Italy- dolomites and cinque terre

Old Jun 19th, 2017, 07:34 PM
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Italy- dolomites and cinque terre

Hello! Booked a trip to italy by the end of swpr(24)- oct 5. Fly in venice and out in rome. We want to include dolomites and cinque terre.. is that feasible? Via bus or train or rental car? Pls help to plan out our itinerary. Thanks in advance
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Old Jun 19th, 2017, 08:18 PM
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Ten nights? Hard to do Venice, Dolomites, Cinque Terre, and Rome in that short of a period of time - a rushed trip. Many would suggest doing just Venice and Rome. I'm sure it could be done, though. Trains work between Venice, Cinque Terre, and Rome. Not sure about the Dolomites - never done them.

Maybe three nights each in Rome and Venice, two each in CT and the Dolomites. Still a rushed trip, with some long days of train travel.
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Old Jun 19th, 2017, 11:30 PM
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It would only be possible with a rental car, I wouldn't do this but if I did, I would do it this way

Venice 2 nights

Rent a car drive to Cortina d"Ampezzo, have lunch, drive the Great Dolomites road to Bolzano, spend the night

Next day drive to Modena, spend the night.

Next day drive to le Cinque Terre, spend one or 2 nights

Next day drive to Florence airport, drop off car, take train to Rome.

But like I said, I wouldn't do that. One of the reasons I wouldn't is that late September is outside the window of reliably good weather in the Dolomiti, so even if somebody talked my into doing it, I'd want a Plan B.
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Old Jun 20th, 2017, 12:18 AM
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Actually, a variation on the road trip I wouldn't do is to drive from Bolzano to Modena, but drop off the car in Modena, have lunch, then get on a train to le Cinque Terre, making it easier to spend 2 nights there. And then use the trains to get to Rome.

But I still wouldn't do it, for reasons of weather in the Dolomiti and to avoid having a rushed experience of Rome if you are thinking of trying to see the most famous sights.
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Old Jun 20th, 2017, 02:19 AM
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Wow thank you everybody..your answers were very insightful. Will consider all your answers and retweek our itinerary.
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Old Jun 20th, 2017, 02:52 AM
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I agree it would be a very rushed trip, but just a comment on Massimo's suggestion.
If you decide to do all 4 places and drive from the Dolomites to Cinque Terre, you do not need a stopover in Modena, or anywhere.

I drove from Ortisei to La Spezia to drop off my car and it took only a couple of hours on the Autostrada, a very easy drive. Then I took the train to 5T from La Spezia.

The Dolomites are the only place you would need a car. Trains are fine, and preferable, everywhere else.
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Old Jun 24th, 2017, 02:07 PM
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Thank you for all your insights. Truly helpful. We have considered joining a daytrip tour to Dolomites and cinque terre instead to make it less complicated and see more sites ..for now. At least we' ll have an idea where the come back and spend more time on next time. I think dolomites itself needs a week too truly explore and enjoy and so as other cities and places in italy. ... who knows.. we might still change our itinerary. Thanks again
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Old Jun 24th, 2017, 09:48 PM
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"I drove from Ortisei to La Spezia to drop off my car and it took only a couple of hours on the Autostrada, a very easy drive. Then I took the train to 5T from La Spezia."

More than a couple of hour drive, more like 4.5 hours.

https://www.viamichelin.com/web/Rout...=&arrivalDate=

Cinque Terre is really out of the way from the rail line between Venice and Rome.

There are day trips, real long trips on a coach or bus, to the Dolomites out of Venice. But you may want to make sure they're running at the end of September.

Besides weather a lot of services may be shutting down before preparation for the ski season. For instance, I know in the Val di Gardena, they have cable cars running mostly from the end of June to maybe early September during the summer season.

I've seen CT day trips offered out of Florence but I don't know about Venice or Rome, may be too far away to do it justice.

Plenty of things to see and do just between Venice and Rome, whether just day trips out of those cities or maybe doing a couple of nights in Florence, which is right on the rail line.
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Old Jun 25th, 2017, 07:41 AM
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>>> More than a couple of hour drive, more like 4.5 hours. >>>

As I said, I recall its being an easy drive and it did not take me that long. I had a leisurely morning and got to La Spezia before the auto rental place closed at 1 p.m.

Anyway, the point was, and is, that it is not necessary to make a stopover on the way from the Dolomites to 5T.
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Old Jun 25th, 2017, 08:46 AM
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I don't know, sitting in a car for 4.5 hours is not my idea of something to look forward to.

I'd look at taking a train. May take a couple of changes and probably will add an hour to the trip but at least you can sleep or read or do something else instead of having to drive.

But the point is, for what the OP specified, flying into VCE and flying out of FCO, going all the way west to CT requires a lot of travel time in a 10-day trip.

Just seems like the classic impulse to pack too many destinations into one trip.
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Old Jun 26th, 2017, 12:12 PM
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Thank you everyone. Our plan so far is arrive sept 25 in venice. Stay 3 nights in venice which will include joining a day trip tour to dolomites. Then train to florence on sept 28 and stay in florence for 4 nights which will inclide a day in pisa and a day trip to cinque terre. Then train to rome and stay 3 nights in rome til depature to usa on oct 5. I think it still looks rushed and a lot huh?
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Old Jun 26th, 2017, 12:58 PM
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A bit rushed but hey you only may get to Italy once -Pisa itself is not that great compared to many other cities but does have the Leaning Tower - a magical site for me - you could even do on the way to the CT as there is a train station on that route that is a short stroll from the Leaning Tower- book trains really early for sweet discounts - www.trenitalia.com is the site of the Italian State Railways - other sources I like for trains www.seat61.com; www.budgeteuropetravel.com and www.ricksteves.com.
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Old Jun 26th, 2017, 01:32 PM
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Yes, still a bit rushed, and your time in Venice is very limited, given that you have three nights with the first day the arrival day and one whole day taken by the day trip to the Dolomites. On the other hand, the days in Venice can get crowded; mornings and evenings are the best times there, when there are fewer tourists so it's less crowded. Try to go for a morning walk in Venice one morning if possible before the tourists come.

The trains you would want to book early are the trains between Venice and Florence and Florence and Rome, the Frecciarossa trains. You can save a lot of money booking them a few months out, which means as soon as you can now for late September. The cheap fares will sell out and remaining fares will be more expensive closer to departure - but you can't change the cheap fares after booking, so you need to wait til you are committed to book the Frecciarossa tickets. See www.Trenitalia.com .

Trains to Pisa etc. are mostly regional trains and don't need to be reserved in advance.

Pisa is an easy half day trip from Florence, easy to do on your own by train. Most tourists see only the Tower of Pisa and the Field of Miracles (an essential site yet also extremely touristy, obnoxiously so). There is more to Pisa than that. If you take the train to Pisa Centrale train station, you can take a local bus on to the Field of Miracles and the tower...or walk 30-40 minutes through the town instead, to get a better feel for the rest of the town. You can stop along the Arno river halfway through and walk a few bridges up and back and explore some of the interesting buildings and churches along the river. Part of the walk is through the University of Pisa, an old college.

You might also want to add a day trip to the town of Siena (better by bus than by train - bus gets you closer to the center of Siena). Siena is a lovely town, beautiful town square, a popular day trip from Florence. I know that could take another day - but the Pisa trip should still give you some time in Florence. If weather is bad, I'd prefer to visit Siena in the rain instead of the Cinque Terre, personally.
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Old Jun 26th, 2017, 01:58 PM
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Trains to Pisa etc. are mostly regional trains and don't need to be reserved in advance.>

Can't be reserved in advance - no seat reservations possible (assume andrew meant this) -can buy tickets in advance but no discount -just buy at stations as you go- most trains also to CT are regional but the occasional IC train will be faster but not by much.
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Old Jun 26th, 2017, 03:55 PM
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Thank you very much for the additional info and more. Your advices , recommendations are very helpful. Not to mention the options offered for a bad weather and crowded places and saving money and time. And yes, this italy trip may just happen once or who knows of our availability and with ISIS crisis. Thanks again for filling in my future questions but other recommendations and advices are more than welcome��
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Old Jun 26th, 2017, 04:49 PM
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CT is beautiful, certainly worth seeing.

But it's a long day trip from Florence. In a day trip, you probably won't do hikes or be able to take the ferries between the towns to see the villages from the sea.

The train stations will be packed, standing room only on trains in the summer. Maybe the day trip operator will just drive between towns but the main road is way above the villages so they'd have to get you down to the coastal villages.

CT really deserves a few days, with chances to do hikes, visit nearby Portovenere and Portofino.

A rushed day trip to CT, versus visiting nearby Siena or San Gimignano. Or doing a wine tour in Chianti.

Really depends on your interests though. If you want to see the beautiful coastline versus old Tuscan hill towns.

Those day trips to the Dolomites and CT may be over half the time transit and just a couple of hours at the destinations themselves.
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Old Jun 27th, 2017, 06:51 AM
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A rushed day trip to CT, versus visiting nearby Siena or San Gimignano.>

Yes rather than spending several hours on train to get to CT and back - how about a one-hour bus ride to Siena -one of the most gorgeous of the iconic Tuscan hill towns? And dirt cheap too.

CT with crowds for a short day would be little fun for many.
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Old Jun 27th, 2017, 08:54 AM
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I think the OP is looking probably at one of those coach tours so it may be on a bus, not a train.

In either case, I just searched Florence to Riomaggiore on Viamichelin and it's almost 2.5 hours. But the car can only go up to the road above the village and then they'll have to probably hike down to the waterfront and hike back up for the return trip.

So about 5 hours on the road to and from Florence.

Or Trenitalia shows trains with either 1 or 2 changes, ranging from 2.5 to just over 3 hours for Florence to Riomaggiore.

Then there are the other villages as well.
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Old Jun 27th, 2017, 12:05 PM
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I would not take a one-day bus trip to the Cinque Terre in September. It's one of the busiest months, and the crowds will be oppressive. By spending a night or two, you could see the area in the evening and morning, when the big tour buses have left.

If you think you'll be back in Italy in the future, I suggest you plan to spend a few days in the Cinque Terre, or in some other scenic location, maybe a little less famous.
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Old Jun 28th, 2017, 04:40 AM
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Thank you everyone for your insights. Will consider and reconsider your recommendations. So much to see...so little time.
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