Excellent adventure with Stefano as our driver and Laura as our tour guide. Stefano picked us up directly off the cruise ship and as we drove in a comfortable van, gave a great overview of the Livorno area and Tuscany countryside. Laura joined us as we approached Cinque Terre and did a superb job of guiding us thru the villages, assuring we made it to the Ferries on time, and sharing her tremendous knowledge of the area including any 'silly' tourist questions that were asked. Stefano picked us up at the last village and shared his knowledge again with us on the trip back to the ship. Many thanks for a great time!!!

We had an incredible day in Cinque Terre. Our guide Luigi was absolutely fantastic, giving us options across the day, recommendations for food, wine, boat and train. We ended up going to three villages, and ending in a beautiful swim in Monterosso. Our driver was excellent too. They were thoughtful, knowledgeable and lots of fun. Highly recommend this day trip and the company.

Although the day started off with torrential rain, we had the most amazing day. Our guide, Vito, picked us up at the ship on time. He was charming, fun and most important, very knowledgeable. The restaurant he took us to for lunch was excellent. Delicious food and very good wine. Would definitely recommend him and the company.

Excellent guide Laura shared many high points of the Cinque Terre. She easily led us onto the ferry and to the next villages. It is beautiful to see. Good food and shopping tips. The only downside is the crowds and large tour groups you run into. Our transport from Livorno and back was very cordial, timely and competent. Thank you Simona.

We highly recommend this tour!! Our guide, Luigi, was fantastic, as was our driver. The pick-up from the Livorno cruise port was very easy. It was just my husband and two daughters with our driver and tour guide. They were warm and friendly, clearly explained all of the details of the tour, and really worked to customize our experience based on what we were looking for. We ultimately did 3 for the 5 villages, as after discussing our options and pros and cons with Luigi, felt that would be best. We had enough time in each to walk around and see the villages, grab gelato, and/or do a little exploring and site seeing. We opted to spend the most time at the last village and ate a restaurant Luigi recommended. It was absolutely fabulous! The food was so good, the staff friendly, and the wine delicious. Then we went to where Luigi recommended the best spot for swimming and had the best time. The drive back was comfortable in the van and delivered us right back to the port very close to the boat. Navigating the villages by car is not easy, so there is some walking involved, but all in all was great!!

There are simply no words to describe the PERFECTION of this tour...Cinque Terre is absolutely a marvelous to visit! We got to do Manarola, Monterosso , and Vernazza, all 3 had their own special magic. Regarding the tour provider Bellaitaliatour, me and my wife, we can't thank enough our tour guide Luigi, for all his knowledge, kindness, humor and willing to make this trip the best tour of all of them! (spoke perfect English)...The driver as well, Nasmi, was a great, fun guy, punctual at beginning and at the end, as expected. So go ahead and book this with Bellaitaliatour with no hesitation, and make sure to ask to get Luigi as a guide!, he is simply amazing! won't regret it, guaranteed!

As beautiful as pictures you see in magazines. Ferry ride is short. Tour guides helpful and directed us everywhere. Brief town visits were long enough. Tour continued with van ride back.

Simona and Stefano met us at the port. Both vans were in great condition. We were a family group of 11 ranging in ages from 18-78, and we ALL had a wonderful time. We arrived in Cinque Terre and met Romina who was very knowledgeable, patient and fun. We had an amazing time in Cinque Terre. I rode in Simona's van and she was great in explaining things to us on the way to and from Cinque Terre. Diana in the office was very responsive and prompt. I highly recommend Bellaitalia Tours!

We had an absolutely wonderful trip with Mossimo! Mossimo was our driver for our Cinque Terre day trip and truly made it unforgettable. He was kind, extremely knowledgeable, punctual, and by the end of our trip, was like a friend. Would highly recommend Bella Italia for any type of tour experience. Much better option than the shore excursions offered by our cruise line. Thank you, Mossimo and Bella Italia for a wonderful time!

Wonderful tour! Amazing, and kind tour guide...Luigi made our tour the best and went out of his way to ensure we had an incredible time (even extended our tour even though it was the day before his wedding). Alexander the driver was also great and did a detour so we could add Pisa to our tour! So impressed with the professionalism and friendly service. Would do it again with this duo as we felt safe and taken care of at all times. Not only did we get to experience the great beauty of Cinque Terre, but we felt like we were with family after only a few minutes of starting the tour. Ask for Luigi if you do this tour and you will not be disappointed!

Luigi and Alessandro took us on an amazing Cinque Terre tour. Visiting the four main islands with plenty of time to explore. Luigi is very knowledgeable with the entire area, and a very seasoned and professional guide. You will not be disappointed with BellaItalia tours.

Tour was very good. Driver was prompt and courteous. Guide was great and managed the multiple boat trips very effectively considering the crowds. Also tailored the tour to our requests.

Our Cinque Terra tour was wonderful and the perfect way to see this beautiful area if you only have a day to spare. We actually were picked up in Lucca and loved our full day exploring the villages of Cinque Terra. We were able to do so by ferry after reaching the area - but if you have to go by train, that would be just as wonderful. Or even better if you are a train lover. The trains come right into the villages for easy access just like the ferries. Enjoy!

On 18 September, 2022 we went to to Cinque Terre on an all day tour with Bella ItaliaTours, leaving from the port of Livorno. It was a wonderful day! You can never be quite certain when you book online with a company you know nothing about, but when we shot off our ship the minute the gangway was down, there stood a man with a sign bearing our names, exactly as promised. And it was our great good fortune that the man behind the sign, & our guide for the day, was Luigi! Luigi greeted us warmly, & introduced us to Alessandro, the man who would drive us to Cinque Terre in the shiny Mercedes van & pick us up for the trip home. He even stopped for photo ops, jockeying for the best & safest spot. Luigi & Alessandro got us settled, handed out icy bottles of water & we took off, Luigi providing a commentary on the area, our destination, & what to expect. His enthusiasm was contagious & if we hadn’t already been looking forward to our day, Luigi’s excitement would have rubbed off. What gave us our first hint of just how special this day would be & how committed Luigi was to our enjoyment, was the way his face lit up when he told us that we’d be taking the ferry. The weather had been bad & the water rough for the past week or more, the ferries had been grounded, & everyone had to take the train. He’d been amazed, he said, when he had called that morning & was told that they were running again. His delight was genuine & infectious. Throughout the day Luigi provided just the right amount of guidance & freedom. The ferry operators knew Luigi well & we walked right on from among the waiting crowds. From local history & color to advice on local dishes & wine, to which restaurants made them best & were least expensive, Luigi’s commentary was flawless all day. He was happy to have a group of photographers (3 of the 4 of us carried large cameras) & led us to his favorite colorful little corners & beautiful photogenic side streets. When we reached Manarola, Luigi informed us that the next town we would visit, Vernazzo, had the very best gelato of all the villages while the last, Monterosso, had the best food. We should eat dessert first, he advised. Fine with us! Furthermore, since the area is famous for its pesto, he recommended that we try the basil gelato, something that would never have occurred to us; it was delicious! We convinced Luigi to let us treat him to lunch & were glad when he finally agreed. Not only did he know the best restaurants, but when he led us to his favorite & there wasn’t an empty table anywhere, a few words with the manager made one magically appear. His advice with the menu was invaluable, lunch was delicious & we enjoyed his company. Luigi declined to join us polishing off the bottle of local wine he recommended, but it was as lovely & light as he promised. A little more exploring after lunch & we started uphill again, climbing out of the “five lands” & back to Alessandro. Bella Italia Tours does an amazing job. I recommend them most highly & while I suspect all their guides are good, ask for Luigi & Alessandro! What a wonderful day! Note: It surprised me to see a review faulting Bella Italia because the author had expected that by “boat” between villages he had been promised a private boat & that it had not been made clear that the “boats” between the villages were, in fact, public ferries. I would have thought it impossible to reserve a tour to Cinque Terre without doing at least a modicum of research about the destination. Everything written about visiting Cinque Terre makes it clear that traveling between the towns is either by ferry (if you’re lucky) or by train. To expect a “ferry” to be reserved to one’s private use is ludicrous & the fault, & error, here lies entirely with the reviewer.

About three months before our cruise, I started looking for someplace else to see in the general area of Livorno that we had not seen. We had never seen the Leaning Tower and the rest of Pisa, but that was a two-hour tour, and we would be in Livorno for two days and would see that on the second day. So where to go? I searched maps and Cruise Critic for ideas, and in doing that, I looked up the coast, and lo and behold—Cinque Terre. We had heard so much about it but had never been there, and we really wanted to see it, but for some reason, Viking does not do any tours in that direction (although it took us the same amount of time to get there as it did to get into Florence). That meant I had to find us a tour. So off I went to Google, and the first tour that popped up was a “Tour to Cinque Terre from the Port of Livorno” by BellaItalia Tours. That sounded like just what we were looking for, so I contacted them. Like most tours, this had one price—the price of the tour. Actually, there were two possibilities—a tour with a driver who got you there and got you off on your way into the first “land” and then picked you up and took you back to the ship after you finished touring everything. The other option was a driver AND a guide. The driver got you there, but the guide accompanied you throughout the day from village to village telling us all about them on the way. We wanted to do this because we were looking for someone to walk us through the entire thing. If you got the driver and the guide, the price was just about 800 euros for two people. But if you could find more to join you, the price went down because you were paying for the car, driver and guide no matter what. Up to 8 people could come along. To find someone else to join us (the other four in our party had never been to Florence, so they were going there), I went on Cruise Critic to our roll call (click here if you need Cruise Critic and Roll Calls explained) and found Corky and Larry from Maui who said they would love to join us. This meant our price was basically cut in half. And not only did that make this tour a bargain, but we made two great friends in the process. As soon as the ship had been cleared by the port authorities, we were off and looking for my name on a placard being held by our guide, the amazing and hilarious Luigi. And he and our driver (Alessandro) were waiting right where they said they would be, we jumped in their Mercedes van, and we were off. What joy it was to ride in a van and not a “luxury motor coach.” It meant that there were two of us to a seat, with plenty of legroom and Luigi giving us non-stop play-by-play as we drove along. As soon as you have seen La Spezia go by, you go over the hill, and you are looking down at the first of the five “lands” of Cinque Terre (literally translates to “five lands”), Riomaggiore. It’s a beautiful little village built into the side of a very steep hill. Alessandro dropped us off, and we walked down into the town itself. We would next see our illustrious driver at the other end of Cinque Terre. From this point on, our transport was the Cinque Terre ferry. Luigi led us down through the town, pointing things out to us as we went. We all took a much-needed restroom break and then met Luigi to board the ferry to move to the next land. Luigi was a font of knowledge all about the region. We all learned a lot, especially that we should wait for the fourth village, Vernazza, to get gelato because they had the best, then have lunch at the end of the journey in Monterosso because they had the best food. We liked that—eat dessert first. The second stop on our visit was to the village of Manarola, which might have been the most picturesque. The photo at the top of this post was taken there. Luigi was more than thrilled to help me find my shots because he said we had something in common. His real vocation in life was a guitarist, and he loved it. He told us it was “his art.” And he said photography was mine. I truly appreciated his interest, and from that point on (he had this conversation with Kathleen on the ferry while I was outside taking photos) he took me to what he thought would make great pictures…and he was right. The ferry to the next of the five lands (actually four because the ferry does not stop in the middle land of Corniglia as there is no place for it to dock—it is only accessible by train) comes just about every hour, so once we landed in Manarola for instance; we had an hour to take photos and look around before we got back on the next ferry and left for Vernazza. Vernazza was the village where we heard about the awesome gelato, and again, Luigi proved to be correct. He had advised me that if I truly wanted to try what the locals loved, I would have basil gelato (seen at right). So I did, and it was wonderful. Kathleen had lemon, and when we put the two together…perfection. Vernazza was a great village for photography, so again, I took more shots until the hour went by and we boarded the ferry for Monterosso. Monterosso was the final village and is the most commercialized of the five. It has bigger hotels, sandy beaches, etc. It also has amazing food, and this was where Luigi said we should get lunch. He was all set to drop us at a restaurant to fend for ourselves when we insisted he join us for lunch—our treat, which he did. He said that like the gelato I had tasted, the people of the five lands believed their basil was better than any other basil in the world and therefore, their pesto sauce was the best anyplace—hands down. So, of course, we had to try it. The traditional pesto pasta is improved in Cinque Terre by the addition of potatoes and green beans to the mix. This came about when they started making pesto at a time when those things were plentiful, and the recipe stuck. Besides the pesto, there was one more thing I wanted to try while we were having lunch. It is something that Rick Steves had mentioned in his Cinque Terre video—fresh anchovies. Rick said that if you come here and order them fresh, you would be amazed how little they would resemble the anchovies you see on a pizza or a caesar salad and he was right—almost. I ordered (with Luigi’s help) “Tris di acciughe del marinaio” or Lemon, salted and stuff anchovies. The salted looked very much like what we put on pizza but bigger. It tasted like you might think but much less salty. Luigi told me that this is what it should taste like when brined, but it is much saltier when we get it because it has sat for weeks in a can on its way to America. Then there was the stuffed version, filled with some rice, some veggies and who knows what, but it was delicious. But the winner of the three was anchovies marinated in lemon juice and olive oil. I could eat those every day, all day long. Delicious. After we finished lunch, we walked around Monterosso for a while longer before we walked up a hill (thankfully much less steep than the one we walked down in Riomaggiore) to the top of the village to be met by our faithful driver Alessandro and transported back to the ship. This was around a nine-hour trip from ship to ship, but I have to say I enjoyed every minute of it.