Cinque Terra
 

Can anyone advise what damage from the terrible October, 11 flooding would prevent us from visiting that area in May 2012 or how that damage might affect a trip there as far as hiking and the beauty of the villages?
We are looking at renting a house across from the beach in Monterosso on VRBO but are wondering how any house escaped major damage in tha location?

BTW, it's Cingue Terre. Terre is the plural of terra ( because there are cinque - five - places).

Then I misspelled Cinque!

Here's an update from Rick Steves which says that Monterosso hotels should be up & running by Easter; Monterosso fared better than Vernazza, which is still closed to outsiders - - but if you are renting a specific place you'll probably want specific reassurances from the renter:
http://www.ricksteves.com/news/cinqu...e-disaster.htm

Thanks - maybe we will book the air and take a chance on accommodations based upon updates before we go. We could always stay in Portovenere or Spezia and visit the villages on day trips. What a shame for those villages. Would love to support them etc but can't imagine a vacation with all the rebuilding etc going on around us.

I was wondering the same thing.We will be in cinque terre in may also We decided to stay in LaSpezia. We will get the treno card. We booked our rooms before the mudslides. At that time, almost everything in the five towns were full. May seems to be a favorite holiday time for the italians. We are not traveling by car so Portovenere was a little more difficult to catch the train. LaSpezia, also has boat access.

It's only Vernazza and the old town of Monterosso that were damaged. Don't stay away from the other villages. They are all going to really need our tourist dollars to make it this year.

I was wondering the same thing.We will be in cinque terre in may also We decided to stay in LaSpezia. We will get the treno card. We booked our rooms before the mudslides. At that time, almost everything in the five towns were full. May seems to be a favorite holiday time for the italians. We are not traveling by car so Portovenere was a little more difficult to catch the train. LaSpezia, also has boat access.

Sylvia,

do you know anything about the train schedule between La Spezia and the other smaller towns? we need to catch an early morning 0630, train out of La Spezia, but want to stay in one of the smaller towns... do you think that the regional/local trains run that early? any advice would be much appreciated! first time to CT!!! can't wait, just need to figure out where to stay based on train schedule

Diane, why the same quesiton on 5 threads?
And, the day of the week will be a factor.

Monterosso will be reopening early March to Easter, with the majority of businesses opening that weekend - Vernazza about a month later. Contrary to another previous post, Vernazza is not closed to outsiders, and they do have some restaurants open even now - as does Monterosso. The place does look a bit of a mess right now, as the construction going on in the next few weeks is going at a breakneck pace so the towns can be ready for March, but it means progress, and by May, you are more then fine to come visit.
www.rebuildmonterosso.com and savevernazza.com both have visitor information on their pages as to specific opening dates for accommodations and restaurants in these two towns- the other 3, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore, were all untouched by the floods and operating normally, so, as Connie noted, just even visiting this area is important in helping these small mom and dad businesses recover. By May, the rebuilding you are worrying about disrupting your stay here in Monterosso or Vernazza will most likely be dramatically reduced - they depend on tourism here, and don't want to disturb that :)
For the original poster, the house you are looking at is more then likely in the "New Town" of Monterosso, where the large stretch of beach is - and the New Town, especially Via Fegina (the main street running along the beach) was more or less untouched by the flood - so the accommodation you found is almost certainly ok.

I went there in late May '10. There were no floods but it had rained a couple of weeks before so the last legs of the paths to the most northern-most towns weren't open, due to mudslide fears.

There was no shortage of tourists The trains were packed every day and you could barely move around in some of the stations.

I wanted to hike the path that overlooks the Vernazza lagoon and heads north but that was closed as well.

Still there was plenty to see and you could always go visit Portovenere or Portofino for day trips.