2 nights in Cinque Terre -- which town? B&B /hotel recommendations?
 

My husband and I are in our late thirties, love to hike and enjoy a small degree of night life. We are planning two nights in Cinque Terre in early June and are seeking suggestions for which town to stay in and hopefully specific B&B or hotel recommendations. We would love a comfortable, clean place with sea views.

We stayed in Manarola and loved the balcony where we stayed:
http://www.arpaiu.com/english.html

It doesnt offer hotel amenities, but you get your room cleaned everyday.

Check status of flooding damage before you confirm. I understand that all villages except Vernazza are now accessible and open for business, but may vary across location...

We stayed in Riomaggiore this past September (the last few days of Sept, for that matter) Made our reservations about 6 months in advance through Expedia with Apartmenti e Camere Edi - It was 90Euro per night, and for an additional 10Euro they reserved parking for us at the "top" of the town. If we had known how wonderful it was, we would have made reservations for 3 nights.

We got "Apartment L’Agave" which is a studio located in the marina of Riomaggiore, with probably the best view I have ever had at any hotel/B&B/guesthouse/flat EVER, looking over the colorful boats in the tiny marina, out to the gorgeous Mediterranean sea for amazing sunsets. There was a large double bed, fairly generous closet space, even clothes pins and a line out the window so you could dry bathing suits, towels, or rinsed out undies.

Riomaggiore was not hurt at all by the horrible mudslides that messed up lovely Vernazza and Monterosso (only about a month after we were there). Hopefully by the time you are there more of the cleanup will be done and those two lovely villages accessible again.

I was there 2 years ago and would like to say Levanto the town outside of the Cinque Terre is so awesome. Each village in the Cinque Terre is tiny. My Mom and I saw all 5 in one day with the trains. Then spent the next day hiking through all 5 on the trail. (Make sure you do this if the trails are open) Levanto has many restaurants, cute shops, a great beach, mountain hikes to the hamlets, and another seaside hike to Bonassola (another great option). All this and it is about 5 minute train ride to the first of the Cinque Terra villages. There is much more to do there and is still very charming. I am going to Italy again this summer and would never skip Levanto.

I am spending 3 days in April in Corniglia. I really wanted to return to Vernazza but several people in the know said it was still not fully restored. You might try [email protected]
It was rated #2 on Trip Advisor or [email protected] (We are renting a house through her. Both have sea views.
You will love the area.

You might consider La Toretta in Manarola:

http://www.torrettas.com/

Monterosso, A Ca Du Gigante. There is the most "nightlife" and the best beaches in the Cinque Terre, and the town will be fine by April and very much needs the business to offset the tremendous cost of rebuilding.

Agree that Monterosso is a good base...it is the end of the line (or the beginning, depending...), easy to come and go on the train after a day hike. Don't have a particuar hotel to recommend because it was MANY years ago, but we were happy with our choice of the town, it had more restaurant, service and accommodation options than others. We were happy with our choice, I should say, until we got to Vernazza, which we thought would be a good place to hang out for a couple of days, but doesnt look like that will be a possibility for you in the short term.

Anyone know how hiking paths have been affected?

Here is the website for updates on progress in Vernazza, and please consider making a donation! This town was hit so hard!!

savevernazza.com

The hiking paths were impacted, but not all of them, and the national park expects to have the good majority open by Easter weekend. There are plenty of paths open now that were undamaged, though maybe not the most popular, they still have great views. The others are being worked on - i.e., the main trails between towns - as the national park realizes what a draw this is for the area.