has anybody stayed in portverne to do cinque terre ithink they have a ferry to take you to c q

Yes, 3 times--we love it.

We stayed in Portovenere, but had a car. It was an easy drive to Riomaggiore where we parked and walked/trained to the 5 towns. We loved Portovenere.

I've never stayed Portovenere, but I live not far from there.

The ferries only run when the weather is good, and that means between November and April, they usually don't run at all.

If you don't have a car, and the ferry isn't running, you will have to take a 20 minute bus ride and then take a short train ride to Cinque Terre. However, waiting for the bus and making the right train connection can sometimes mean waiting a long time.

Another point of view~
It really depends what you are after.
I couldn't get out of Portovenere fast enough.
It was almost as full of tourists as the Cinque Terre towns and is just not big enough to handle the hordes. This was at the very end of Sept of this year.
But if you like to people watch and be seen, it is a picturesque place.
IMO Portovenere is also a little bit too far to use as a base for hiking the CT. If you want to only see the towns themselves, it would be fine, but to do some of the trails, and then ferry back would be a bit much.
I spent quite a bit of time exploring the area, and was very happy to be staying in Bonassola, which was a short train ride away, and a pleasant reprieve from the madding crowds.

Hi ZZZZZZZ

There were tour buses there during the day (when we left for CT) but at night it was very quiet and not many tourists at all. This was in 2004.
We had a fantastic meal on a little island across from Portovenere - don't recall the name of it, but our hotel suggested it and the restaurant provided the boat ride across the bay. We had a fabulous dinner with a great views of the water. It was a lot of fun!

I think it's always different when you sleep in a place instead of visiting it as a daytrip, but I have been alarmed by the reports that Portovenere is now a cruise-ship destination.

I also think that if you are mainly interested in seeing le Cinque Terre, you should either stay in le Cinque Terre or in a town right on the train line that connects to Cinque Terre. That way, even if the ferries aren't running, you will have an easy trip to Cinque Terre.

There are many beautiful towns that also have a train station that links you to Cinque Terre: Levanto, Moneglia, Bonassola, Sestri Levante and Lavagna and Deiva Marina.

I am one of those who was disappointed in Portovenere due to the high numbers (hordes, actually) of tourists who thronged the town when we were there (late September).

The architecture and setting are stupendous and I agree with Zeppole that staying overnight often gives one a totally different feel for a place than one would have as a daytripper, but even so...I thought a couple of hours were more than enough..

We spent 6 days in Liguria and did not even venture to the CT, so perhaps I am the wrong one to be speaking up here, but I would follow the counsel of Zeppole and Bellalinda who both know the area, and seek out a more convenient town with better train access if the CT is your intended goal.

I absolutely adored Portovenere, and so glad I stayed a week there. This said, it was late in the season and therefore not as overrun as it probably is in summer.