Expert: Edoardo - 6/17/2009

Question
Hi, I am planning a trip to Tuscany...specifically in Arezzo, Cortona.  I plan to stay in a villa and then travel north to Cinque Terre, Portofino and then depart from the airport in Milan.  I planned on renting a car.  I have heard the roads to CInque Terre are windy and narrow and not ideal for a rental car.  What do you suggest? What is the best means of transportation to Cinque Terre, then to POrtfofino and finally to Milan? Thanks!

Answer
Hello,
I always suggest to hire a tour company / driver who can take care of the driving while you are enjoying the view.
If you want to try to do it by yourselves it could be ok, but I frankly would discourage you from risking of turning your vacation into a nightmare.
I'd rent a car only while in Cortona, then I would drop it off there and have someone drive me to Cinque Terre or maybe another solution could be taking the train from Arezzo to Florence and then from Florence to Pisa and finally from Pisa to Cinque Terre. Well, if you have a lot of bags all this connection might be complicated. You can try to call/email the guys from TAT (www.toursaroundtuscany.com), they are well quoted and give a good service either for tours of the area and for transfers. They are not inexpensive but you may save a lot of time and maybe you can relax a little bit more not having to drive by yourselves or catching connections.
Once you will be in the 5 terre your car will be useless, as it is impossible to drive thee, actually it is possible but to go from place A to place B by train is 2 minutes (and a small daily ticket valid for all the other villages), by car instead is 1 hour and a lot of hustle and bustle to find a parking. So in the 5 terre you will not be using your car. Same thing for Portofino. So, as a matter of fact, you'd only use a little bit your car while in Cortona. So I suggest you to rent a car (or use this tour company for making some tours of the area) while in Cortona, and then give it back to the rental car and follow your itinerary by train/bus/ private chauffeur.

Have fun,
Edoardo