Greetings,
I will be accompanying my 80 y/o mother to various large and small European cities toward the end of May. We'll be traveling by train. I would like us to visit Cinque Terre but my impression is that there will be too many steps and inclines to contend with. True? She's a slow walker and does ok, but lots of steps or long inclines are a problem for her arthritic knees.
Cinque Terre is wonderful and defiently not to be overlooked. I think you'll be fine with your mother if you have a game plan. Of the towns I would recommend Monterosso, it has the least amount of stairs, and has larger hotels with elevators than the other towns. One problem you may have is with the trains, the stations are small but with lots of stairs, most without elevators. From what I can remeber the Monterosso has the least steps of all the stops about 10 from what I can remember, also there are lots of stairs at La Spezia the station in which you transfer at to get into Cinque Terre. But Monterosso itself is quite flat with only a couple avoidable little hills. I would say you should not have to much problem with Monterosso, but you may with the other towns, I would recommend taking the boat that stops at all the towns as a way to see the other towns without dealing with the stairs. Hope that helps!
Beware: the gangways to the boats between towns can be a little precarious. It is a wonderful way to see the area (we loved it) but there are stairs and sometimes the ramps are steep and unstable. Best of luck!
I traveled with my 80+ year old parents to Italy's Lake District. They complained plenty on the hills in Bellaggio, but I think they were still glad that we went. I'd say that Monterrosso is doable--barely. Monterrosso is pretty flat. Just make sure that you get a hotel with an elevator.
