Where to stay in the Cinque Terre, Italy

I'm interested too.

Also, what about the possibility of staying just outside the CT, somewhere between the CT and Genoa? One reason would be if I had a car, it would seem to be easier to stay outside the CT with a car.

If you stay outside of the Cinque Terre, Santa Margherita is a beautiful place. And you can visit Portofino which is only 10 minutes by bus, but a much prettier approach is by boat. Camogli is about 7 minutes by train. It is a nice quiet village with a walk along the water.

Levanto is the town just north of Monterosso al Mare; Levanto is not one of the "five villages" but is considered part of the region for training and hiking, if you buy a pass. Levanto is more your traditional beach resort town than "quaint village" and car friendly. It's fairly easy and quick to get into the CT from Levanto by train (10 minutes to Monterosso?) or a long hike.

We stayed at La Torretta last May and loved it. It was a wonderful base to explore the Cinque Terre and to return to every day. Gabrielle, who runs La Torretta is really great--one of the best hosts we have ever had at an hotel. Every morning we were served a delicious breakfast (we chose to have it delivered to our room) and then in the evening they poured wine and prosecco and served appetizers in the small charming terrace looking out to the ocean. We loved it. If you stay there check out Trattoria Billies for dinner.

consider staying at Portovenere and the Grand Hotel Portovenere .Have a look .Gorgeous and the CT all accessible .There are other lovely waterfront hotels as well .

Portovenerre is beautiful, but if the weather is bad then the ferry's will not run and Portovenere is not on the train route.

We always stay in vernazza at this place. http://www.giannifranzi.it/ Clean, inexpensive and Vernazza is a wonderful town.

We stayed at La Torretta last May and loved it.

Macdogmom,
That look a lot better than were we usually stay. I've bookmarked this for the future.

Without a doubt, one of my very favorite experiences traveling in Italy was at the Hotel Porto Roca. While not the least expensive of many hotels in the area, it is perhaps the best, as it offers ideal privacy, yet is within walking distance (5 minutes) of the town of Monterrosa and has a private beach, amazing views, wonderful food and well, you just want to hang out there. I will return again and again... check it out at http://www.portoroca.it

Ciao,
LL

Thanks everyone, I'll report back in a few months!

We stayed in Monterosso. We loved it.
It is more lively and exciting than the other towns, but maybe peace and quiet is what you want.
Just let me know I could look up the name of the hotel where we stayed..
It was roomy and clean.Very friendly staff. Great breakfast,Italian style.
Fantastic rooftop views.
You can drive to the outskirts of the town then walk or taxi to this hotel.
Then train or hike to the other villages.
Let me know.

We spent 3 days in Portovenere at the Royal Sporting hotel and I can't recommend it enough! I loved going to the CT by boat and coming back at the end of the day to lovely Portovenere. I like CT towns but I wouldn't want to stay there, just my opinion.

Bookmarking.

I've travelled most of the big cities and towns in Europe before and now I'm into "discovering the local atmosphere"! From my research so far it sounded as if Monterosso is too touristy, Sallym808. Thanks, but I would prefer to stay as close as possible to the locals. Having said that, I'm planning to arrive by plane in Pisa and then take the train to the CT, so my final destination shouldn't be so "local" that I'm going to have transport issues. I think so far it's still between Vernazza or Manarola.But which one?!?!?

stayed in Santa Margarito-perfect. quick bus to Portofino. fun train to Cinque terre

MaireJoh, I stayed in the old town of Monterosso and it was lovely. IMO it was a lot less touristy and less tacky than Vernazza which I felt was the most touristy of the area. Manarola was IMO the least tourisyy but very small.

This is the sort of info I was looking for. Thanks to cambe and everyone else!

Is that Santa Margherita Ligure?

According to Frommers' it's almost an hour on the train between SML and Monterosso?

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/santamargheritaligure/0750010002.html

Yes,Santa Margrita in Liguria. I stayed in Santa Margarita. You can take the train to Spezia and then go to the villages of Cinque Terre and Porto Venere by boat or you can take the train to each village of Cinque Terre from Santa Margaria. The villages are tiny and pretty touristy - nice to visit but I wouldn't want a hotel in any of them. Much better to go to Cinque Terre as day trips and stay in St.Margarita.

Wait, isn't SML north (or more like NW) of CT and La Spezia is to the South (or SE) of CT?

So you have to go past the CT to La Spezia and head up North or NW to the CT?

scrb, there are direct trains from Santa Margharita to all of the villages in the CT (you don't need to go to La Spezia which is at the end of the line). SML is midway between Geneoa and the CT. About 40 mins from Geneoa and about 45mins from Monterosso. The villages are about 5 mins by train apart and the trains run hourly. (timings are approx.)

Hope this helps

correct you only go to Spieza if yu want to catch a boat. Gorgeous viee of the Cinque Terre from boat and you can et off and on ay each village. From St Margarita you can take the train to each village. Get off at Monorola and walk the Via del Amore to Montorosso. Go back to Veranza and eat at the cliff side restaurant Belleforte. Then when back in St Margarita, have a Proseco at the outdor cafe overloking the infinity pool at the Helios hotel. Thn take the bus from the square-right in front of the tourist office #82 to Portofino for dinner or an expensive drink and apperitivo included appetizers.

OK, thanks.

Now if I can only get trenitalia.it to show the trains.

Going to fly into GOA and see if I can take the train to SML directly. Only tough thing is arriving Sunday eve/night.

Another vote for La Toretta. Stunning views!

La Mala in Vernazza. http://www.lamala.it/en/index.html
Fabulous stone terrace right on the sea and great attention to detail. Check it out on tripadvisor.com

Vernazza is the town you want to be in at night. So much activity and charm!

We stayed in Vernazza - yes, touristy, but it was heavenly.

Do you also want to plan for going to Portofino as well as CT?

I stayed in Manarola - not at the place that you have mentioned, but at another B&B which was terrific. I was there for 3 days/nights and loved it. We traveled to all the little towns and found that we loved Manarola the best because it was small, quiet and less touristy than some of the others, especially Vernazza. Vernazza was the town that we ended up liking the least because it was so over-run with tourists. I know that "each to their own" but just wanted to share our opinion.

we rented an apartment.. great view from Edi. Located in Riomaggiore, we liked getting food from the great little market... and dining on the terrace. Google Edi in Riomaggiore.. We booked through them twice.

The beauty of traveling to the CT in Winter is that you will probably have her all to yourself!

Thanks again everyone. I've decided to go for Manarola. Will report back in a few months!

Manarola is an excellent choice.

We just got back yesterday from 6 nights in our beloved Vernazza. After spending more time soaking in the other villages, we loved the feel of Manarola. The harbor is gorgeous and the walking path to the right (as you're looking out towards the sea) had stone benches with travelers sketching the beauty in front of them. Also, the Punta Bonfiglio "park" right across from the harbor is a peaceful respite from a long day of hiking.

As the "Blue Trail" winds around seaside toward Corniglia, there is a rest area below the trail(complete with picnic tables) that is close to the ocean and is perfect stop for a snack and quiet contemplation with Corniglia in the distance.

Buon viaggio....