travelingteacherfam

Our trip starts in Monterosso in Cinque Terre. What do you think is the better flight option:

Fly into Milan. Just 1 stop, 13.5 hour flight. Lands at noon then 3 hour train ride to Cinque Terre
OR
Fly into Pisa. 2 stops ,16 hour flight. Arrives 10AM. In this case we would need to kill some time so we would see the Leaning Tower before taking the 1 hour train to Monterosso.

We are traveling with our two teens who have never been to Europe, so it could be fun to start with off with an iconic site. But also, they could be grouchy so maybe a longer train ride would be better than 2 airports and sightseeing.

Jean

I don't know where you got your train info... The train ride from Malpensa to Monterosso is at least 4.5 hours, and you might have to wait around for that departure. Some departure options take longer. Perhaps you searched from Milano Centrale to Monterosso rather than from the airport...?

A potential problem with the Leaning Tower idea is that you must have timed reservations to climb and calculating what time to make that reservation can be difficult. You'd have to allow time for storing your luggage either at the Tower or at the Centrale train station, time to reach the Tower, etc. And you can't be sure your plane will arrive on time or that getting out of the airport will be speedy. I suppose you could plan to have lunch near the Tower before your climbing reservation in the early/mid-afternoon, but as you point out that could test the patience of tired travelers. I think this idea makes an already tough day even tougher. Where do you go after Monterosso?

FWIW, I prefer the fewest flight connections at the beginning of the trip. Every connection is an opportunity for delay, and if any delay means you miss a connection, your troubles multiply.

travelingteacherfam

Yes I was searching Milan Centrale so thanks for that info. Since I posted this the flight to Pisa is no longer available anyway, but I have found to Florence with just 1 stop and think we will just start there and reverse the order of those two places in our itinerary. Thanks for the help.

Jean

There are no-change trains from Florence to Pisa that take just an hour. It's an easy day trip and can even be combined with Lucca. Long day but doable.

Also, trains from Florence to Monterosso stop or connect/change at Pisa Centrale.