Tour questions Venice/Genoa/Florence

Posted by marticab (USA Palm Beach, Florida ) on 07/01/18 01:54 AM

Thank you for all that sent me recommendations.. We are spending 5 days in Florence and there are 2 places we really want to see.. One is Cinque Terre and the other one is Venice I have booked our train tickets from Florence to Venice on Italia rail.. YAYY!! We will be getting off our cruise in Genoa on Oct 6 and from there we need to travel to Florence. Should we do Cinque Terre on the way (Bad part is we have all our luggage with us)
Other option is we go straight from Genoa to Florence and then take the train to Cinque Terre.. Which of the villages should we pick? We are travelling with 2 kids and would probably like the least busiest! We are travelling early October..

Thanking you in advance..

Posted by joe32F

Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂

07/01/18 04:31 AM

12037 posts

Doing CT as a day trip from Florence is really far from ideal.

Why not spend at least one night in CT, on your way from Genoa to Florence?

While not explicitly stated, I sense you are doing Venice as a day trip from Florence. I hope you can tell me I am wrong.

Posted by Bob

Minneapolis

07/01/18 11:33 AM

1274 posts

Cinque Terre is on the way from Genoa to Florence. I suggest you go from Genoa to CT and stay there a night or two, then proceed to Florence. Enjoy your trip!

Posted by Suki

07/01/18 03:06 PM

11676 posts

I hope you aren’t considering seeing Venice as a day trip from Florence. Bad idea. Stay overnight in Venice, and at least two nights would be best.

Posted by marticab OP

USA Palm Beach, Florida

07/01/18 07:18 PM

168 posts

We have booked our train to Venice from Florence so YES :( we leave on the first train apprx at 7.00 AM and come back around 7.30 PM. The train is 2.5 hrs so we will be there early and have about 8 hrs. We want to have lunch and do a gondola ride. I have never been and just want to do that. I hope its not too much. With that said we are travelling with 2 kids and spending a little over 3 weeks in Europe and a week on a cruise. We are doing the MSC which still has formal night. I am married to a man that is 6'4 and has a size 13.5 shoes meaning no matter how much I try he takes 2 suitcases while me and the 2 kids can fit all in 2. Its a lot to carry around and that is why I station in Genoa/ Florence and Barcelona while in Spain. I wish I could go from place to place but I find it its harder on us than just taking in the adventures!
Does that make sense?

Posted by acraven

Washington DC

07/01/18 08:04 PM

28437 posts

It does make sense with little ones. What I would gently suggest for future trips is that you approach your day-trip destinations differently, selecting places that are closer to your home base and less sightseeing-intense so you aren't tempted to try to cram 3 days' worth of sights into a few hours.

There are places that are a lot more ideal for quick visits than Venice. It's rather costly in both time and train fare (or highway tolls) to spend 5 hours getting to and from a one-day visit to a place that's worth a minimum of 3 full days. I often choose my base cities partly on the availability of good day-trip options to places small enough that I won't miss too much by not spending the night.

Posted by marticab OP

USA Palm Beach, Florida

07/01/18 09:01 PM

168 posts

It makes perfect sens and I will keep that in mind and TY as it stands we get back from the cruise on the 6th and off to Florence via train. 7th we rest and explore Florence, then on the 8th we go to cinque terre with a tour and on the 10th we go to Venice on our own on the train. The 11th back to Genoa via train to catch a flight to Barcelona.. I had another tour to Chianti but when I saw it was 11.5 hrs I cancelled it. I think that is it for Italy....We will see other cities (some we have been to before) on the cruise but nothing is like being stationed there!