Monterosso al Mare

Bill - Each of the cities you listed have some wonderful neighborhoods that may be appealing to you.

3/19 - 3/23 - Rome (Trastevere neighborhood)

3/23/ - 3/26 - Florence (Oltrarno neighborhood)

3/26 - 3/29 - Cinque Terre (Monterosso al Mare)

You can try this hotel in old town >> https://www.villasteno.com/en/hotel.php

3/29 - 04/2 - Venice - (Dorsudoro Neighborhood)

Palazzo Veneziano - https://www.palazzoveneziano.com/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=localseo&utm_campaign=localplaces

Thank you....

I've already booked Trastevere, Santa Croce District in Florence and Santa Croce in Venice. I'm just concerned about Cinque Terre...I don't want to have to walk up a mountain to my lodgings lol.

The old town in Monterosso al Mare is good to look for lodging.

For Venice, this area might be of best fit for you.

This won't require additional transportation to get to or bridges to cross. You will have access to the rest of the city easily by the P. Roma vaporetto stop.

https://europeforvisitors.com/venice/directions/index-piazzale-roma.htm

That's kind of the point to Cinque Terre, but if you use a map function on a booking site or google maps. you can suss out locations--I don't know if there are neighborhoods per se really, it is a tiny place--there is the right side of the train station and the left side of the train station!

I've always slept in the old town and really only go to the new town for the train station and beach. It's a flat walk from the train station and several hotels that are on the central axis and close to the bay are also basically on flat ground with just a couple of stairs (e.g. Hotel Pasquale, Hotel Degli Amici, Stella della Marina, Albergo La Colonna - see on Google map or in Rick's guidebook). Villa Steno is up a hill, but that can mean better views.

We chose to stay up the hill with amazing sea views at Hotel Porta Roca. Quiet location away from train noise. Great meals there too.

Would you recommend a hotel or Airbnb?

It depends what you feel is best fit for you and pricing of course.

If you don't want a long, uphill walk, then research your location very carefully.
Our choice in Monterosso: La Spiaggia. It closes in winter - or used to, anyway -and may not be open in March, and also books up far in advance.

We liked Hotel Pasquale in the old town part. It wasn’t a difficult walk from the train station.

Remember to use Google Maps Streetview to take a look around any place you're considering. It saved us from booking a room on top of a McDonald's once. No lie.

Bill,

Monterosso only has two "neighborhoods" to speak of..... the old town and the new town. The road between them is relatively flat, so walking between them is not a huge effort. The train station is in the new town, if that's important.

Monterosso has a good range of hotels as well as some private rooms for rent. I've never looked for Air BnB so have no idea what might be available in those. I prefer to stay in a hotel as many of them serve a great breakfast and it's nice to have staff available to help with sightseeing information or whatever. The usual start of tourist season in that area is 1 April so it should be relatively quiet there in late March. Hopefully there are no cruise ships in the area.

One hotel that's been mentioned in previous replies is Hotel Villa Steno and although it's a bit uphill in the old town, I would highly recommend it. Their "sister property" is Hotel Pasquale and that would also be a good choice. It's right on the main road in the old town, and right across from the ferry dock. If you'd prefer to stay in the new town, the previously mentioned Hotel La Spiaggia is a good choice. I haven't stayed there but it gets consistently good reviews.

Thank you all for your responses.

I'm now considering Bologna as opposed to Cinque Terre. I am an Executive Chef and I'm wondering if the food aspect of Bologna is something to consider. Thoughts?

Bologna's known for great food. I can't be more specific because I'm not that much of a foodie. I enjoyed the city very much. It's large and busy but sees very few American tourists. It has one of Europe's largest medieval districts. Many streets are arcaded, which is a big plus if you run into rainy weather, which you might in March.

Some folks have mentioned basing in Bologna and taking side trips to food-related places like Modena and Parma. I did not do that; I went to Ravenna to see the heart-stoppingly beautiful mosaics.

Instead of Bologna, try Modena. This way you have just short train trips to Bologna, Parma and Reggio Emilia! And wise choice in ditching CT. I no longer recommend it to anyone. Spoiled by its success.

You're a chef? Definitely consider Bologna. I've heard that it has a reputation among Italians as having the best food in the country. Perhaps Roberto will weigh in with his thoughts?

After much thought and your help, this is what I've decided as my itinerary:

Day 1: Arrive Rome, train to Sorrento
Days 1-3: Sorrento, tour Amalfi coast, visit with La Famiglia in Lavello,
Day 4: Train to Rome
Days 4 -7: Rome
Day 8: Train to Florence
Days 8 - 10: Florence
Day 11: Train to Venice
Days 11 - 14: Venice
Day 15: Train to Rome
Day 16: Depart Rome

Any suggestions on how to spend my time in Amalfi, Rome, Florence & Venice would be greatly welcomed. As I said, I am a Chef, so food & wine is an important part of my tour, as is history....I'm not interested in seeing the first Starbucks in Italy, lol.

I LOVED Bologna!! I have been to both and the MASS of people (and keep in mind I'm from Los Angeles) totally ruined the experience of Cinque Terre for me. There were Tourists and MASSIVE amounts due to three Cruise ships doing excursions to CQ. I will never go back. You're going in March so you may be spared the Cruise ship masses.

If you are a foodie like I, you will love Bologna. It is both a beautiful city and a remarkable food city.

When I was in Bologna last October, I thought about going to FICO https://www.eatalyworld.it/en/ but eventually not. Therefore I can't offer my opinion on it.

I'm going to take a day trip to Bologna from Florence. I checked out the FICO website...pretty cool, thank you.

wpayos,

As a Chef, you may find that a day trip to La Grassa is not enough, as you'll probably want to spend some time sampling the food. I especially enjoyed the Tagliatelle al Ragu at Osteria dell' Orsa and also an excellent repast at Ristorante Donatello while there.

Buon appetito!

It's a shame you can't fly out of Venice.

At the time it was so much more, I'm going to check again. I'm using points, so I shouldn't complain.