Never been to Cinque Terra - how many nights is too many?

Time of year is of paramount importance for CT. Especially if you want to do your plein aire painting sans huge crowds. For myself, any time between May 1 and Oct 1st I would allocate 0 days to a CT stay. Although I might seriously consider staying for just a few days in a town or village in the area, like Santa Margherita Ligure. Your time in a Tuscan village might depend on whether or not you would have a car to do day trips. I could easily spend a week or more in Florence, especially if doing day trips. But everyone has different interests and priorities.

Cinque Terre and the 5 villages are a must see as each are totally different. You can hike between each village or take the train. The hiking trails aren't necessarily easy maybe take the train. You will need a couple of days to see and visit this area. Not to be rushed.

It also depends on time of year. As late September or October be aware of the weather. Restaurants close as the cold rainy season moved in.

Volterra you can see in and day. Etruscan museum, Roman amphitheater.. The history is there but the town is small. Make sure you have a guide to talk about the history.

San Gimi can be done in a couple of days. There is a beautiful church , Collegiate, with beautiful frescoes, a wonderful garden, lots of towers in a walled city .Famous for an ice cream shop. So sad we were there only for a day visit.

Thanks and more than one day for sure! I think I will just enjoy hanging out in the beautiful environment. I don’t feel like we always have to be doing something.

Florence, you will need several days to see and enjoy this city. Not every church, museum or venue is open every day. There are many which you can imagine. Being there 5 times I have still not seen every thing I wanted to see. Yes the big ones, David for sure. The ambiance of the city with statues, Ponte Vecchio, Oltrarno, Pitti Palace says it all. Give this city time and let it speak to you.

Thank you Maureen. It looks like everyone says to give Florence many days. I appreciate your sharing. We are "older" and need time to rest and not be moving all the time.... I guess our challenge is how to decide the priorities in Florence. Another post likely. How many days do you wish you had had for San Gimi?

I think roughly a week for each would be fine, but I would tailor it specifically to what you want to see and do. Will you have a car while you are in Volterra/SG?
Choose your CT stay based on your physical capabilities, but because of the crowds, I would stay at a very high, out of the way position. Like upper Corniglia for example.

Florence: 3 nights at the very minimum (more if you intend to take day trips from there, basically one extra night for every day trip)

Volterra and San Gimignano can be visited both on the same day, also from Florence, but only if you have a car. With public transportation it's a day trip each. You can stay in the area also for the night, even several nights, but I would do it only with a car to roam around.

Cinque Terre maybe 3 nights is more than enough in April.

Cinque Terre may be affected by abundant rain in both spring and autumn due to its geographic conformation that creates a sort of a funnel. The Gulf of Genoa is on a warm body of water, but the coastal mountains provide an orographic barrier with atmospheric depressions with warm air above the sea, that is cooled by wind coming from the mountains in the north, and that creates a sort of a vortex effect with very violent downpours sometimes. As of now there is a warning for severe thunderstorms in the area. So I would decide to go once you know what the weather forecast is, because April can be iffy and the CT with rain would not be as enjoyable.

Roberto thanks for the great info. We lived in New Zealand for many years and what you describe is island weather- it can be heavy rain and then it stops and the sun comes out. Since you seem to know a lot. Are you advising us to not go to Cinque Terra unless it is summer? Curious about another area you would recommend to spend up to a week . The old villages and cliffs with the ocean was what spoke to me.... btw- we will rent a car to go to San Gim as I want to drive around the whole area. Wonder if you think it would better to do this whole trip in September? Is the weather better??