rheims2017

We will be in Cinque Terre for four nights next early June and wonder in which town we should stay. Some say Corniglia, but wonder what others think. Would also love any advice on a specific nice place with view of the sea - small is fine. Under $150 per night preferable. Thanks!

Sojourntraveller

My honest and considered answer is none IN Cinque Terre. Visit Cinque Terre if you must, by ferry as a day trip from Portovenere, a town worth visiting. http://www.cinqueterre.eu.com/en/portovenere

https://www.google.ca/search?q=porto...w=1280&bih=687

The Cinque Terre was worth visiting 30 years ago before Rick Steves told tourists they should go there. Peaceful little villages along the ooast joined by a path you could walk from village to village.

Now they have to limit the number of people on the path by the hour and the villages are all full of tourist kitsch stores. The scenery remains the same but what made it special 30 years ago, no longer exists.
http://www.tripadvisor.ca/ShowTopic-...a_Liguria.html

People now go to the CT for one reason only. It's on the list to tick off. Do yourself a favour, spend your 4 days in Portovenere and tick the CT off the list using the ferry one day.

Myer

I kind of agree with Sojour.

We were in CT a couple of years ago. It was an overnight "day trip" from Florence.

We stayed in La Spezia. That's a 7 minute local train ride to Riomaggiore.

It was a great 2 days. We started by going to Pisa in the morning. Instead of getting off at Centrale we got off at the San Rossore train station that's less than 10 minutes from the Leaning Tower.

An hour or so later we walked back to the same train station and got on a train to Lucca where we spent a good part of the afternoon. We even rented bikes in Lucca and rode around the town on top of the wall.

From Lucca we took the train to La Spezia where we checked into our hotel and immediately trained to Riomaggiore where we had a great outdoor dinner overlooking the ocean.

The next day we trained back to Riomaggiore and then hiked between several of the towns. Eventually we took a boat to Portovenere where we walked around and eventually took a city bus back to La Spezia where we picked up our backpacks and took the train back to Florence.

mobilemc

OK, back to your original question. My wife and I spent two nights in Vernazza 6 years ago and loved it. I can't remember the name of our hotel but I do remember it was up a path from the main piazza - you'll find lots of choices. One day we walked along south along the coastal walking path to the southern most of the 5 towns (can't remember the name), then took the shuttle boat up the coast to the northern most town (Monterosso). After touring there, we took the train back to Vernazza. Yes, the CT are popular, but frankly so are all the towns along that stretch of coast in June. Staying overnight is a different experience however ... evening dinner on the piazza by the beach and early morning walks down to the beach to watch the fishermen depart. We loved it.

zmzm917

CT can be underwhelming. I was just there last May. We stay in Santa Margherita in Grand Hotel Miramare. SM is best based based for the area and very accessible because of the train system. SM is a beautiful town to just walk around and admire the coast. Unless you are an avid hiker, CTis rather disappointing. Quick ferry ride to Portofino and if your schedule allows it visit Camogli and spend a night at the Hotel Cenobio. The town is quaint and reminds you the simplest things in life are the most important.

sandralist

I will point out that Portovenere is a cruise ship dock and if you are going during cruise ship season it is plenty crowded and it is plenty kitschy. Portovenere is the only town on the Riviera that I have seen where there is a "Pesto-mat" vending machine like a coca cola machine where tourists can insert coins and get a jar of pesto instead of a coke. (Jarred pesto tastes awful.)

So if you don't like crowds or kitsch and would like to hike and have a sea view then you need to get out of the cruise ship zones and Rick Steves hotspots. For that you go to Zoagli or Bonassola.

But if you would like to see le Cinque Terre it is probably better to spend the night there than daytrip in from another town. Most people are happy with whichever town they stay in except the modern part of Monterosso al Mare (and some find Corniglia too remote and tiny).

sandralist

Just another point of view on Santa Margherita Ligure: It too can get overwhelmed with cruise ship tourists and I think I can safely say that for every person who enjoys a visit to Portofino at least 10 people want to gag. Santa Margherita Ligure is a pleasure craft yacht harbor and really not the same as the rural villages of le Cinque Terre -- but even in Santa Margherita Ligure the number of tourists outnumber locals 20 to 1 during the tourist season.

I am partial to Camogli and there are lovely hikes in the area but it too gets some cruise ship tourist overflow. Also worth noting is that resort hotels like the Miramare or the Cenobbio dei Dogi are really not what many people are looking for when they choose to come to the Riviera. I wouldn't pick either hotel as a location for appreciating the best things in life are free (even though both a fine hotels with lovely staff).

bobthenavigator

I first saw the CT in 1984---just before the Rick followers have trashed it. We prefer staying in Levanto or Portovenere as our base, but we are not avid hikers.

uhoh_busted

We had a month in Italy in 2011 and spent two wonderful nights in Riomaggiore. I reserved "Apartmenti e Camere Edi" for about $131/night through Expedia, about 6 months previous. We stayed there, because they offered parking which was an additional $20/day, and we still had about 10 days for the rest of our trip. The Apartment L’Agave was a studio located in the marina of Riomaggiore, with a double bed, cooking facilities, bathroom with shower and beautiful seaview from the windows. The reception is located in Via Colombo, 111. Not luxurious but clean and secure and comfortable and probably one of the best views I've ever had anywhere.

You are going to climb stairs everywhere, hike up and down inclines of various steep-ness, and eat very well if you choose right. The night after our hike, we just got takeout pizza and ate in our little apartment.

Having heard people complain about how touristy it was, how Rick Steves ruined it, blah blah blah....our experience was completely delightful. It was the first weekend in October and the weather was brilliant. Most of the tourists we ran into were Italian, for some strange reason, maybe because it is such a beautiful place to spend a weekend?

We hiked and rode the train to the other end of the trail, we took a boat back and enjoyed our stunning view. It was romantic and totally exceeded my expectations, probably because so many people pooh-poohed it on this forum(!) It broke my heart about a month later, when the rainstorms hit the trail and took out so much of picture-postcard Vernazza.

https://dianestevespreadtheirwings.shutterfly.com those are our pics (not too bad, I edited them down a LOT) I would stay in Riomaggiore, Vernazza or Monterossa.
Don't let the nay-sayers creep your style!

uhoh_busted

We would have stayed another night -- we had a couple extra days built into our plan at this point -- but they were totally booked.

mamcalice

We spent 3 nights in Vernazza about 5 years ago and loved the Cinque Terre. It is pretty touristy and, being so small, you can't avoid the tourists. Unless you plan to do a bit of hiking, I would suggest you reconsider spending 4 nights as there is not much else to do once you have seen the 5 towns. Do a search on this forum for hotel suggestions. Sorry, I can't remember the name of the hotel where we stayed but we had a hard time making reservations even 6 months ahead of time as the towns are so popular.

uhoh_busted

I agree with mamcalice -- 3 nights would be plenty.

immimi

...we spent 3 nights in Levanto and it was an enjoyable town. Good restaurants, easy access to
the trains to the CT and the hiking trail that starts there. We liked the slower pace of Levanto
perhaps it helped that most of the tourists seemed to be European (except us - we're Cdns).

kja

I was very glad that I stayed in Manarola. You might consider La Torretta:
http://www.torrettas.com

jrjcolllins

We also stayed in Manarola at La Torretta and loved it.

sandralist

Something some people are leaving out of their "trashing" of le Cinque Terre and favoring Levanto or Portovenere is that these other towns are flat and seniors who don't like walking up hills all the time prefer them. (Not true of everybody who likes Levanto or Portovenere better but some people are omitting the key attraction.) You can take boats from Portovenere or Levanto to see le Cinque Terre from the sea which is what some people prefer to climbing in the towns or hiking to get the spectacular vertical views.

If you want to go hiking in le Cinque Terre during warmer months it is better to stay in the towns and get an early start before the hot sun rises.

Before Rick Steves sold North Americans on the idea of le Cinque Terre as the best experience of the Italian Riviera it was a popular hiking destination for Northern Europeans although most tend to come in cooler months. They also tended to be less demanding about their lodgings and foods and the onslaught of over-40 North Americans who wanted better hotels and menus in restaurants with more choices has changed some of the rustic character of the villages.

dutyfree

Take a serious look at Rapallo-just about an 8 minute train ride from CT.You can go to all of the CT towns but not have the hassle of overpriced hotels and massive crowds.

Rapallo is a beautiful town right on the water that the British used to stay at in Victorian times. The ferry to Portofino leaves from there (about 15 minutes)too. The town itself is a real town with cute shops,markets and great restaurants,etc. There are wonderful markets along the seafront on the weekends.You can even go up to Genoa for the day for the history and the great seafood meals! So many options.

Ozgirl07

I just spent 4 days in CT in June and loved it. I didn't spend loads of time in the towns as I was part of a hiking group and we stayed in Riomaggiore. I personally loved the feel and vibe of Manarola.
I agree that the towns are very touristy but I thought all of Italy was touristic. It is a beautiful country and everyone wants to go!
Here's my blog post about my visit if you are interested:-

http://redsuitcasetravel.blogspot.co...que-terre.html

CatchK

I just got back a few weeks ago, and Camogli was our favorite spot (and we stayed in 8 different towns in Italy & Switzerland). We stayed at the Hotel Casmona and it was wonderful. It is not CT, but quite honestly we loved it ten times more. We did day trip to Monterosso, Riomaggiore, Vernazza, San Fruttuoso, Portofino, and SML.

Out of all of these, we absolutely can't wait to see Camogli again. It was beautiful, much less crowded, has a wonderful promenade along the water, great restaurants and shops, cheaper than the other options. We really liked everything about it better than the other towns.

rheims2017

Wow - thanks everyone! We'll be prepared for crowds, hike a lot, eat dinner on the beach and watch the fishing boats depart....and relax! We'll be sure to get to Portovenere, Camogli, We had friends who visited in June this year and loved it. When we return we'll be sure to share our best experiences with future visitors as well!