need travel help

Terri, My suggestion would be to use open jaw flights, inbound Rome and outbound Milan. You'll probably find the best choice of flights (and probably prices) to those destinations rather than using the smaller airports. I haven't checked the flight options from Phoenix, but you may have to change planes at JFK, EWR or ATL for direct flights to FCO and returning from MXP. Try to find code share flights so that you drop your luggage at departure and then collect it at your final destination. While Rome might be a bit of a "culture shock" for your mother at the beginning of trip, I'd much prefer to have the Cinque Terre as the "grand finale" before flying home. Touring Rome also usually involves lots of walking, so you'll need to plan sightseeing and local transportation carefully. Have you decided which of the five villages you want to stay in? The Cinque Terre doesn't have to be all "walking/hiking" and I'm sure you could plan a nice blend of activities that will include your mother part of the time. It's very easy to travel to each of the towns via train. You could also consider taking a boat trip to Porto Venere, or visit all of the towns via boat instead of train. You could also take a day trip to Levanto, although the beach area is a bit of a walk from the station. I may have missed it, but when is this trip taking place? Good luck with your planning!

From Pheonix they can fly direct to London on British Airways and avoid a plane change on the east coast. That is a good plan. They they need to find a convenient airpport in Italy with BA departures from Heathrow, and Roberto came up with just the one: Milan. I believe there are flights from Heathrow to both Malpensa and Linate, so pick the one that works best for the flight schedule. Milan may be a little farther from Cinque Terre than Pisa, distance-wise, but it is a very easy connection. From Pisa airport, you would have to take a train to the main Pisa station, change there for La Spezia, and change again to the regional train that serves the five villages. Two changes in a relatively short time. From either Milan airport, you travel to Milano Central, and catch on the the IC trains that goes to Monterosso with no changes (departures at 12:10, 14:05, and others). This takes 3 hours but you can relax on the train, maybe nap after the long overseas journey. Then you have the short hop to your village, unless you are staying in Monterosso itself (something to consider). We have done the Heathrow to Gatwock transfer and yes, you can do it, but we found it nerve-wracking and don't care to do it again.

From the Cinque Terre the closest airport is Pisa (about 90 min. away. Unfortunately Pisa is primarily a "low cost airline airport" therefore connections to major airlines are scant. They have only one daily flight with British Airlines to London Heathrow (LHR) which arrives to LHR at 3:48pm, but that's not timely for your return trip to Phoenix which departs from LHR at 3:55pm. Pisa also has 3 daily flights to Paris with Air France. But AirFrance doesn't fly to Phoenix, so that would require an extra stop in any of the Delta hubs (JFK or ATL or MSP most likely) Changing airports in London is a hassle, and I don't like doing it. I'd rather do two stops, because in the end I save time that way. The only time I'll consider an airport change in London, is if I plan to stay in London a couple of days on the way back. Florence is at least 2 and 1/2 hours from the Cinque Terre (by train) or almost 2 by car. There are no connections from FLR to LHR. Only Gatwick (LGW) or City (LCY). Florence is a better choice if you fly Lufthansa/United/Swiss or AirFrance/Delta because has lots of flights to Frankfurt, Paris, and Zurich and they are all with the major airlines. However if you have to travel all the way from the Cinque Terre to Florence, you might as well go to Milan. The distance from CT to Milan is the same as to Florence, just a little longer. But from Milan you have a lot more choices including direct flights to London Heathrow from where you can catch the BA flight to PHX. You can fly to Heathrow from both of Milan's airports: Malpensa (MXP)-3 departures with BA and Linate (LIN) 5 departures with BA. If you are flying BA from PHX to LHR I would return from Milan (2hrs+55 min by train from CT).

Thank you! Do you think it would be easier to go to Cinque Terre first or Rome first. We do travel with just carry ons but when flying home, usually check in a bag.

Either way works (I assume you use British Airways): Going: PHX > LHR > LIN (or MXP) Return: FCO > LHR > PHX Or the other way around: Going: PHX > LHR > FCO Return: LIN (or MXP) > LHR > PHX You want to have a heavy suitcase as late as possible in the trip. So I'd go to Rome first, if you intend to do a lot of shopping in Milan.
Or I'd go to Milan first, if you intend to do a lot of shopping in Rome. However having a light suitcase at the CT is advisable because from the station to the hotel it might be uphill and there are no taxis that can help you in those small alleys. So maybe if you intend to shop, you should do it after you visit the Cinque Terre, no matter what. Just one word of warning: on international flights the first check bag is free, the second checked bag comes with a hefty ~70 Euro bag fee, which will likely negate any savings you had by shopping in Europe. So make sure not to buy more than it would fit in one checked bag.

These help me tremendously. Milan will be the choice from Cinque Terre! Plus, last time we went to Italy we flew into Milan and out of Venice, so I am familiar with Milan's airport and train station! We are going in September, 2013. Last September we went to Varenna, Verona and Venice and fell in LOVE with Italy!!!

When choosing in which of the 5 Cinque Terre villages you want to stay, your mother's mobility should be factored in your choice. Monterosso is the largest town. That means it's the only one where you can go to (or come from) Milan without any train changes. Unlike the other towns, Monterosso is mostly flat, therefore your mother won't have to climb up billy goats steep alleys. It also offers more in terms of accommodations, restaurants, bars, shops and has the only decent beach at the CT. The only draw back is that the station is a little walk away, although on flat terrain. The station is between the older Monterosso on the East and the newer part of town on the West of the station. Monterosso is however more automobile friendly, therefore there might be taxi service for the short trip from the station to the hotel. Most people will agree that the other 4 smaller villages are a little more quaint and picturesque than Monterosso (but not by much, Monterosso is cute too). However they are usually built on a steep slope with lots of uphill alleys and stairs. They are all very small so there is also less to do in each and the beaches are often rocky and not as easily accessible for an older person. As mentioned above, all 5 villages are easily reached by train from the others. Just hop on one and stop where you like. There are plenty of regional trains traveling back and forth along the coast and most stop in all villages.

I forgot another option, but that would be available only in the Summer and I don't know when you are going. Delta has a seasonal non-stop flight from Pisa PSA-New York JFK, but only from May to September (don't know the exact dates). I don't think it's every day of the week but at least 4 or 5 days a week. If you fly there in Summer, you may want to consider that option via Pisa with Delta. Like with the British Airways flight, it would require only one connection (JFK or ATL for Rome). Rome FCO has connections to both JFK and ATL with Delta/Alitalia codeshare. Pisa has only that connection with JFK. So the flight would be: Going: PHX > JFK (ATL) > FCO Returning: PSA > JFK > PHX or viceversa if you decide to do Rome last.

Thank you. I will look into that. We are going in Sept but our dates are flexable.

You do not want to change airports in London. Try to avoid this at all costs. I assume you are talking about Heathrow and either London City Airport or Gatwick. Neither are easy to get to from Heathrow. You need to plan on several hours to make the switch between airports comfortably. You would be better off with an extra plane change in the same airport or a different routing altogether. If you do have a long stopover in one airport, you might want to pay for a lounge pass for everyone's comfort. There are pay per use lounges in many of the big airports and they are usually more comfortable and provide a better place to wait out a long stopover. Here's an example http://www.loungepass.com/index.cfm?c=2 there are others.