Itinerary help: what do you think?

You are going From Venice to the Cinque Terre via Milan and from The Cinque Terre to Bologna via La Spezia and Florence, aren't you?

5 days in the Cinque Terre in March, the off season? I hope you get great photos - that should keep you busy

From Bologna I would go to Milano. Your flight options out of Milano would be much better and probably a direct flight back to the US. I probably would go from Venice to Bologna first, then CT, and return to Milano for the flight home.

I agree with Frank.

And also with Nigel. 5 days is quite long for the CT. Especially that early. Weather canbe iffy, making trail access also iffy. And some places may still be closed, since it's out of season. But if you only want to photograph the villages...

Thanks! Flights are already booked and are in and out of Venice.

Since you’ve never been in the north, would you be interested in dropping a few days in Cinque Terre and going to the Dolomites? The scenery is spectacular!

Jean, that’s definitely something I’m interested in but I wasn’t sure if March is still too snowy/cold for access. (Here in Washington State, our mountains aren’t accessible in March.)

Next trip check train schedules before booking flights. Out of VCE get a room at the Annia Park Hotel. Staying in Venice twice IMO is justified by the flight time. Trains here:

https://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en

Coming from Venezia S Lucia you need to pick which of the 5 CT villages [yes 6 nights is excessive; I would add to Venice and Bologna for day trips]. When changing trains, refer to the train number in finding the correct platform [binario].

I would stay in CT last. It's the worst train trip and you don't need to get to the hotel until dinner time.

Hikes from Rapallo, train time from the Ct village under an hour:

https://portofinotrek.com/en/16-from-rapallo

Five days in CT is too long, especially in March, in my opinion. The villages are small and fairly similar in style and there won't be a lot to do, as well as little greenery, no flowers, no ferry, possibly rainy, possibly cold. If you are locked on to coastal landscape scenes, you could spend time in Santa Margarita which is on the same train line as the CT and easily visit Portofino and its Park. https://www.apathtolunch.com/2013/04/spring-weather-in-liguria.html

We lived in Washington State for 30 years, too! Lots of beautiful locations. : )

To follow up on the Dolomite discussion, one of the locals can provide better info, but you should be able to take the train up to Bolzano and a bus over to Ortisei - a pretty village in the Val Gardena. There’s lots of chairlifts in the area, so some great photo ops in the area whether there’s snow on the ground or not.

And Cortina d'Ampezzo, the site for the Winter Olympics in the past, would be another spot.

The March conditions in the dolomites are what most people would call winter. Even in early June, only the lower areas are springlike.