Tripologist: Where’s the best base to explore Italy’s Cinque Terre?

A group of four women will spend a week visiting Florence, Portofino and the Cinque Terre in May 2024. Is train the best way to get to Florence from Rome and use it as a base to explore the Cinque Terre and Portofino? Any suggestions for cheapish, central accommodation? I have stayed in monasteries previously.
A. Maplestone, Eltham , Vic

Train is the best way to get from Rome to Florence but the city is not a practical base for visiting the Cinque Terre. The return journey by train takes around five hours leaving little time for exploring. You’re better off staying in a coastal town and taking day trips and since you also want to include Portofino, I suggest Sestri Levante. The railway line from Sestri Levante has stops at each of the five Cinque Terre villages. This makes it easy to hop off at one of the villages, explore and re-board the next train. You could even walk from one village to another and take the train from there. The best views are between Monterosso and Vernazza but beware, there are lots of steps. Another option is to take a boat cruise along the coast, and this is easily arranged through hotels in Sestri Levante. To get to Portofino you can also take a boat or, at much lower cost, the bus, which takes around 25 minutes. You can find several monasteries that offer accommodation to travellers on the Monastery Stays website (monasterystays.com).

We are two fit 80s-plus travellers wishing to visit Sicily and Malta in May 2024. Are there any easy tours we could do, spending days in each place instead of one-night stops?
S. Bailey, Black Rock, Vic

Malta is compact, and basing yourselves in Valletta and organising day trips from there is the best way to experience this rich and intriguing Mediterranean island. Take a look at Viator (viator.com), there’s a big selection of tours with various themes including cultural, food, boat trips to the Blue Lagoon and historic sites around Malta. Alternatively, hotels in Valletta can suggest tours. Since Sicily is much larger, you need to choose your base with care and one possibility is Ortigia, an island connected to Syracuse by a bridge on the east coast of Sicily. From there you’re within easy reach of Noto, Ragusa, Modica, the city of Catania, Taormina and Mount Etna, all available as a day tour from Ortigia. Plan a couple of days just for relaxing in Ortigia and exploring its piazzas and meandering streets, it’s one of Sicily’s loveliest towns. Other places worth visiting in Sicily are Palermo and the Aeolian Islands, each of which would add another three days to your itinerary.

My friend from the UK wants to tour Australia in February 2024. What’s the most economical way to book a tour? All UK tour operators seem expensive, quoting more than £7000 ($13,400) for a 15-20 day tour to cities and attractions.
D. Mankodi, Melbourne, Vic

You can find tours at a much more competitive price by booking direct with Australia-based tour operators. Intrepid Travel (intrepidtravel.com), G Adventures (gadventures.com) and Discover Australia Holidays (discoveraustralia.com.au) are just a few operators worth considering. Also have a look at Tour Radar (tourradar.com) – they have a compilation of tours from various operators. Beware of choosing a tour based on price alone. Group size, accommodation, whether the tour includes meals, the number of days spent in each place and the ages of the group members all need to match with your friend’s expectations.

We plan to spend up to nine days in June in northern Italy, visiting the main lakes and maybe the Dolomites. From Milan, what would be a good base? Is it possible to use public transport between the lakes or is a car preferable?
J. Fairhall, East Ballina, NSW

The most obvious choice for your first base is Lake Como. I like the area around Tremezzo, about halfway along the western shore of the lake, from where you have easy access to Bellagio, Varenna, the gardens at Villa del Balbianello and Villa Carlotta and the lake ferries. You don’t need a car. From nearby Menaggio you can take a train to Lugano in Switzerland; the trip takes about an hour. Getting to Luino on Lake Maggiore, from where you can access the lake’s ferry network, takes about three hours on public transport. Although you could do it in half the time in a car, the negatives of a vehicle in this region outweigh the positives. Next stop might be Desenzano, at the southern end of Lake Garda, on the Milan to Venice train line, and well-connected with the lake’s ferry services. From there Bolzano is a two-hour train ride.

Travel advice is general; readers should consider their personal circumstances.