Cinque Terre/Venice with Mobility Issues
 

Next May we will be spending the last 2 weeks of our European vacation in Central Italy. This will be our 3rd trip to Italy. I have arthritis so always plan carefully, as to not "get over my head". I have always stayed away from Venice and the Cinque Terre, concerned about the walking. Is there one town in the Cinque Terre that would be "doable"? I have managed the hill towns (Siena, San G, Assisi), so you have some idea of what I can handle, but of course was exhausted. How about Venice? Thanks !

I can't help you with the Cinque Terre, never having been there, but here's how I see Venice:

Venice is, first of all, basically flat, although there are small bridges all over. The bridges are generally not more than six steps high, and the steps tend to be quite low and quite wide. I don't think you can entirely avoid the small bridges.

Venice is generally considered a walkable city, but that does not mean you have to walk all over.

If you buy a one-, three- or seven-day pass (depending on the length of your stay in Venice), you can hop on and off the vaporettos as often as you like, allowing you to considerably reduce the distances you have to walk.

The one- and three-day passes are sold by the transportation authority ACTV and are valid for exactly 24 or 72 hours; you can buy them at any vaporetto stop (or at the airport if you want to take the ACTV bus into Venice). The seven-day pass is known as the Venice Card; I hope others who know more about the Venice Card will give you more details about it than I can.

Finally, there are the very convenient and inexpensive (0.40 Euro per trip when I was last in Venice in 2003) traghettos. They are gondolas that cross back and forth all day long at a number of points along the Grand Canal.

All in all, if you use the vaporettos and the traghettos freely, I would think that you could enjoy Venice without overtiring yourself.

Thanks ! Any one have information on the Cinque Terre?

Hi Travel52,

In the Cinque Terre, you should be fine if you only train between towns. Once at the train station, the main (tiny) road in each town is pretty level and you should be able to walk down to the harbor in most.

You could do the walk from Riomaggiore to Manarola as its paved, level and short.

I also have arthritis and understand your plight. I find Venice quite navigable for all the reasons Eloise identified. Besides, one of the best things to do there is stop and have a drink of whatever sort you prefer and watch the world go by.

I did the Cinque Terre by boat and still don't know how I managed to walk up those swiveling gang planks at each stop--some kind of miracle I guess. But the train thing seems infinitely more doable, if not quite as pretty. Enjoy.

Thanks very much. Now I can decide between the two places, since we only have time on our itinery to do one.

Venice is mostly extremely easy, totally flat walking, except when you need to climb a few stairs up and down to get up to and down from a bridge crossing a canal. But the stairways are usually very short, and you can walk long stretches without having to go up and down these little stairways. Overall, I think Venice is easier than Assisi, which is quite hilly throughout the whole town, with some areas where there are big steps to get from one level of a street to the next street, amnd really hardly any place where it is level. The stairs in Venice at least do not have big steps.

I've never been to the Cinque Terre but I always assumed that they'd be very hilly. I also had the impression that hiking from one town to the next is the main activity and you might be missing a lot by not doing that.

I think if you're in good enough shape to get around Siena and San Gimignano and especially Assisi, you'll be fine in Venice. The little stairs will be nothing compared to some of those climgs in the hilltowns.

Hi again Travel,

If you only have time for either Cinque Terre or Venice - choose Venice. There will be much more for you to do and see!

Buon viaggio!

Thanks very much. I think Venice it is ! As always, this is the place to come for info !

Hello travel52, I think you have made an excellent choice.

BTW, I am sure you have thought of this but just in case you haven't. You will probably want to verify that the hotels you plan to stay at have elevators. This would make it easier for you also, especially after sightseeing all day.

Have fun!

As for Cinque Terre - the walks between towns range from very easy, to quite challenging. If you start at Riomagiore and head northwest, the first trek to Manarola is very easy - you'll see seniors in their Sunday best, and women in high heels pushing baby carriages. The next village is considerably more challenging, and the next even more so. You can always catch the local train at any village, which runs every half hour or so.

"I have arthritis so always plan carefully.."

I feel your pain. What kind of arthritis do you have? I was diagnosed in my early 30s with rheumatoid arthritis. I always sucked it up on trips and did all the hikes, but sometimes the pain was unbearable, but I wasn't going to let the disease stop me.

My RA was so bad, at times they would drain 200cc's of fluid from each knee. In 1998, I started taking Enbrel. Within a week, I was almost as good as new. I've been to the CT twice since taking Enbrel and done most of the hikes. I play basketball all the time again, and my knees feel no pain. Enbrel has been a miracle drug for me. I have had zero side effects. If you have RA, I'd check it out with your rheumatologist.

One huge downside. If I didn't have great insurance I could not afford it (almost $1,500 per month!) Good luck.
((H))

By the way, in case someone accuses me of selling something on this board. I am not affiliated with the medical industry nor do I own any Amgen stock (suppliers of Enbrel).

However, I am amazed at how many people who have RA I have met in the past few years that have not been told about this drug by their rheumatologist (I don't trust many doctors, by the way). I am very lucky my rheumtologist was on top of this when it came out. And as I say, it changed my life (and my traveling) dramatically for the better.
((H))

Thanks all. When I announced to my husband, the suitcase carrier/dragger, that Venice was the choice his question was "how do you get from the airport/train with the luggage if no cars/taxis are allowed?" Good question....We wouldn't want a long walk with luggage.

Travel52:

As I've already indicated, the vaporettos (water busses) are the main form of transportation in Venice.

If you arrive by train, there is a vaporetto stop directly in front of the station.

If you arrive at the airport, you can do one of four things:

a) take a water taxi (speedboat) to your hotel; it will cost around 80-90 Euros;

b) take the Alilaguna vaporetto to the stop closest to your hotel for, I think, 10 Euro each; if necessary, you can then transfer to a regular Venice vaporetto to get closer to your hotel;

c) and d) take a bus -- ACTV is cheaper; ATVO goes direct and costs more -- to Piazzale Roma; there is a vaporetto stop at Piazzale Roma for a water bus that you can take all along the Grand Canal and probably get off fairly close to your hotel.

Frankly, I rather wonder why I went into such painstaking detail in my earlier message, if very little or none of it seems to have been understood...

Perhaps I didn't express the total concern. I understood about the vaporettos, but is it difficult to do so with your luggage ? I know my questions may seem to be over kill for those who do not have to plan as carefully as I do with my disability. I appreciate all the help I can get.I apologize for not stating my question more clearly.

It's admittedly a little more difficult to get onto the vaporetto with luggage than without, and people have had different experiences with respect to being asked to pay or not being asked to pay extra for luggage on the Venice vaporettos. The Alilaguna does not charge extra for luggage.

So, at most, your husband will have to cope with two vaporetto trips with luggage. Tell him you are counting on him to bear up under the burden like the true gentleman he probably is.

Hello travel 52, having read all the post here I think if I were you I would utilize the private water taxi to get to your hotel in Venice. Even if the 80 or 90 euro's is not part of your budget I would make a sacrifice somewhere else so that you could could afford the private water taxi. Best wishes to you.

I, too, have arthritis and still love to travel. There are some porters available in Venice who will take your luggage from the San Marco vaporetto stop to your hotel. Venice is much easier to sightsee in than Rome because the distances are not so great. The sites are closer together.

Be sure to pack light. It will make everything much easier. And get a hotel on one of the lower floors if there is not an elevator.

We are planning 3 days in CT in early Sept. One of us has arthris in her knee. Which town would be the most accessible base? Which hotel? What about Hotel Pasquale in Monterosso? It seems to be near town and ferries. Thank you.

We are planning our 9th trip to Italy in November and this time we are landing in Venice and would like to visit the Cinque Terre region. Can someone please advise us of the driving distance from Venice to Cinque Terre and if this is the closest airport. We would prefer to drive from Venice to Cinque Terre. Many thanks. And if anyone is interested in a 14th Century restored farmhouse in Tuscany, we know of a great one......Thanks

joanww, we stayed at Hotel Villa Steno her sister hotel. You will still have to walk or arrange for a cab to Pasquale. It is about a 10 minute walk from the train station. It is a nice hotel but RIGHT under the train tracks and I would think be very noisy.

travel52-

Make sure you book a hotel that has a vaporetto stop as it is inifinitely more doeable with bad knees..( I have horrid knees and need 2 knee replacements) so I feel your pain...

In addition, If there are porters at San Marco sq, that will help considerably.

I have stayed at the Hotal ALA ( it has a private vaporetto stop) but it is not super spiffy...and I have also stayed at Hotel Flora ( off San Marco Sq)...

Both hotels have elevators..

Ask if they have AC --I went during a time when AC was not needed..