Sharon

Hi I will be in Florence next May for 3 nights. I would like to take a day trip to Pisa and Cinque Terre. Is this too much to accomplish to really see those sights. And what trains would I take to do this. thanks

Greg

Sharon,<BR><BR>There are trains leaving every half hour from Rifredi station in Florence to Pisa. It takes about an hour to get there and then another hour to the Cinque Terre, depending on where you want to go (which town). It can be done in a day as long as you do not expect too much. You will see some of the main sights, but not have much time to look around. The best way to go is to stay in the Cinque Terre, stopping at Pisa along the way, if that works for you. Have fun.<BR><BR>Greg<BR>

Grasshopper

You will see some interesting things along the train route. Especially Carrera and the marble mountains where Michaelangelo hand picked his marble!

pamb

You need to make reservations to go up in the Tower of Pisa (if you wish to do this: I highly recommend it). When we were there in June, they hadn't started taking reservations for the entry (they only let 30 people up at a time for 45 minutes), and we had to wait two hours before our scheduled entry. I don't have the website bookmarked, but you can find it from a search engine like Yahoo.<BR>Don't be put off by the hordes of tacky tourist stands and the annoying hawkers who try to sell you fake watches, purses, etc. The climb up the Tower is fun and the view from the top is fabulous.<BR>Pam B.<BR>

Joan

If you need to make a choice between Pisa &amp; Cinque Terre, no question that it should be Cinque Terre. It is stunning. I was just there in October, 2002.

homesick for italy

have you spent time in Florence before? if not, sounds like you're short changing yourself.<BR><BR>depending on the weather, I would just go to Cinque Terre ... I lucked out with sunny skies during a recent 6 week adventure to Italy! if it rains, they will most likely close the trails that hug the coastline. while easy to reach from Florence, keep in mind that you take a &quot;slow train&quot; to most of the smaller cities along the coast ... so get up early and do as much as possible ... ENJOY