Venice to Cinque Terre

You should check out trenitalia.com to figure out this and other train related questions. Be sure to use the Italian names for your cities and find out which specific station you want for the larger cities (e.g. Venezia Santa Lucia instead of Venice.) As to your specific question, I think you're trying to cram too much into one day.

You can travel there quite easily in one day and have time for a bit of a tour of Pisa (I don't really need much more than a couple hours to walk around). If you are trying to do both in a day trip, I would say you are cramming in too much.

Jan, That's a very fairly easy trip (about 5-hours), but I'm not sure I'd want to add to that by stopping in Pisa for a few hours, especially hauling luggage. I believe there's a left luggage facility at Pisa Centrale, but I've never used it. Some of the trains on that route have one change at Firenze SMN as well as the change to the local C.T. train at La Spezia Centrale. Other trains also have a change at Pisa Centrale, so that's where you'll be able to fit the stop in. Check the Trenitalia website for details. Happy travels!

We did exactly that but in the opposite direction. It was not a rushed day at all. We spent about 4 hours in Pisa, which included a nice lunch.

I would recommend staying a night in Cinque Terre, because it is so beautiful you will not want to leave! Pack light, just what you can carry in a day pack. Take the train or a coach to get to one of the towns. You can take a ferry between the 5 towns, so you might want to start at Riomaggiore, walk the Via Del Amore to Manarola, hop on the ferry, get off for a couple hours at Vernazza, then get back on the ferr and spend the night at Monterosso, giving you time to spend on the beach or in the town, before moving on with your trip. Rick has great recommendations on where to stay and eat there. That's my 2 cents worth. Jan B

Thanks so much for your feedback. I have a much better feel for the timing!!

Yes, you can do this quite easily. Many train runs go to Florence where you will change trains for Pisa. All trains from Florence to the CT will stop at Pisa. If you depart Venice on the 8:27 train, you will be in Pisa just before noon. Here's a link to show you the schedule. http://gyazo.com/5c62e2cbfff2b2895795d771dc55d69c Once in Pisa Centrale, there is a staffed left luggage facility at the station. On the train platform, face the tracks with the station at your back. Turn left and walk down to the last two buidlings on your left. Go between the two buildings and the facility will appear. They make a copy of your passport picture and place it with your luggage. You need your passport to get your luggage back. We've used the facility. Next, the leaning tower is a 25-minute walk in and a 25-minute walk out. You can taxi in and out if you want. Unless you are planning to climb the tower which takes a lot of time in line, expect that you will be back at the train station about 2:30pm or 3:00pm. You can have lunch walking in or out. We did. For tickets, you can buy your Venice to Pisa tickets in advance. Regular fare is close to 50E but you can get a mini-fare on the high-speed from Venice to Florence resulting in a 26E fare. Note, however, that you will be locked in to the specific train departure. Next, buy a second ticket from Pisa to your CT destination. Make sure your departure time is about 2:30 or 3:00pm as many trains from Pisa to the CT will require seat reservations. So be careful there. If you are on a high-speed, you will change trains at La Spezia Centrale. Aside from a very few Intercity trains, only the slower Reginale trains stop in the CT towns. You'll be in the CT by 5:00pm. Here's another link.
http://gyazo.com/824cc08d52e0b0cc7c89e0c2883367f8