Cinque Terre or Florence?

Any of the 5 towns works, except for maybe Corniglia, which is up the hill and a long walk to the station down below.
Whether Cinque Terre are preferable to Florence depends totally on your interests and personal preference. It’s two different things.
It’s like saying do you prefer chocolate or going to the movies?

My family and friends went to Italy in early June. We went from Venice to Cinque Terre and it took us 5.5 hours. It could take up to 5.75 hours, depending upon the train. We went from CT to Florence, so I looked up the train times for you to Rome 3.5 (fast train) up to 5.5 hours (slow train). With 8 days, i would recommend that you go to Florence.

Have a good trip.
Sandy

Thanks to both of you for your quick answers. We are a very active couple who will be celebrating our 40th birthdays. Because we like to hike, we thought we may prefer CT, but since it is our first trip to Italy, we also want to go to Florence. But we don't have time for both. The comment about the logistics of getting to CT was quite helpful.

Whether Cinque Terre are preferable to Florence depends totally on
your interests and personal preference. It’s two different things.

Roberto pretty much nailed it there, Sue: they are ENTIRELY different places! We loved Florence for the architecture and Renaissance art, and enjoyed the CT for sea views and some hiking. Not much "inside" stuff to do there so it wouldn't be fun if the weather didn't cooperate. Florence? Weather isn't an issue there as there's so much which can be seen inside. It's also bigger so one can catch breathing room in corners away from the mobs at the hottest attractions. The CT villages are very small and almost entirely pedestrianized so it's real easy for the hordes to clog up the streets.

We found some breathing room there as well but in the early mornings and evenings when the day-trippers weren't around, and with footwork to some interesting spots above the villages ( e.g. a church and some cemeteries) where most of them didn't venture.

As he said, it all depends on what you are most interested in doing/seeing. Also, 2 nights= only 1 full day so not enough time for 'base' travel to other places. You could very easily eat up 3 nights/2 full days in Florence alone. We had 5 nights and didn't make it out of the city: too much to see! :O)

I agree--it's really up to you and what you want from this trip. We went to both places in June and loved Monterosso. We wished we had more than our 3 days there. We enjoy hiking, nature, etc. We enjoyed Verona more than Florence, so who knows?! :) Hope you have a great trip.

With only 8 days, a 3rd location is a bit of 'cramming'. That said, Florence would be a more time efficient destination, than CT.

You might consider going to Florence, but maybe taking a bike trip just outside the city, or possibly a hike outside the city.

With only 8 days I would concentrate on Roma and Florence. You will be losing valuable time coming and going to Cinque Terre. I would keep Cinque Terre for another trip.

Roma is immense and you could easily spend all of your time there. Florence is smaller and it is crammed with interesting sites to see, as well. Basically, I would want to spend more time being there than more time getting there.

Buon viaggio,

Lot's of opinions....you'll get your fill of museums and city in Rome and Venice...leave Florence off the list and visit CT. There is a natural beauty there that is not present in Florence. Travel to and from can be managed as can the crowds. We stayed in Vernazza and it was wonderful...perfect. The trains and boats give you an alternative to the hiking paths and the hiking paths are a wonderful alternative to the crowded streets of Rome and Venice.
Florence...I love art but after taking in a few dozen museums filled with hundreds of paintings of biblical scenes, seemingly all the same, you get to an overload. Be sure to visit the Guggenheim in Venice and if you can arrange it, stay in that part of the city to avoid the insanity that is just across the canal.

Thanks. Your varied perspectives give me great information and really help with my thinking. I know it's a matter of personal preference, but you all helped me analyze this decision comprehensively.

I would personally skip Rome. Although a lovely city, the smaller
places of Italy are more magical

LOL. There's plenty of magic in Rome if you go looking for it! The problem is usually time: most folks only allow enough of that to see the big attractions so end up surrounded by crowds all the time. Same with Florence. Longer stays allow for wanders away from the tourist magnets and into places fewer of them go. :O)

Florence, Florence, Florence

Since you only have 8 days adding a third destination is too time consuming. The extra travel time, IMHO, would change you vacation from being there to getting there. Less is more and you could save Le Cinque Terre for the next trip.

Buon viaggio,