Ferry and train tickets, meals, tastings and museum tickets are extra. Vehicles cannot enter the villages, so expect a fair amount of walking uphill and downhill.