Train to Cinque Terre from Florence

Hannah, Taking a day trip to the Cinque Terre from Florence will be a LONG DAY. I wouldn't bother pre-booking your tickets, as they're very easy to buy at the stations, either from the staffed ticket office (usually long queues) or from the automated Kiosks. Most of the trains on that route are Regionale, so DON'T forget to validate your tickets prior to boarding the train. There are a few trains where one leg of the trip is via EuroStar Italia / Frecciabianca, so you'll need reserved seats for those. Use the Trenitalia web site to see which train will work best for you. You'll probably access the C.T. via La Spezia Centrale, which is where you'll likely transfer to the local train. You might consider buying the tickets for your trip to the Cinque Terre when you arrive in Florence (since you'll be at the station anyway). One point to note is that this is still early in the season, so not all of the businesses in the Cinque Terre will be open yet (April 1st is the usual "start of the season"). Also, the only trail that's currently open is the Via dell'Amore from Riomaggiore to Manarola. Happy travels!

Hannah, how long is your trip? If you have enough days, consider going to the CT only if you can stay overnight. A 1 day trip to & from is not worth it, imo.

for March it isn't necessary to prebook as it is off season in CT. It really isn't recommended as a day trip, it's a very long day of travel