Marvin

My wife & I are planning our first trip to Italy this coming October.<BR>Tentatively, we will have 3 days in Rome, 3 in Venice & Verona and a week or<BR>so in Tuscany and the Umbrian region.<BR><BR>We are trying to squeeze Cinque Terre in because we have heard only good things<BR>about it, but the schedule looks pretty tight. We are hoping to base<BR>ourselves around Siena for the Tuscany leg and finish off at CT if there's<BR>any time left.<BR><BR>Should we rush through with this plan or are we better off lazing around in<BR>Tuscany? Any advice would be most appreciated.<BR>

Cindy

We loved our two days in Cinque Terre, and it seems to me that if you have a week in Tuscany that it would be easy to fit it in. You could work your way up from Rome, then head on to Venice from Cinque Terre, which is what we did, except that we just spent one (LONG) day in Tuscany (visited Orvieto, Cortona, Siena, and spent the night in Volterra, stopped at Pisa the next day on the way to Vernazza). It wasn't enough time, by any means, but I'm really glad that we had a couple of days in Cinque Terre.

cate

definitely go to cinque terre! it is a rarity, it is gorgeous, and it is really not that far from florence (train to pisa then la spezia).<BR>(in my experience (and for my taste, which tends not to like cities), 3 days is too much for venice anyway. good food is hard to find there unless you pay a LOT, and many things are pretty close together--i get a little bored in 1 1/2 days. i know that is sacrilege to say, but venice isn't the wonder i expected. still, it has an EZ on EZ off airport.) but if you have to do 3 days in venice, it's still worth shaving off a day or so from the umbrian time to go to cinque terre. (don't even consider shaving a second off of the tuscany time!) the biggest problem with cinque terre is getting there (use the train!), but the walking is great (from the most northern town to the second most northern is NOT A WALK--it's a HIKE!), the food is absolutely delightful, and the beauty of the town is unimaginable--like in a cartoon or something totally in some delightful person's imagination. October may get a little cool, and the waves can come up during that time, but that just makes those pretty little towns even more stunning. go, go, go! i personally try to go to italy twice a year and cannot tear myself away from florence,siena, montalcino--trite but compelling nevertheless. cinque terre is more natural, more real, more unusual, and (with the exception of St. Francis of Assisi) i haven't seen anything in Umbria to rival it. you might have to spend one night there to get the trip in. i stay in portovenere which requires bussing/cabbing to/from La Spezia, or you can travel by boat if the weather is ok. it's a little more trouble, though portovenere itself is darling, and more good food!

Debbie

If you have a full week then I would probably go for two days in CT and 5 in Tuscany. If you are active types then I would think you would love CT but wouldn't cut Tuscany to any less than four days in order to see CT. There will be other trips.

Marvin

Thanks for all the feedback. CT does indeed sound too good to miss!! Guess it's on the itinerary after all! Cate, you must really loved the place <BR><BR>Anyone has any suggestions for lodging there, preferably under Eur100?<BR><BR>

Cindy

We stayed in a room owned by Francamaria in Vernazza. It overlooked the harbor there, and I loved it. I got the information about it off the Rick Steve's website.

RC

The CT was beautiful, but I'll offer a couple of caveats. If you go, make sure to go through La Spezia, NOT Genoa. Any rail service having anything to do with Genoa was a disaster for us. Also, the towns offer very different experiences. Vernazza feels like your local municipal beach, Manarola is simply gorgeous, Monterosso is the most "Riviera", Riomaggiore is full of backpackers, and Corniglia is the most authentic but least accessible--lots of stairs. If you're looking for lodging recommendations, Rick Steves has the dirt. For dining, try the Castello restaurant in Vernazza (get reservations). Finally, do not shave time off of Venice--you can spend weeks there and not see everything you want to. 5 for Tuscany and 2 for the CT sounds right.

Mike

Last year, we spent 2 nights in Portovenere, 2 nights in Florence and 3 nights in Sinalinga. We had a blast. Portovenere was great; we splurged and spent E150 for a room w/terrace at the Grand Hotel with a killer view of the bay and town. Small, walkable, scenic and quiet (at least in April). Convenient drive to Cinque Terre where we parked our car and trained in and out of the towns. You should spend a couple of nights in Florence to visit museums etc. For the remaining days, rent a car, pick an area in Tuscany, and just get lost and explore. The hill towns are captivating and surprisingly, not touristy (like we found Cinque Terre which is now becoming overrum by Americans because of Rick Steves). Don't rush Tuscany. Enjoy. Email me for more info.

Kris

Definately go! Went 6 years ago and can't wait to get back. We spent 3 weeks touring Europe and CT was my absolute favorite. Grab a bottle of local wine from the market and head to the beach for a sunset - you can't beat it! Have a great time!

sara

You HAVE TO go to Cinque Terre! We just returned from Italy and it was our favorite place out of all that we went in over 3 weeks. It's very layed back and relaxing. The food in Italy is amazing, but the Cinque Terre had the best food of all the places. So I suggest squeezing it into your agenda any which way you can. We had a hard time leaving it and wished we could have stayed there longer.

adam

We just got back from the CT and loved it too. We did a day trip from a hotel in Lucca, and it was very easy -- drove 90 minutes to Riomaggiore; walked from Riomaggiore to Manarola; took the train to the other 3 towns; returned to Riomaggiore for dinner; and were back at our hotel by 10:30 that night. We did not feel rushed at all, and the CT is definitely worth a visit. BTW, the prior post about Corniglia bring inaccessible is no longer true -- as of 2001, there is a shuttle bus that meets the train at the station and drives you up the hill to town and then back down to meet the next train.

SA

We also loved CT. We got back from Italy 2 days ago. We stayed at Villa Margherita in Levanto (a few mintues away from the first town). We loved our BnB and highly recommend it--it was gorgeous and cost us about 80 dollars a night. It had an awesome breakfast and Frederico was a wonderful host. The food in CT is fabulous, the best we had in italy (Rome, Venice, and Naples).

Claudia

We spent two wonderful days last year (May/June 2002) in Vernazza and loved our room that we rented from Giuliano for 64 euro a night. If you have a lot of luggage, and are not in average or better physical shape--getting up to his place will make you a cuss a blue streak before you get there. Otherwise, you will love the view and location. You can e-mail him at [email protected]. Here is his website: www.cdh.it/giuliano <BR><BR>Giuliano is a very hard working guy--has a restaurant, and farms the steep hillsides. Also, is an avid bicyclist. He speaks a bit of English. I would definitely stay at his place again--because the room is clean, great bathroom, a beautiful terrace with a view to beat the band. <BR><BR>