the 5 towns of CT

No advice on the actual CT part, but I'm more worried about the 6+ hour train ride from CT to Venice. I'm trying to squash that by routing my trip differently so we don't have to waste most of a day on a train.

Are you going straight from CT to Venice?

i've blocked out an entire day for the trip from CT to venice. we'll have already been to florence by that point, so i'm planning on taking the parma > bologna > venice train. stopping in one of those cities to have an afternoon meal, arrive in venice early evening.

You may want to look at the train schedule from LaSpezia via Florence to Venice. It is MUCH quicker than the train route from CT/LaSpezia to Venice.
I was planning my Italy trip - Rome, Florence, Venice, CT but found the train route from Venice to CT was horrible. I went to Venice after Rome then to Florence for a couple days then on to CT. It worked out much better if you can rearrange your itinerary.

Miss B - thats nice to hear, that is what I was considering doing myself.

miss b ~ i'm going rome > sorrento > siena > florence > CT > venice > milan. flights are booked, leaving in 3 weeks.

i changed my route this week after someone on this site pointed out i should go florence > CT > venice > milan instead of florence > venice > CT > milan.

Brian, the shortest train trip from Venezia Santa Lucia to the CT (i.e. Vernazza) is 6hr.02min. That particular train departs at 7:47am and has 4 train changes. Some runs take 7.0hrs. You're out of luck about finding a way to squash the train schedule. Doesn't work. Miss B is correct that it's quicker going the other way.

Guess the person suggesting the other route CT to Venice didn't look at the train schedule or it wasn't a problem taking so long to get from CT to Venice. Be sure to read about the places Rick suggests going to in Venice. My husband and I loved Venice. It rained a couple days and skipped Burano and Murrano and wish we had gone walking in the rain anyway.
It gets quieter later in the day around 4/5 pm when the other tourists go back to their ships. Enjoy walking the back streets in the evening. We stayed in Vernazza, took the train to Riomaggorie then walked the via Del Amore back to Corneglia then took the train back to Vernazza. We took the boat to Monterosso, walked around then took the train back. We aren't into that heavy of hiking. It was quite a hike up from Vernazza to take the famous picture that Rick Steves has in his book and shows on his DVD's, but well worth the hike for the picture. At sunset you get wonderful pictures. I wish you a safe and happy experience. We traveled to Italy in October, 2007 then England/Wales this year in June. These countries are wonderful!!

Leah, the shortest run of the day from La Spezia to Venezia Santa Lucia takes 5hrs.25min and departs La Spezia Centrale at 7:47. My wife and I have taken this run. If you are in one of the towns, you will have to make sure you can get to the train station on time. One train change at Bologna. There's 50min between trains. For food, you can grab breakfast at the La Spezia train station or you can wait almost 3hrs until you get to Bologna. No food car or car on the first train out of La Spezia. At La Spezia, there is a McDonalds (with 2 very busy expresso machines) and another sandwich place. Get there early if you want food. Outside of Bologna, you really won't be able to jump off the train somewhere for food. The second train should have a food carriage. Ours did.

Now the best part. Your train will arrive in Venice a 1:17pm. You have the whole afternoon to see Venice. When you walk out of the train station, I suggest that you stop at the top of the stairs and look. Your world will stop. The Grand Canal is directly in front of you. Everything is in motion - vaporettos, people. It's nothing that you immediately understand but it's everything you expected to see. Just stand there for a minute or two. You'll never forget it.

thanks for your replies to the rest of my trip. back to CT - what are these towns like at night? which one is the most accessible to use as a base?

Everyone will have a different response to which town to stay in, BUT the trains between them ALL are cheap and only minutes apart. So you can't make a wrong choice!

The trails are NOT strenuous, but the hike from Vernazza to Montorosso will be great for your glutes!

Montorosso has more nightlife and an actual beach.

We stayed in Vernazza, arrived from Rome in the late afternoon, and hiked to Montorosso that evening. The view of Vernazza for pics was great at that time of day. Then we shopped Montorosso, had dinner there, and took the train back to Vernazza.

The next day we hiked from Vernazza to Riomaggiore and took the train back to enjoy the afternoon in Vernazza. We will take the ferry next time because I heard the views of the shoreline are awesome!

Stop in each town to explore!

In reading what you all have to say about the trains from CT to Venice, would you say that I should rearrange my trip from Tuscany to Florence to CT to Venice, and instead do Tuscany to CT to Florence to Venice?

Dennell: Maybe, it depends on several things including where in Tuscany. The best way to answer your question is for you to use this websiterail planning websiteto input your exact itinerary and see which sequence is most efficient for your trip.

Can't comment on the train trip from CT to Venice, but let me try and describe the magical world of Cinque Terre. No ... sorry ... no words can describe how beautiful it is.

We stayed in Vernazza because it is said to be the most pitoresque of the five of them. We had wonderful accommodations at LaMala. Our first hike was along the Via dell'Amore and it was an easy walk. We took the train to Riomaggiore and then hiked backwards to Manarola. This was an easy walk - and believe me, we are not hikers at all. We then took the ferry back to Vernazza that afternoon. Encouraged by the ease with which we took this first walk, we were determined to do them all.

The next day we took the train to Monterosso and attempted the hike back to Vernazza. This is where our lack of hiking experience really showed up. It is a VERY difficult trek - up hill and down, hundreds of stairs, tiny paths - we didn't make it. We went about 1/3 of the way and decided it was a little much for us in the afternoon 104 degree sun. We simply went back to Monterosso, had another afternoon glass of wine, and then took the train back to Vernazza for a swim.

Undeterred, the following day we took the train to Manarola and did the hike from Manarola to the train station below Corniglia. This was not overly difficult - a bit more up and down than the Via dell'Amore, but nothing like the Monterosso path. We then took the shuttle up to Corniglia and explored. We felt good, so we decided to walk then from Corniglia back to Vernazza. This, too, is a very challenging hike. The saving grace is the restaurant which is about 2/3 back towards Vernazza. Cold beer has never tasted so good! We took about 2 hours for this walk - longer than is posted, but we walked, chatted with people along the way, rested, took photos and enjoyed the beautiful, breathtaking scenery.

I've travelled a little bit, but really have never seen scenery like this before. Enjoy every minute!

I am also in the middle of planning a trip to CT. Not knowing what each town is like makes it really hard to choose where to stay. Right now I'm considering Manarola as a base. I'm checking out apartments so that we have a kitchen to help with costs - we're a family of four with two teenage boys. Your explanations of the paths and hikes are really helpful. I'm getting the picture that some of the towns are connected by a fairly easy walkway and others are connected by a rougher hiking path. Is that correct? I'm also wondering about cost for a train to the other towns or ferry ride. What can you tell me? Thanks!!!

Cindy, the trails between Riomaggiore and Manarola and from Manarola to the Corniglia train station are very easy walks. If fact, the first one takes 25 minutes and is quite flat. It's mostly paved. The second one takes about 40 minutes and is mostly flat. There is a few small rises in the trail. It's the third one from Corniglia to Vernazza that gets tougher. This one takes 90 minutes and will rise almost a 1000'. It's mostly stairs up and stairs down on the trail with the stairs made of uneven rock. It's unbelieveably scenic, however. As seniors, it took us 3hrs to hike this trail. It does cost to walk/hike the trails. There are ticket booths on the trails.

It costs about 1Euro or less to ride the train between towns.

I've only been to the CT once (am returning this October) but here is what I remember:
We stayed in Vernazza- Lots of fun, but lots of tourists.
Corniglia- Sits up high with no access to the water. Probably the quietest of the villages-but not too much to do there. Would be my last choice to stay at.
Manarola- I always thought this would be where I stayed if I went back. A good balance of beauty, water opportunities, and quiet. It is also very picturesque. From here, you can "stroll" the Via Del Amoure to Rioggamagore. (I don't have my Italy book with me, so I may not be spelling these towns correctly) Rioggamagorie has many restaurants as well.
Rioggamagorie- I had the hardest time getting a feel for this village. It was fun to explore for a little while, but I wasn't sorry to leave. I didn't make it to Montorosso but I have heard that it does have the best beach. Although I have great memories of swimming in Vernazza, I wasn't planning on spending tons of the time on the beach so I preferred to stay in one of the other villages. As to hiking- we just started from Vernazza and hiked to Riomaggiore- it was very hikable. The longest, most difficult part was from Vernazza to Corniglia. The great part is that if you get tired, you can just hop a train to do the rest. Some people have said that the trail from Vernazza to Montorossois the hardest. I did not have time to give it a try. In spite of my affection for Manarola, I will be staying in Vernazza again. (We are traveling with another couple,and it just worked out best that way) Buona Fortuna!!

Re: the CT portion of your question. Scott is right on about the trails. We are excellent walkers and do a very small amount of hiking. The Via dell'amore from Riomaggiore to Manarola is a delightful stroll with beautiful views. As Scott said, the walk from Manarola to Corniglia a bit more of a challange, but easily doable for good walkers and still with beautiful views. The 2 from Corniglia to Vernazza and Vernazza to Monterosso are very challenging and we were wishing we had spent more time exploring the towns, all of which deserve a good look. The one part of the Vernazza to Monterosso trail I would not miss though is to hike up the hill from Vernazza toward Monterosso for the postcard view that everyone talks about--it is a spectacular view of Vernazza, then just walk back down to town instead of continuing on to Monterosso. We have been to CT 3 times with Rick's tours and had a wonderful time. We stayed in Monterosso and took the train to Riomaggiore and made our way back from there. DO NOT miss taking a boat ride to see all of the 5 towns from the water--incredible! All of the towns are delightful and just a few minutes apart by train so wherever you stay you can't go wrong. Happy traveling!