cinque terre rain out

All the CT towns are connected by the train which only takes a few mins town to town so seeing all is easy. Myself, I prefer Riomaggiore and Vernazza the most. I would say stay away from staying in Corniglia as it's the hardest to go to/from.

" I am wondering if it makes any difference which town we stay for 2 nights. " All have their pluses & minuses, but Vernazza is the centeral village. " Also if we might get rained out and maybe should go to Venice instead?
" Rain is rain. Pack a light rain jacket.

Do you have a forecast or other reason for thinking it's likely to rain on the days you're in the CT? Or just a general concern that rain is possible. If it's just a general concern, you probably will want to just pack rain gear and go for it in the CT. The CT is a place to do outdoor activities, hiking the trails, walking to viewpoints to get the views,etc. There's not much to do indoors during the day in the CT. For those reasons, if you have a weather forecast that says it's likely to rain extensively on the days you're there, and you have the flexibility to change your plans, you might want to go somewhere that offers indoor things to do when it rains.

Thanks everyone!!!

Anna, I understand your concern about the possibility of rain. We were in the CT mid-Sept 2009 & it rained 2 out of the 3 days we were there. It really put a damper on our CT experience and because of this, we are planning to return to the CT next year. If it had just been "a little" rain, it wouldn't have been a big deal but one of the days it absolutely poured & the rain came down at a sideways angle so umbrellas were useless & we got drenched. We had to return to the hotel & change our clothes & dry off. We weren't able to hike any of the trails. The boats between towns also don't operate when the sea is the least bit choppy. September is obviously hit or miss in terms of weather and no one knows for sure whether it will rain when you're there. From a rain perspective, there are more indoor activities in Venice than in the CT. If you've never been to Venice, I think I would do Venice instead of the CT but you also didn't say where you'll be headed after the CT; if the CT is en route to your next destination & Venice would be out of the way, then take a chance on the CT. You might be totally fine, but if you decide on the CT, take an umbrella just in case. Have a great trip.

I was looking at past weather forecasts for the same period and saw thunderstorms, thunderstorms, thunderstorms so I got anxious.
We are leaving Florence and have 2 days to "play" with before going to Milan to catch flight out to Barcelona.

I was there 2 octobers ago and it rained most of our three days. Only the hike between Manarola and Riomaggiore (the paved, flat one) was open. I didn't go there to hike but more to explore the towns and relax in between two busy parts of a trip so I didnt mind, it. but if you are going there primarily for outdoor activities you may want to have a contingency plan.

i was there in October 2009 and it rained the entire time. we did a lot of reading in the hotel room, which was not what we had in mind. if you've never been to Venice, I'd head there instead...at least if it rains there you can do activities indoors. and i really loved Venice that time of year as well.

Anna If you look at previous posts on Cinque Terre for September accommodations, you will notice many travelers have mentioned they are having a terrible time making reservations. September is still tourist season in Italy! So you might want to base your itinerary on availability of places to stay. Bobbie