Thank you for taking the time to read this.

I am putting together a trip for my parents, who are Italy first-timers, this spring. They will be spending a week or so in Rome, a week or so in Southern Tuscany, and then flying on from Milan to visit our family in Sarajevo for a bit. They return to the U.S. from Milan, so they have to fly from Sarajavo BACK to Milan and they have now decided they would really like to see Venice and Le Cinque Terre at that time. We have about 7 days left to play with in the itinerary to make these last two happen. I have never been to either, unfortunately, so I'm not really sure of the best way to make these happen. Car? Train? Other? Any suggestions would be very helpful.

Oh, and there is not really the option to do all of the Italy destinations together consecutively. The Sarajevo family is somewhat limited by their personal schedule, so my folks are trying to center their other plans around this.

thank you so much!
Et

A car is useless in Venice and Le Cinque Terre, so train is your best option.

thank you--this is perfect. Any other advice about LCT? I am afraid I really have no idea what a reasonable plan of attack would be. Do people typically stay in a different place every night, or is it better to stay in one place and get around during the day? My parents are in excellent physical condition so the hiking/walking will not be a problem at all. Do you think 3 nights there is OK or would it be a total waste of time if they don't have longer? They prefer slower travel but we're kind of working with what we have here. They aren't really interested in spending more than 3 nights in Venice.

thanks again!
et

Three nights in Cinque Terre is a good amount of time. We spent 3 days and nights there, arriving by train from Milan and moving on to Florence (via Pisa). The hiking ranges from very easy (along paved walks) to more difficult as you move from south to north. We hiked the whole way from north to soutn, stopping for lunch along the way. If you want to hike for more than one day, there are additional trails to follow or you can take the train or ferry (weather permitting) to get from town to town. The vistas are beautiful and the food can be very good if you choose restaurants well.

It is best to stay in one place for the entire stay as it is so easy to get from town to town.

They can stay in one of the Cinque Terre towns or in another town nearby. In the latter case, which might be better for a longer stay, they can take the train to the CT. The boats between towns may not be running yet. Santa Margherita Ligure makes a good base. It's adjacent to Portofino. Do your parents like hiking? There's a path over the Portofino promontory.

But it's hard for me to imagine spending more time on this section of the Ligurian coast than in Venice. For Venice, make sure your parents find a hotel away from the Piazza San Marco and the Rialto; these are the most crowded tourist-infested areas of Venice. But Venice isn't really that big; it's easy to get around with the aid of the vaporetti and the traghetti (gondola ferries).

These are great pieces of advice...thank you. Yes, they love to hike, so I'll add the trail to their notes.

thanks to everyone again!!

et