Dana-Downer Here - Cinque Terre

We had high expectations for our full-day excursion to Cinque Terre from Florence. We have seen so many beautiful pictures and felt that we had to see some of the five villages. We went to Riomaggiore, Vernazza, and Monterroso.

First mistake: I booked a private tour and driver from Florence to Cinque Terre. Total waste of money. We should have just taken the train to La Spezia and then taken the train up and down the five villages on our own. Teachable moment.

Second mistake: We are not boaters, so we only saw the villages from the main town vs. the cliffs.

Cinque Terre had the perfect storm for us: PACKED with tourists, super HOT, and STAIRS forever. Even the hiking trails were bumper-to-bumper people, there was no place to cool down (unless we went into the water, which we didn't), and the food was "meh."

I think you get the drift. We checked the box, but I wouldn't recommend it during the summer.