# Days in Cinque Terre with Kids

You have not really mentioned what you or your children enjoy doing, and what your basic plans are in the places you are going so it is a little difficult to tell if they would be bored. For Cinque Terre, it may depend on the weather during those days in April; if you hit cooler temperatures and rain it would not be a great time but if it is sunny and you enjoy hiking then it might be fine. No way to know until you get closer. But it might also be some good down time between the rush of the larger cities.

Do you have any day trips planned from Rome or Venice? You could put your extra day in one of those locations with a day trip somewhere. From Rome you could go to Ostia Antica (half day), Orvieto, spend time on the Appian Way. From Venice it is easy to get to Verona, Bologna, Ravenna, Padua. Are you already planning on going to Murano/Burano/Torcello while you are in Venice?

Another idea would be to skip Cinque Terre completely if the weather looks like it would be bad and spend those two days in Florence.

I agree, bad weather in Cinque Terre can leave you a bit stranded. If you have a couple of days, Firenze would be a good option.

Check Lonely Planet guides for suggestions on traveling with kids. In Roma, there is a Museum of the Walls that has a section you can climb.

Hello! Your trip sounds a little similar to mine! My husband and I are going to Italy in April and will be visiting Venice, Cinque Terre and Rome.

We will be in CT for three nights. We arrive at 6:30pm one day, and then we have two full days of hiking, and then another half day on our departure day. Our train leaving Manarola leaves at 1pm that day.

I personally think only one day in CT with your current itinerary is too tight. With all of the research my husband and I have done, and all of the RS videos we've watched, we're looking forward to CT the most!

I disagree with the poster who suggested skip CT and visit Florence. (Well, my husband also fell asleep during the RS Florence video ... LOL!)

With or without kids, my answer to how many nights in the CT would always be 3.
That really is only 2 full days and a few extra hours in most cases.

We stayed 3 nights in Manarola this fall and I felt it was the perfect amount of time.
Could have stayed another night and had plenty to do but there were other places to see.
Any less than 3 nights and I felt the travel time and hassle with the stairs just would not have been worth it and it would not have been the relaxing city break that it was.
Honestly it is not the easiest place to get to and get luggage in and out of if driving or taking the train.
It is way OUT OF YOUR WAY traveling between Rome and Venice to go to the CT so think you will regret all that trouble if not for 3 nights.

We had our 3 year old daughter with us ; young kids 9 and 12 are likely to have more fun in locations by the sea than in cities. Even if you cannot go in the water, they can walk trails, walk on rocks, etc... and I think you would worry less about them venturing out on their own then you would in a city like Rome/Venice/Florence where I know I would not want them to leave my side.

Based on this experience I would always recommend 3 nights for the CT in April with a day of bad weather more likely it is probably even more important.
If you get a really rainy day, maybe do a day trip to Pisa that day.