Cinque Terre or Venice

There is no real comparison between Cinque Terre “water” and Venice “water”. One is sea, the Med, Venice is lagoon.
If you are not up for hiking, CT might be problematic.

CT is maybe good for two or three days, you could spend two or three months and not scratch the surface in Venice.

If you have not been to Venice, please go there! It is amazing! Just get away from the main crowds at Piazza San Marco and the Rialto. Take Rick Steves' self-guided walks and also walk out to Sant' Elena for views back to San Marco. Once you get past San Zaccaria it gets calmer as you walk toward the tail. Your "urban hiking" will be mostly flat except for the bridges and mostly unimpeded by weather.

Venice is one of the smallest cities on the planet! You can walk from one end to the other easily. It’s unique and would get my vote.

I agree with all of the other posters so far. Go to Venice. Cinque Terre is pretty and interesting, But there are many coastal towns around the globe. Venice on the other hand is unique and is not a big city, it's like a sprawled out town. So easy to walk and make sure you get away from Rialto Bridge area and San Marco. That's where you really come to appreciate how unique Venice is.

Have a Great Trip and let us know how your trip was when you return!
Mimi

Actually you can enjoy Cinque Terre without having to do lot's of walking. The trains (and boats) connect the towns. Many things are close to the train stations..there is transportation available in some places. You don't have to go there and embark upon an epic trail hike....
Venice is indeed a walk-able place and the Vaporetto's will cut out some footsteps..but you can walk just as far in Venice (farther) as you might in Cinque Terre.
We like both places, each for different reasons...Venice is a special place and we will go back again...Cinque Terre is also special but it's on our list of "been there, loved it, done that". That said, if you can visit both, that is what I would suggest.

We were in both Venice and the CT this May. Venice was absolutely stunning, and a lot to do for non hikers. CT was rainy, and other than taking the train to the villages to walk up and down the main street in each, it was underwhelming for us. I would choose Venice in a heartbeat.

I choose Cinque Terre over Venice (don’t want to try to do both) but now I’m second guessing myself and thinking Venice.

Good choice to not try to do both with your time limit.

Comparing Venice and CT is like comparing apple pie to fried chicken.

How/where are you allocating your days?

The two are not comparable. One reason to favor Venice off season is that there are lots of places (including historic interiors and museums) to duck into if it is cold or rainy. Venice is not aerobic like hiking in CT, but why are you going on vacation? You can use the treadmill in the hotel if you need to keep up your cardio. You go to Venice to see much of the bases of Western Culture since 1250, and until Napoleon invaded. The opportunity to see Venice with slightly reduced tourist count is valuable.

janice,

You asked somewhat the same questions in your other thread - https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/italy-too-much-to-see . I replied to the other one, and my suggestions would be much the same for this question.

The Itinerary I suggested previously was based somewhat on logistics. As you've booked return flights to Rome, minimizing transportation times is important. It's relatively easy to do a Rome > Florence > Cinque Terre > Rome "loop". While Venice is certainly reachable via high speed train, it seems like somewhat of an outlier.

As others have suggested, you could certainly go directly from FCO to Florence as soon as you arrive, and save Rome for the latter part of your trip. One other thing that occurs to me is that if you do a lot of touring in Florence / Venice or wherever, the Cinque Terre will be a great place to chill-out for a few days at an easier pace prior to the final touring in Rome. The weather will be a wild card in wherever you choose to go. The atmosphere of the five small towns is also somewhat unique and of course it's a great place to enjoy fresh Pesto in the area where it was invented.

I should also clarify that I'm not as enamored with Venice as many of the others that have posted here. It's somewhat unique and worth seeing at least once, but I'm in no particular hurry to return there. On my last visit, the cruise ship hordes were worse than in the Cinque Terre!

Happy travels!

Venice is my vote. Take a day trip out to Marano and Burano

Although Venice may be farther away than the Cinque Terre in terms of miles, it is actually quicker to reach from both Florence and Rome because of the availability of Frecce trains covering the entire distance.

Thanks everyone Venice it is!! Is 2 nights enough?! I know another silly question as it seems months could not be enough...

Two nights is really one day. try for more nights.

Venice is a magnificent city like no other. It is rich is history and art.

Venice it is!! Is 2 nights enough?

Probably not, but if it is all you have, be sure you know what you really want to see and be organized.

Arrive as early in the day as possible and leave as late as possible to maximize your time

You will have a good reason to go back!

Venice is not a great place for a super-short stay like that, because you'll probably end up spending a high percentage of your too-limited time at places like San Marco and the Rialto Bridge--places that are packed with other tourists. That leads visitors to accuse Venice of being "Disneyfied". You need extra time to get into the back canals and non-touristy neighborhoods. That's where Venice is most magical.