Hello everybody. I am planning a trip to Italy next August and it is my first trip there. My husband and I are going to rent a villa in Tuscany for a week, but wanted to spend a few days in the CT/Liguria region before heading to the villa. I've read a lot of the postings on this website and thought that spending 3 nights in Camogli at the Cenobio de Dogi would be a good base for exploring the area. Any thoughts? Basically, we'd like to spend a day walking the CT trails and stopping in the various villages. Maybe also take a day trip to Genoa (or any other "must-see" place in the region). Just wondering if it will be convenient enough to get to the CT trails if we stay in Camogli. I've read that the trains seem to be fairly convenient, but I'd love to hear thoughts from people who've actually been there before. Thanks in advance for your help!

Camogli is a nice place but nowhere near the CT---think 90 minutes if you are lucky.
I suggest Levanto or Portovenere if you have a car.

I will second Levanto as a good base. Levanto is sometimes called the 6th CT town, as it's within hiking distance of the CT trails. Some advantages of Levanto:
-Car friendly & easy to drive into
-Nice beach, scenic 'Rivera' atmosphere.
-Lots of good restaurants and hotels
-Great hiking trail from Levanto to the CT trails.
-The train to CT passes thru Levanto.

thanks bob and zootsie for the advice. i looked at options for staying in Levanto and it seems that Hotel Garden has received some good reviews. Do you know anything about this hotel or have other recommendations? Also, we aren't planning on having a car for this part of our trip. I was hoping to be able to fly into Milan and catch a train to the CT. What is the best option for a direct ride (if any) into Levanto? Thanks!

We had a pleasant stay at Hotel Garden.

Without a car, which you do not need, train to Levanto and taxi or schlep to Hotel Garden. Levanto is small town. Taxi is down the hill to the waterfront.

I suppose if you are planning next August you'd be wise to book now. Every August is quite popular by the sea due to the entire country being on Ferragosto.

motorino, you are right about early booking. in fact, based on my online searching for availability, it seems that hotel garden is already booked for my time frame (Aug 5-8, 2009). i'm looking into options for staying in monterosso - Hotel Porto Roca and Hotel Baia. Any thoughts?

we stayed in levanto and loved it...the train comes there, so do boats...there are many restaurants and it is more than just a tourist town....people actually live there....you can also drive into the town and leave your car...it worked perfectly for us..