Overwhelmed Seniors self managing 40day trip to Europe

Monterosso would be my choice for Cinque Terre. I wouldn’t even consider La Spezia. No way.

For Lake Como, Varenna is easy to get to from Tirano. You’ll probably want to take a taxi to your hotel. I would stay close to the ferry stop for easy access to other areas.

Varenna has steep areas but often accessible by steps. It is very beautiful and easily accessible by train from Tirano. You can take the ferry from there to other towns on the lake. If you base in Como you can quickly get to Lake Lugano by train. Since Como is at the southern end of the lake taking a ferry to other towns may take a while. I’ve never stayed in Como (only Varenna). Although I love the idea of four nights in one location if Varenna interests you then consider two nights there then two nights in Como.

We stayed in Monterosso with friends with knee problems. It is relatively flat and has good access to transportation. It has good places to eat and is lovely in the morning and evening after the crowds have left.

I have been in Monterosso as well. It has the added advantage of having direct IC services, so that makes getting to it less complicated. Getting there from Varenna for example would involve just one change in Milano.

Varenna is hilly but as stated you can take a taxi to your accomodation. It's a small town and the taxi won't cost much.

Moterosso is probably the flattest and easiest to manage of the towns. La Spezia is not one of the five towns and would need a train or ferry to visit. I do suggest you take the ferry to La Spezia as it is beautiful.

Another choice would be to stay in Levanto. It's very flat and just a few minutes by train to Monterosso.

When is your trip? If it is this summer, you should know that accommodations in Varenna are pretty well booked, according to others who have put this town in their plans. Also, there is currently a Bus link in place on the train line between Tirano and Varenna, to bypass some construction. Through September 8, you take a bus from Tirano to Colico, and then transfer to the regional train to Varenna-Esino.

If you do end up staying in Varenna (which is indeed built on a steep slope so many hotels require steps up or down), the earliest way to Cinque Terre is to take a train from Varenna to Milano Centrale that connects with one of the few IC (InterCity) trains that goes directly from Milan to Monterosso wit no changes. The most obvious choice would be to depart Varenna-Esino at 10:35, arriving at Milano Centrale at 11:40, in good time to connect to the IC665 which departs for Monterosso at 12:10, arriving there at 15:05, just in time for check-in at your hotel.

Monterosso is definitely your bet choice for lodging in the Cinque Terre, as it is flatter than the other villages.

Just a suggestion
Consider substituting Lake Maggiore-Stresa is flat-for Lake Como
Consider substituting Santa Margherita Liguria for CT
Added bonus of being in less touristy locations and more availability especially if trip is this year

Re Monterosso: keep in mind that it's the New Town that is relatively flat by the promenade along the beach, but it does rise in elevation as you move away from the water.

And while the train station is in New Town, it's a bit of a walk over to the old town, which quickly becomes rather steep going up the hill - and that is where a fair number of the dining options are.

Suggestions for Levanto or Santa Margherita Liguria make sense in this case.

Thank you so much for all of these suggestions. We will will take them all into consideration. Please keep them coming if anyone cares to add more.

Lola - your detailed information on the trains is much appreciated and sooo helpful. Being a total newbie to this, can you tell me where you found all this? What train app do you use when travelling?
Am I right in thinking the work is expected to finish by Sept 8th? As we plan to be in Como for Sept 20th and with some luck, it may be completed by then.

Annette, we are also seniors travelling from Australia, but we do it every year luckily.

We are staying in Varenna for four nights from 24th September, so not long after you. We have stayed in Bellagio before, but this time chose Varenna for something different and also that we are catching the train to Tirano too, in order to catch the Bernina Express for 19 days in Switzerland.

If you haven't booked any accommodation yet, don't waste another second. We booked Hotel du Lac well over a year ago, and to my knowledge virtually everything is booked out now. Some friends were going to join us but simply can't get acoommodation at this late stage.

Good luck with your planning.

My wife and I chose to headquarter in La Spezia, and to train in to the various CQ villages. We enjoy the amenities that a larger city provides. We understand that this is somewhat idiosyncratic, but it's worth considering. We'll be there in early October so we can post our experiences soon afterwards.

Yes, the work on the tracks between Tirano and Varenna is scheduled to be finished Sept. 8 or 9. for your travel day Sept. 20 it should be back to a normal direct train from Tirano to Varenna.

I use the national train company’s website for each country to find routes and schedule. For Italy, that is Trenitalia:

https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html

Many others use their app, but I do not like apps in general, and prefer to use the website.

There is also a private train company in Italy, named Italo, but they only serve the high-speed train routes between major cities, like Milan to Venice, Florence to Rome, etc. Since you will be using regional trains and InterCity trains on the journey from Varenna to Cinque Terre, you won’t need Italo. But if you have other journeys within Italy, you can check Italo for routes and schedules:

https://www.italotreno.com/en

We also stayed in La Spezia.
It has a lovely flat wide paved promenade along the water, and we liked it.
We just got the quick trains into CT villages each day.
It was 20 years ago, so I don’t know of any current good hotels to recommend.
Ours was right across the street from the railway station.
Don’t discount La Spezia!

Another vote for Monterosso; try and book a hotel closer to versus further away from the train station. Some accommodations can be an uphill climb. We liked La Spiaggia: small, clean, simply-furnished rooms an easy, level walk from the train station, and they have an elevator. Some have sea-facing balconies; try to get one of those! It's pretty popular so may be booked but give it a shot?

https://www.laspiaggiamonterosso.com/?adblast=7268058642&vbadw=7268058642&gad_source=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_r2oiYCThwMV0dLCBB0VIgQEEAAYASAAEgJ8KfD_BwE

I wouldn't personally stay in La Spezia either. If accommodations in the CT don't work out, look at Levanto.