Venice to Vernazza to Rome?

I was going to recommend train websites...until I noticed your dates. Sorry, you CANNOT feasibly visit Vernazza, Florence, and Pisa on the way to Rome with just that limited amount of time - two days? Don't even try.

Skip Vernazza, leave Venice early, stop in Florence, do a day trip to Pisa (maybe) and a night in Florence, and leave for Rome the next day.

Buy the Venice-Florence and Florence-Rome tickets ASAP to save money; the regional (non reserved trains) between Florence and Pisa do not cost more at the last minute so just buy them day of arrival.

Or skip Florence and Pisa and just do the long trip to Vernazza, squeeze as much time as possible out of your half day there, and then leave for Rome the next morning. But I'd skip Vernazza myself, especially in April - wouldn't be much fun in the rain, whereas you probably could enjoy Florence (museums) and Pisa somewhat in the rain.

I'd still buy the individual tickets, not a rail pass.

Use the Trenitalia website (need to use proper Italian names for cities)

http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en

or try www.trainline.eu, another well-regarded trains website and more forgiving about name spellings.

You need to look at the Google map of Italy and get an idea on how far things are,
Yeah you can't do it all but Italy will still be around for another trip.

To do what you propose in the described time frame does not require train tickets.

You need Scotty to 'beam' you from place to place.

Not meaning to be snarky, but what you propose is so impractical, even the Amazing Race would reject the premise.

You need to allocate more time or reduce the number of destinations, or you will just run yourself ragged and likely enjoy none of it.

It will take you 6 or more hours for Venice to Vernazza. The trip from Vernaza to Rome is via La Spezia where you can get a high speed train. The segment La Spezia to Rome takes 4 hours. You really do not have time for a side trip.

As others have said, maybe reconsider going to Vernazza if you only have one night. It is fast and easy to go directly from Venice to Florence and you can be there before lunch as it is only 2 hours on the train.

Forget Pisa, it is just not worth the time when you have so little time. Save it for a trip when you have more time in Tuscany.

Never buy a train pass in Italy. Point to point tickets are best and if you can commit to a schedule you can buy high speed tickets in advance for a discount, but they are non-refundable. Www.trainline.eu represents both train companies and is very easy to use.

I’ve obviousky explained this wrong. We get to Venice on the 15th; we’ll stay there theee nights. On the 18th, we travel to Vernazza, where we will stay three more nights. I was thinking we might be able to stop in Florence on our way to Vernazza (maybe not?) Then we go to Rome on the 21st to stay until the end of our trip. I thought maybe we could stop in Pisa on the way to Rome. Now I hope that makes sense. Opinions, please? We will bag Florence and Pisa if that’s the consensus.

I’ve obviousky explained this wrong. We get to Venice on the 15th; we’ll stay there theee nights. On the 18th, we travel to Vernazza, where we will stay three more nights. I was thinking we might be able to stop in Florence on our way to Vernazza (maybe not?) Then we go to Rome on the 21st to stay until the end of our trip. I thought maybe we could stop in Pisa on the way to Rome. Now I hope that makes sense. Opinions, please? We will bag Florence and Pisa if that’s the consensus.

You may want to edit your original post then and change it from "April 20th" to "April 18th."

Use the Trenitalia or trainline.eu websites I linked to above and check the routings between Venice and Vernazza and between Vernazza and Rome. You'll find both are fairly long journeys with several changes. Between Venice and Vernazza, you can either go through Milan or Florence - maybe even through Pisa as well.

If you find trains that are already going through one or the other, then yes, you can stop for a few hours. But you will need to buy separate tickets - can't get off and on and use the same ticket.

For example, if you find a train trip on the Trenitalia website from Venezia Santa Lucia (Venice) to Vernazza with a change in Firenze S.M. Novella (Florence), note the time it gets to Florence. Now do a new search for Florence to Vernazza. Note the time, guessing how much time you would want in Florence.

You're going to want to buy the Venice to Florence ticket early - otherwise it will be expensive last minute, possibly sold out at the time you want. But look at the Florence to Vernazza portion, though: if they are all regional trains or "Cinque Terre Express" trains (no seat reservations), then there is no need to buy that one ahead of time - the price will be the same day of departure and it can't sell out. So you can wait until you are in Florence to decide which trains to take to Vernazza.

For Vernazza to Rome, you'll probably do the same thing with the stop in Pisa - except that Pisa to Rome will probably involve a Frecciabianca train that is expensive last minute, cheaper to buy now, like the Venice-Florence train. So that one you will probably want to lock in now - but maybe the train to Pisa is also regional, therefore no need to buy in advance.

Personally, to simplify, I might take one of your Vernazza nights and just spend it in Florence. Day trip from Florence to Pisa (very easy). Much less hassle, except the need to change hotels one more time. No need to buy Florence-Pisa tickets in advance but buy the others in advance.

Reminder about regional train tickets in Italy: if you buy them from a machine or from an agent, you MUST validate them at a machine at the station BEFORE you board the train! Otherwise, you risk a steep fine. You don't need to validate a ticket where you have reserved seats.

Yeah, you didn't explain it wrong in your first post. You used the wrong dates for your trip to Vernazza. Regardless, with a travel time of 6+ hours, you don't have time for an intermediate stop that day.

On your travel day to Rome, you could book tickets to Pisa (you'd change trains in La Spezia). Then book another ticket for 3-4 hours later to Rome (you'd change trains in Florence). You'd get to Rome in time for dinner assuming you left Vernazza around 8:30 and Pisa around 2:30 (ish)

I edited my original post. I’m totally jet-lagged. These suggestions are very helpful. Thanks! Keep them coming!

To address the second part of your question

I can’t figure out whether to just buy passes or individual tickets. A lot of tickets seem to be for specific times and/or require reservations. We’d like some flexibility or is that too much to ask? I’m so frustrated!!

In Italy, tickets are relatively cheap, and a pass will in 99% of cases cost more.
** On local trains (so-called "Regionalle") tickets are valid on any train, but you have to stamp them before getting on to stop you using the ticket twice.
** Long distance and High Speed trains (like Venice - Florence), the ticket is only valid on the specific train (same as an air ticket is). On the ticket it lists train number, time, date and your seat number(s). These tickets are very cheap if bought in advance (1-3 months)
If you have a pass, you still have to buy a reservation for these trains as an extra purchase, so you still don't have the flexibility.