A Cinque Terre Boat Tour With Kids: What Actually Works
Parents usually ask me the same two things before they book. Will the children be bored, and what happens if it does not go well. Both are fair questions. Here is how a boat trip along this coast actually works with young children, and which trip I would put a family on.
Why a private boat beats a shared tour with small children
On a shared tour you keep someone else's schedule. You wait at the dock until the group is complete, you stay out for the full time whether the children are still enjoying it or not, and if one of them has had enough there are still forty minutes to go for everyone else.
On a private trip the boat is yours. Our private trips take a maximum of six guests and the price is for the whole boat rather than per person, so a family of five or six fills it on their own. We leave when you are ready. If the youngest one is tired, we turn back early. If everyone is happy in the water, we stay in the water longer. Nothing is a negotiation with strangers.
The speed helps too. Inside the Cinque Terre marine protected area we run at five knots close to the shore. It is a slow, steady ride rather than a fast one, which makes a difference for small stomachs and for anyone who has not been on a boat before.
Which trip for which age
For the youngest children, the Five Villages is usually the right call: two hours, 400 euro for the boat, departure at 10 in the morning. The sea is generally calmest early, two hours is about as long as a four year old stays interested, and you are back in time for lunch and a nap.
From roughly seven or eight upwards, Coast & Coves is often better: three hours, 550 euro for the boat, departure at 14, with about an hour anchored for swimming and snorkelling. The swimming stop is the part children remember. Snorkel masks are on board for everyone, and so are life jackets. Tell me the ages when you book so I know who is coming.
Portovenere is around five hours, 850 euro for the boat, with Byron's grotto, the blue grotto at Palmaria and time ashore in Portovenere. It is a good day out for older children who can handle a longer trip. For toddlers it is too much.
The Sunset Aperitivo, two and a half hours at 100 euro per guest, is a shared trip with up to seventeen people and wine on board. It is a fine evening for adults and teenagers. With small children, late in the day, on a full boat, I would choose something else.
Practical things worth knowing
Bring your own food and drink. There is no food service on board, and I would rather you pack what your children actually eat than hope they like what someone else brought. Water, fruit, a sandwich, all fine.
Plan for the sun. There is some shade on board, but this coast is bright and open in the middle of the day, so hats, shirts and sunscreen before you leave the apartment, and towels if you are swimming.
We leave from Molo dei Pescatori in Monterosso al Mare, five minutes on foot from the train station, before the tunnel, so you are not walking far with a pushchair and beach bags. There is no prepayment and you can cancel free of charge up to 24 hours before, which matters when you travel with children and plans change on the morning.
Tell me the ages of your children on WhatsApp at +39 338 445 7488 and I will tell you honestly which trip I would put you on.