Hi Again!!
It is 2 days before our trip begins and I think you hit the nail on the head, Dayle...we probably should wait and plan once we get to Florence. Our 3 sons, (23, 25, 27)want to hike the Cinque Terre as one of their must do s. We were thinking we'd find overnight accommodations there. They are very hard to do as we waited too long. I was wondering if anyone had any info on places in the Cinque Terre. I feel I may have to give up Venice if we do the Cinque Terre as doing both long trips in our 8 days might not be possible. We will be in Rome july 1 - 5th and Florence 5th - 12th Then head back to Rome for a night of the 13th and then home on the 14th.

We just stayed in Levanto which is a few minutes by train from Monterosso al Mare (Cinque Terre). There was lots of hiking in the area, the town is nice, boats go to the Cinque Teree and other coastal towns and there is a train that hits all the towns. If you cannot all get rooms at one place, the town is compact enough to be in two different locations (that's what we did).

Good suggestion ..... if you can't find accomadations in the CT towns, check out Levanto >>>
http://www.venere.com/italy/levanto/

We are planning a short trip to Italy in September, and have been enjoying following along with your planning. We wanted to see Venice,Florence,then Rome. With the wonderful advice we have received here (5 days & nights on the ground in Italy. Help with details, PLEASE!) we have trimmed it back a bit. Have picked up more tips here in your posting. THANK YOU! Hope your family has a delightful time and look forward to some great insights from your travels!

Hi all...day before the trip and we heard back from 2 places in the Cinque Terre... Pensionesorriso in Vernazza and appartamento limoni in Riomaggiore. Has anyone heard of either and also which village would you choose? We are going to train there from Florence and stay overnight!
Thanks!
Off to Rome tomorrow~~ Will keep you posted.
Hi Austen...I am glad we are helping you too! :) We will definitely post all our info when we return!
Sincerely,
Nancy

I hope you plan on going to Lucca too!

My 1st choice would be Vernazza, however all of the CT villages are small & easy to get from one to the next ..... if you could get feedback on the two different accommadation options, then that may be the determining factor.

Pensione Sorriso gets mixed reviews on Trip Advisor >>> (CAVEAT .... many Fodorites aren't overly enthused w/ reliability of TA commentary).

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...n_Riviera.html

Limoni - in Riomaggiore
http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Rev...n_Riviera.html

Buon viaggio!

JBX Thanks for all your info. I think our appartamento limoni is a different place in Riomaggiore. It is under Cinqueterre-camere.com We only found 1 review and they liked it so we went with it. It will be adventure, right?? How far is it between towns? Is it a walk that we could do ...people with "reconstructed knees":)
Thanks so much!!
Nancy

The trail from Riomaggiore to Manarola is known as "Via dell'Amore", and is only path that is paved. Not sure of distance between these 2 towns ..... maybe 1.5 miles? (2 kilometers ??) .... the entire stretch from all 5 CT towns (Riomaggiore -- Monterosso al Mare) is 8 miles, according to Fodors Italy guidebook.

I don't recall how long it took to walk between 2 towns, as kept stopping to take pics. Of course, you also have option to travel between any of the towns via local train .... and probably spend more time waiting for a train than actually being on it ! One caveat ... town of Corniglia is perched high above the cliff-side ..... therefore, when train stops at the Corniglia station, you have to walk up several flights of stairs to get to town itself. Again, per Fodors guidebook, it mentions a shuttle srvc ? for those who don't wish to climb hundred-or-so steps linking train station w/ cliff-top town. Other fodorites can confirm if this is accurate (from a 2009 guidebook).

Finally, there's boat that travels between 4 of the 5 CT towns ...... it doesn't stop @ Corniglia, becuz it's not at sea level.

HI all,
I am so sorry for the delay in posting about our trip. When we returned it was Opening week of the horse track in our city of Saratoga Springs and we get a lot of company! This past week was just getting caught up!
WE HAD A FABULOUS TIME!!! We arrived in Rome on July 1st and we were met at the airport by Fabrio who drove us right to our apartment overlooking the Campo dei Fiori. Micol met us and brought us up to the apartment. It was lovely..VRBO # 336305. I highly recommend this apt. You can see our review there! After we unpacked we went right down to the open air market that sets up there every day. Then we walked to Piazza Navona ..a 5 min walk,,then to the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish steps. We were just in awe of how close we were to everything! We spent 5 days and 4 wonderful nights in this lovely apartment and walking, shopping, eating and drinking all over Rome! One day to see the Colosseum and Forum, one day for the Vatican etc. On July 5th we boarded a train (2nd class saved us a ton of $$) to Florence. We arrived at our second apartment.http://www.apartmentsflorence.it/art...sp?ID=ART00011 ( lovely place and wonderful people to help...you'll see our review there too)
We toured Florence on foot that day and then the next day packed backpacks and headed by train to the Cinque Terre. We met Claudio...who rented us his "Lemon Apartment " for the evening with an amazing view in Riomaggiore...lots of stairs though.http://www.cinqueterre-camere.com/

We walked from Riomaggiore to Manarola on the Lover's walk then took the train to Monterosso al Mare and swam in the sea and relaxed. Then our sons hiked back and my husband and I took the touring boat back.. We had a delicious meal at The Grotto. Next day as we headed back to Florence, we stopped in Pisa to see the Leaning Tower. Then on back to Florence. We stayed in Florence from July 5 - 13th. We walked all over Florence and enjoyed the many sights. The David was amazing!! My husband and I loved the Florence by Bus ..for 20 euros you can ride the double decker bus all over Florence and Fiesole. It is a 2 days pass and you can get off and on any of the locations and every 20 min, a bus comes by that you can hop back on. We also did a day trip to Venice. Absolutely beautiful...but very hot and crowded the day we went. I would have liked to have more time there. Another day we did a day trip to Siena. Siena is a beautiful place and very friendly. We had a couple of days to just enjoy the culture and shop and not head off to a train or bus.
On july 13th we trained back to Rome and then took a cab to the Marriott airport hotel as we were leaving the next morning. We walked into the town of Fiumicino and saw the Port of Rome and found an amazing seafood restaurant, Fronte del Porta. Next morning we sadly headed home.
We had a simply wonderful time...found excellent restaurants, shops, gelaterias, wines etc. The people, way of life, pace and beauty were truly amazing. If anyone needs to email us for any other specifics, we'd be glad to help! Thanks again for all your advice beforehand!
Sincerely,
Nancy
[email protected]

And thank you for coming back and telling us about your trip, so glad you and your family had a fabulous time.

Hi Nancy, thank you for the update.
Soooo glad to hear you had a great time in Italy without renting a car!! We did rent one in June,and i am hoping to AVOID that for the next trip, using trains and busses instead.
Mille grazie!