TheBevitts

Hello all,

Husband and I will be driving from Tuscany direction to the Cinque Terre region in late June to stay for 3-4 nights and we would like advice for where to stay with parking options to leave our car, and will give us easy day and night access to the cinque terre.

We are price conscious (prefer less than 130euros/night). Some of the posts here date back to 2001 and im hoping some fodorites would have more recent experiences and updated advice.

For example, some areas that pop up are Portovenere, Lerici, La Spezia or even one of the 5 CT villages have stays with parking options???? does anyone have particular advice on which areas are good? we also value hearing what problems people had (e.g., do the CT boat and train services finish early? don't want to end up stranded on the CT after enjoying a dinner and not being able to get back to our accommodation?). Specific hotel reccommendations also welcome.

Thanks in Advance,

TheBevitts

I should add, as the more popular areas seem to mainly have places out of our budget, we especially welcome suggestions for other 'towns' that are not as well known as la spezia etc that have travel options to the CT area (even if this involves a short drive to/from a carpark every day/night. we are open to creative suggestions.) It's hard to 'know' which quaint towns close to the CT are worthwhile alternatives to the well known ones. thanks again in advance.

bobthenavigator

I like Levanto as an option with a car. Look at Villa Margherita. But, Monterosso does have a large public lot and gives you more direct access to the CT via train or ferry.

TheBevitts

Thanks Bob levanto looks fantastic- i think ill settle on that place and i have found some availabilities for my dates. i will also look forward to taking the ferry/boat to check out portovenere largely due to your glowing trip reports of that village


Does any one have any restaurant suggestions for Levanto???

TheBevitts

or even faveurite restaurants in Monterosso which is just a short train trip from levanto?

bobthenavigator

Hmmm!
It has been awhile. I do recall a place named Mikey--something like that---in Monterosso.

ekscrunchy

Make sure to visit Portovenere on a day when no giant cruise ships are anchored nearby unless you want to join the throngs that all but overwhelm this small port.

You will probably find better restaurants in Levanto than in the CT towns.

macanimals

Miky has re-opened in Monterossa. Word has it that the town is on its way back and most have returned in time for Easter. Levanto would fit your requirements well with trin service making it easy to commute. Have fun.