Cinque Terre
 

We are planning on spending two nights in the Cinque Terre area and would like recommendations on where to stay. We are more inclined to stay in the Levanto - Santa Margherita Ligure towns, although I have heard that Portovenere is wonderful. We have a teenager and 7 year old with us. Any recommendations on location, hotel and restaurants?
THANKS!

Will you have a car?

I had hoped to avoid a car.

You don't have to rent a car while staying in the Cinque Terre area. If you are flying into Milano, it is very easy to take the commuter bus into town and catch a train from the Milano Central station to Genoa, then another train down the Riviera coastline to the city of your choice. I am partial to the southern end of the Riviera - the 5 CT towns, or Levanto. You can easily take the train 45 mins northward to Santa Margherita Ligure/Portofino for a day trip, while Portovenere, La Spezia are only 15 mins southward. Also, being close to the La Spezia end of the coast allows for possible day trips to Pisa and Lucca, not to mention a good jumping off point for other cities in Italia. Have a great trip!

Portovenere is really nice.
Some of the advantages, besides the picturesque fishing village setting, are:
- close to La Spezia, by bus, firstly because La Spezia is not that bad a town, and secondly because its train station provides easy access to Tuscany and the Ligurian coast.
- you can go to the 5T villages by boat, which is a nice excursion.

I really liked staying in Levanto. Just minutes by train into the Cinque Terre park, lots of options on the main streets for eating, including family-friendly pizza, and a nice beach. We stayed at the hotel Europa, which we were really happy with. Not fancy but very friendly and comfortable. I would stay in Levanto and at the Europa again.

Thank you for the great ideas and feedback. I finally have our flights booked and am starting to get the rooms done. Wow!, full time job and hear I thought I had one already...

I also stayed at the Europa in Levanto. Nothing fancy, but clean and comfortable. Family owned and small. You do get to know the family. We did half board and the food was excellent. There is a terrace, where you can sit and drink wine. Try to get a room with a balcony if you do stay there. The sea is close by. We walked all over. We also did the hike from near the 12th century church to the upper town in the Cinque Terra. What a great hike! We loved it. Wish I were going back right now! Have a great time!

We stayed in Deiva Marina at the Hotel Clelia. I loved it. Nice balcony with lemon trees, confortable room, friendly staff, walking distance to train, they let you do laundry, restaurant is okay and breakfast is excellent.