Cinque Terre & train travel

The villages are small, therefore wherever you are you will be within walking distance from the train station. The only exception is Corniglia, which is located on top of the hill not at sea level, where the railway is. From the Corniglia station to the village you either climb several flights of stairs (lots of them) or take the bus. I don't find Corniglia convenient for that reason.
Genoa, Portofino, Pisa and Lucca are feasible as day trips from the Cinque Terre.
Florence less so, since it's over 2.5 hours each way by train.
Rome is too far. It will take almost 4 hours each way, therefore leaving very little time to visit the city.
You shouldn't base yourself at the Cinque Terre to visit Florence or Rome. Get a place in Florence and from there visit the rest of Tuscany and also Bologna, which is 37 min away from Florence via high speed train. Then get another place in Rome to visit Rome and possibly Orvieto, which is only 70 min away by train.
In other words you need 3 separate accommodations for Rome, Florence/Tuscany, and Cinque Terre.
Frankly more than 4 nights at the Cinque Terre would be too boring for me. Other than hiking and sunbathing at the beach there isn't much else to do. And, as I said, they aren't the best location as a base to visit the rest of Italy. Even Pisa and Lucca, which can be visited from the CT in a day trip, are more easily reached from Florence, if you decide to stay in Florence also. Florence is the best base for an extended period of time (and I'm not saying it just because it's my city). You should limit your stay at the Cinque Terre only for the time necessary to enjoy the 5 villages and maybe for a day trip to Portofino, which is close.

Sure, train travel is convenient and cheap. I would be tempted to visit Rome either coming or going for a few days. Rome is a bit far for a day trip or even an overnight. And why pay double? Be sure to look at a map and put a couple of pins in the map. Trenitalia.com will give you the train schedules.

Thanks for the responses Roberto and Frank. I guess it is "back to the drawing board" for me then! For some reason, I was under the impression the trip to Rome via train was only a couple of hours.

I know you're gotten the general idea but just to throw my hat in the ring: Rome is too far to do as a day trip. Even if it was close enough, there's far too much to see there that can be accomplished in an overnight stay. I'll say the same for Firenze.

Thanks Kathy. We don't want to see and do everything in Florence and Rome, just a few specifics. We really look forward to spending some time in smaller villages. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Kay,

You've received lots of good advice so far. With a trip of three weeks, you might consider using three different "home bases". For example.....

• Fly inbound to Florence
• Stay in Florence for about eight days. In addition to seeing the sights there, it's a good home base for day trips to Lucca, Pisa, Siena or perhaps even Venice.
• Stay in the Cinque Terre for about five days, and use that as a "base". In addition to exploring the five towns, you could also take day trips to Porto Venere, Levanto, Portofino and/or Santa Margherita Ligure or perhaps Carrara. I'd suggest staying in Monterosso, as it's the largest of the five towns and therefore has the most hotels, restaurants and other tourist amenities.
• Stay in Rome for the remainder of the trip. In addition to the many sights in Rome, you can take day trips to Orvieto, perhaps Assisi or Pompeii (that will be a LONG day trip).
• Fly outbound from Rome

With this method, you only have to use three hotels.

Good luck with your planning!

I'm in agreement with Ken: with 3 weeks to spend, I'd choose three different bases to have to ability to travel shorter day-trip distances. His suggested itinerary looks good to me as Florence makes an excellent base for day trips, and Rome as well. Ending your trip in a larger city will also be convenient for catching a flight home.

I'll also second his suggestion of Monterosso as a base for its larger assortment of amenities. We haven't yet rented there but the owners/managers of the excellent Cantina di Miky (1/2 of that couple, Christine, is an American, a real peach with a wonderful blog about life in Italy, and Manuel is lovely too) rent one that is getting good reviews: see her airbnb page:

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/1001935

A little more about Christine:

http://www.italiannotebook.com/authors/

For hotels, we liked La Spiaggia: an easy, level walk to/from the train station, and location very near the the sea (specify a sea view). Rooms are small - not unusual for Italian hotels - but price was right for the location. If you're looking for apartments in the CT, make SURE of location as a fair amount of accommodations are long climbs uphill.

Obviously, as you'll be doing this trip during high season, you'll want to book as far in advance as possible. The CT will be very, very busy!

Kay, don't go by impressions. Go by facts. Use either bahn.de or trenitalia.com for scheduling information. Since you are planning for July 15, obviously train schedules will not be available. However, train schedules change little from posting period to posting period. So just use the same days of the week for next week or next month to get your time schedules.

Earlier I said put some pins in a map. I am always surprise at the number of questions asked that show a lack of geography knowledge. Europe is not a small area and distances can be equally challenging as distances are in the US. The Rick Steves site sells some planning map that are useful but any good map will do.

Good luck.

Kay,

Consider flying into Pisa and taking the train to the CT. Stay 5 days

2 options:

http://www.arbaspaa.com/hotel/Apt_La_Terrazza/default.aspx

http://www.villasteno.com/en/

Train from CT-Pisa about an 1H20m

Left luggage is by track 1 cost about 3-4 euro

Bus to field of Miracles visit Baptistry and Dumo Back to station

Train Pisa-Florence 1 hour

Stay 7-8 days

For lodging we have used

http://www.sleepinitaly.com/ and http://www.cross-pollinate.com/florence/p/1

From Florence day trip to:

San Gimignano by bus

Siena by bus

Bologna 35 min by train

Lucca 1H20 min by train

Montecatini Terme 45 min by train

Tour a winery http://www.tuscanwinetours.net/

Train Florence-Orvieto 2H15min

Spend 2 nites

Train Orvieto-Rome 1H20min

Spend 6 nites Rome

Lodging same as Florence, + Flipkey and VRBO

Depart Rome

This could also be done in reverse.

Kay,
If you have already seen much of Italy, I can see the appeal of spending a long period in the CT. We have contemplated a long stay there, seeing more of Liguria. In fact we will go there next week for the 4th time and no doubt wonder what year-round living would really be like. You can certainly daytrip or do overnighters as you wish! Just know you will be limited on how much you can do. Instead of Rome, try Genova, and I understand Carrara is quite nice but I haven't been able to tear myself away from the Coast to see it while in the CT.

We like VRBO.com as a rule, but recently scored a hit in Manarola by simply googling "apartments in Manarola, IT." If you PM me in about a week, I can tell you if the apartment we found is a treasure.

Kay,
Last trip to Italy, we visited both CT and Sorrento. Our vacation was two weeks total, but of the 13 nights we spent 2 nights in CT and 5 nights in Sorrento. Both on the Med, both beautiful towns, but IMO we were fine with only 2 nights/1 full day in CT. Granted the hiking trails weren't open, so we stayed in Monterosso and visited 3 of the 4 towns via boat or train. But we loved Sorrento and could have spent another couple of nights. One day we visited Pompei (via train), hired a taxi to see the Amalfi Coast and Pastum (you could do bus), Capri, (via boat), and just a day wandering Sorrento. Lots of great restaurants, then flew home out of Naples.

Maybe think about starting your trip in Florence for a week, Rome for a week, then Sorrento for a week and flying out of Naples. If you really wanted to see CT, you could just take the train to/from or add another 2-3 night stay in CT.

Other small villages you might enjoy include Viterbo and Frascati near Rome. Not on the sea, but scenic and interesting towns with not-so-many tourists. Personally I like the CT better as a long-stay destination.

Small Tuscan villages are tough as the hill towns are not served well by trains. We love Spello in Umbria. It is a hill town near Assisi served by a train that is a short walk (20 minutes) from the town center. Great base for seeing Assisi, Perugia, Spoleto and more. Again, not very touristy, also not on the sea.

People often mention that the trails are closed/may be closed in the CT. They are usually referring to Trail #2, the Sentiero Azzuro which is the most famous and closest to the sea. There are dozens if not hundreds of other options for hiking that are less-crowded, more scenic, and easier. Check with the locals or buy a good book to seek out the options. Also see the blog A Path to Lunch for more Liguria information.