Venice to Clinque Terre

Michele, As the previous reply mentioned, it would more efficient to stop in Florence prior to the Cinque Terre, as that makes each leg of the journey shorter, and reduces backtracking. Three days will be quite adequate for the Cinque Terre, including a day trip to Portofino. That will allow you to see all five towns, either via local trains or via boat (if they're operating). Once you get settled in Monterosso, you may wish you had more time!!! The day trip to Portofino is fairly straightforward, but will probably take the better part of a day (depending on how long you want to stay there). The easiest method (IMHO) is to first travel by train to Santa Margherita Ligure. When you arrive there, buy a boat ticket at the Bar behind the station and then walk down the stairs to the main part of town and the docks. When you get to the bottom of the stairs, cross the street and then follow the water to the right. The boats run frequently and the trip is only about 20 minutes. The passenger boats arrive in a somewhat "crowded" harbour, and there will probably be a few luxury Yachts there. THIS Photo shows arrival of one of the boats. Portofino has lots of posh shops and restaurants, but not much in the way of other "sights". Some of the shops have some beautiful displays of jewelry but unfortunately they don't allow photos (there's usually a "goon" standing outside to enforce that). You could walk up the hill to Castello Brown, which often has art shows or whatever. It's not really a difficult hike, as the trails are gradual and stairs are provided in places. Happy travels!

It takes about 6 hours from Venice to the CT. My suggestion is to go from Venice to Florence in about 2 hours on the highspeed trains. Stop in florence and put your florence tiome in before the CT. then go from Florence to the CT and spend your time there. The Florence to Ct trip usually takes about 2.5 hours. Doing it this way breaks up a very long travel day if you go directly to the CT from Venice.