We're planning a trip to Italy for September and thinking 4 nights in Tuscany (Siena maybe?) and 4 nights in Cinque Terre. Would it be better to fly into Rome or Bologna? We plan stay one night wherever we fly in/out of and also plan to travel by train.
Posted by
5174 posts
Are those your only options? I would also check Pisa, Florence, Genoa, and Milan. Best will be a combo of schedule and price.
But any of those would work. If Rome v. Bologna, it's probably a toss-up, but I think maybe Rome based on getting to CT. Check train schedules too.
Posted by
11647 posts
I would not spend four days in the Cinque Terre.
Go a little north to Camogli or Santa Margherita or south to Portovenere for a couple of days, giving two or a max of three days in the CT..
Flights- Florence and Pisa have airports. We however have always used Rome or Milan for Tuscany.
Posted by
Minnesota 🎒
16660 posts
lilpixie, I might ask as well why you chose 4 nights in the CT, and 4 in Siena for "Tuscany"? Especially since both are a couple of hours by train from an airport? If you intend to day-trip Tuscany by train (or bus) you might look at basing in Florence as it's a transport hub for the region plus has an airport. Even if you can get better prices into Pisa airport, that's only an hour by bus from Florence SM Novella train station. Siena is also said to be a bit easier day-tripped from Florence by bus than train but you'd have both options.
https://www.caronnatour.com/?lang=en_us
4 nights in the CT is quite a lot; are you planning to do a lot of hiking?
Posted by
OP
6 posts
I really want to see cinque terre and my friend really wants Tuscany country side so I'm trying to please everyone. When I originally booked our trip for the spring of 2020, flying into anywhere besides Rome was much more expensive. Based on these comments I looked again at other airports and flying into florence is comparable enough to do that to save time. And I may shorten CT to 2 nights and add in Porto venere for 2 instead. Tuscan village recommendations would be appreciated too. It's difficult to find the happy medium.
Posted by
OP
6 posts
Thank you all for ther advice!
Posted by
Irving
3315 posts
Siena is a fantastic base to explore Tuscany from and the closest airports are Florence followed by Perugia, Pisa Bologna, Rome and Genoa. The Cinque Terre’s nearest airports are Pisa and Genoa.
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
12006 posts
Rather than 2 nts in CT and 2 nts in Porto Venere, it might be better to do 3 nts in one place ( CT) and not waste a good part of a day moving. Tuscany can easily take the extra night