Pompeii vs. Cinque Terre

Hi Katie.
If you only have time for a day trip, the CT is not very reasonable. Even from Florence, it's quite a long trip in, and you'd basically have to turn around and leave in a few hours. I would not go to the CT unless I had at least two nights. Telll us more about your trip, though. How many nights in each location, Venice, Florence and Rome? Are you traveling north to south, and when?

Definitely Pompeii. You can easily sign up for a guided day trip from Rome, or do it on your own if you prefer. A day is perfectly adequate to see Pompeii. I agree with everything Laurel said about CT.

CT is too far out of the way for just one day. I would vote for Pompeii or even for Ostia Antica as it's an easy train ride from Rome.

We have a couple days in Venice, a few days in Florence including a night stay in Sienna and then currently 4 days allotted in Rome- one of which the Pompeii/ CT trip would substitute. I'm torn because I've been told CT is a must see and do see that there are several day trip options...perhaps these tours oversell on the their ability to show you the CT in 9 hours. I was hoping to see the coast while in Italy, but will be in Nice if that should give me my coastal dose? As you can tell I know very little so thanks for all the help!

Personally, I would add another day to Venice instead.

Michael is right: add a day to Venice. There is so much to do in Venice and the Veneto! One other possibility though is to add a day to Rome and use it to go to Ostia Antica, ruins less than an hour from Rome and close to a beach, as I understand it (have not been). Save the CT for a future trip when you have more time. (And it is not very "beachy" anyway. Nice will be a better beach fix, I suspect.)

It really does depend on your interests. How much research have you done on your own? Do you have the RS Italy 2011 book?

Cinque Terra is going to be crowded this year. From all of the posts concerning CT here and on Frommer's, the area is going to be busy. Anyway, keep it simple and add another day to the big cities. Ct is too time consuming to reach and Pompeii is doable, but it will be a long day. Save these places for the next trip to Italy. Buon viaggio,

We have been to CT three times and Pompeii once. With your schedule everyone is right suggesting you save CT for another time - you need to be over night and if you can walk - hike some of the villages. Pompeii was great, one of the best of day trips from Rome. Rick's guide made time fly and left a strong impression on our then college age son - who is in Pharmacy but loves history. My son said spend more time in Venice - I was for less time - my wife says she would take a glass of wine and a chair on the patio-roof top in CT. Ed
Wahoo, Nebraska

I would choose Pompeii.

Hi Katie. If you only have 2 days in Venice, then I would add the extra day to Venice. In my opinion, the CT deserves more than just a day trip so I would visit the CT on a future trip when you can spend a few days in the area. If you do visit the CT as a day trip, you will spend much of the day on trains getting to/from the CT. Add a day to Venice and perhaps visit Murano/Burano or visit Pompeii from Rome. Another suggestion is to save Pompeii for a visit to the Amalfi Coast on a future trip and instead visit Orvieto as a day trip from Rome; I personally LOVED Orvieto and I am so glad we visited it while in Rome. Not trying to throw a wrench into your plans but just thought I'd throw it out there as an alternative.