Pisa International Airport to Cinque Terre (La Spezia)
About 90 km north-west; the train via Pisa Centrale to La Spezia takes around two hours for €15–25, and it is the only sensible route.
Five villages built into the cliffs of the Ligurian coast, joined by footpaths and a railway in tunnels — no through road, terraced vineyards above and the sea straight below.
Every way to get there
Our verdict: for Cinque Terre (La Spezia), a private transfer is the easiest door-to-door option (from €160).
What it costs for your group
The bus is charged per person, while a taxi or private transfer is one price for the whole car — so the more of you there are, the better door-to-door value looks.
| Group | Private transfer | Best value |
|---|---|---|
| Solo · 1 traveller | €160 | Private transfer |
| Couple · 2 travellers | €160 | Private transfer |
| Family of 4 · 4 travellers | €160 | Private transfer |
Which option should you choose?
| If your priority is… | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest price | Cheapest fare | From €15, though slower with a change in the city. |
| Speed & comfort | Private transfer | Door-to-door, fixed price, a driver waiting for you. |
| A group of 3–4 | Transfer or taxi | One flat fare splits cheaper than several bus tickets. |
| A late-night arrival | Transfer or taxi | Both run 24/7 when buses and the tram have stopped. |
By transport mode
Train
The only practical way. From La Spezia the village line runs every fifteen to thirty minutes; the Cinque Terre Card covers unlimited trips and the footpaths together, and is worth buying on arrival.
Where to catch it: PisaMover to Pisa Centrale, then a coastal train north to La Spezia, where the local Cinque Terre line starts.
Best for budget travellers near a stationCar rental
A car is a liability here. Monterosso has some parking, the other four effectively none, and the roads down to them are single-track hairpins. Park at La Spezia and take the train in.
Where to catch it: Motorway to La Spezia in about an hour and forty. Parking in the villages themselves is severely restricted.
Best for travellers who want to explorePrivate transfer
Expensive, and it still cannot reach four of the five villages. Book it only if you are staying in La Spezia or Levanto with luggage that makes the train change unappealing.
Where to catch it: Drivers will take you to La Spezia or to Monterosso, the only village with real road access.
Best for families, groups & late arrivalsTaxi
Ninety kilometres each way with restricted access at the far end. The train at fifteen to twenty-five euros does the same job better.
Where to catch it: Possible by negotiation, and rarely chosen at this distance.
Best for small groups in a hurryCinque Terre (La Spezia) & Pisa in photos
Buying tickets in Pisa
Pisa's connection is the best-engineered of any airport in this guide. The PisaMover is a driverless elevated shuttle running to Pisa Centrale in five minutes for €6, every 5–10 minutes from around 06:00 to midnight — no timetable to memorise, no traffic. Buy from the machines by the covered walkway; the ticket also covers the replacement bus if the line is out of service. From Centrale, Tuscany opens up: Florence in about an hour, Lucca in thirty minutes, Livorno and Viareggio in forty. Direct coaches skip the change entirely — Autostradale's Sky Bus to Florence at €15–20 in about 70 minutes, and to Lucca at €5–8 in 30 minutes, both from outside arrivals and cheaper booked online. For Pisa itself the LAM Rossa city bus costs under €3 and stops closer to the Leaning Tower than the PisaMover does, though it is slower. Validate regional train tickets before boarding; the fine is enforced.
Taxi scams & safety in Pisa
Pisa is a low-friction airport and the taxi fares are honest — €18–25 into the city on the meter, and around €170 to Florence, which is a real price for a real 85-kilometre journey rather than an opportunistic one. The genuine financial risk here is the ZTL. Florence's restricted zone is among the strictest in Italy, ringed with cameras, and a driver who enters without a permit passes the fine on to you months later through the rental company or the transfer operator. Confirm the drop-off point when booking rather than at the barrier, and give an exact address rather than a landmark. The same applies in miniature at Lucca, where private cars cannot enter the walls at all, and at Siena and San Gimignano, where cars stop at the gates and everything beyond is on foot. If you are heading to the Cinque Terre, do not hire a car: four of the five villages have effectively no parking and the roads down to them are single-track hairpins — park at La Spezia and take the local train in.
Getting from PSA to Cinque Terre (La Spezia)
Do not hire a car. That is the first and most useful thing to say about the Cinque Terre. Four of the five villages have effectively no parking, the roads down to them are single-track hairpins, and the entire place was built on the assumption that you would arrive by boat or on foot. The railway that now runs through the cliffs in tunnels is the modern equivalent, and it is how you should get there.
The route from Pisa
PisaMover to Pisa Centrale for €6, then a coastal train north to La Spezia Centrale, roughly hourly, about two hours in total for €15 to €28. La Spezia is where the local Cinque Terre line starts, running the villages every fifteen to thirty minutes.
The Cinque Terre Card
Buy it at La Spezia. It covers unlimited trips on the village train, the footpaths that charge, and the local buses, and it removes the need to buy a ticket for every short hop. There is a train-inclusive version and a trails-only version; for most visitors the train one pays for itself by the second day.
The five villages, briefly
Monterosso has the only real beach and the most road access. Vernazza has the natural harbour and is the one on the postcards. Corniglia is on top of a cliff with three hundred and eighty-two steps up from its station, or a shuttle bus. Manarola stacks down a ravine to a swimming spot. Riomaggiore is the largest and nearest La Spezia.
The paths, and which ones are open
The high trails between the villages are the reason many people come, and their status changes — landslides close sections for months or years at a time. The famous Via dell'Amore between Riomaggiore and Manarola has been shut for long periods and partially reopened. Check the current state before planning a walking itinerary around a specific route.
What the walking is actually like
Steep, stepped, exposed and hot in summer. These are terraced vineyard paths, not promenades. They are entirely manageable with proper footwear and water and genuinely unpleasant in sandals at two in the afternoon in July. Start early.
Staying in La Spezia instead
It is an ordinary port city with hotel rooms at a fraction of village prices, and the train into the villages takes ten to twenty minutes. Many people who cannot get or afford a room in Vernazza end up here and find it works well. Levanto, on the other side, does the same job with a beach.
The boats
In season, a ferry runs between the villages — all except Corniglia, which has no harbour — and it is the best way to see them, because they were designed to be approached from the water. It stops in rough weather and it is the first thing to be cancelled.
Crowds, and when
The villages are small and the numbers are large. Cruise passengers arrive from La Spezia in the middle of the day and the main streets of Vernazza and Riomaggiore become slow-moving queues. Mornings and evenings are a different experience entirely, which is the argument for staying overnight rather than day-tripping from Pisa.
If you do bring a car
Park it at La Spezia or Levanto and take the train. Monterosso has some paid parking above the village and it fills early. The others are not worth attempting. This is the clearest case in this guide where the hire car is a liability rather than a convenience.
A private transfer, and its limits
€160 to €240 will get you to La Spezia or to Monterosso, and no further — no vehicle reaches the other four in any useful way. Book it only if you are staying in La Spezia or Levanto and the train change with luggage is unappealing.
Luggage, seriously
The villages are built on slopes and stairs. Rooms are up flights of steps from the station and there are no lifts. A large hard case is a mistake here in a way it is not in Florence or Pisa — pack for a place that expects you to carry your own bag uphill.
