Cinque Terre
 

We are planning on visiting Cinque Terre in May. We are debating spending 1 1/2 to 2 1/2 days there. We had been planning on the longer stay but found out our Tuscany location requires a Saturday to Saturday stay which requires us to shorten our stay in Cinque Terre or pick another Tuscany location. We are planning on staying in Vernazza . Any thoughts?

I stayed in Vernazza and thought it a lovely location. The views are spectacular! I cannot remember how many nights we were there but know I had to cut it short by one so as to get to a hotel near the airport as our plane was leaving VERY early. The day we arrived by train from Portofino (actually S Margharetti sp) had lunch, checked into our room and hiked to Monterosso. Took about 3 hours as I am slow (my husband waited on me a lot). Then took the train back to Vernazza (about a 5 min ride). The next day we hiked to Corniglia, rode the train to Manarola as the trail was closed to there, had lunch and then walked on to Riomaggiore and trained back to Vernazza. I believe we left the next day but not real early to get to Genoa. So having reviewed all this you should have enough time. We did not spend a lot of time in the towns but did have time for a light meal in Monterosso after our hike, a couple of meals in Vernazza, lunch in Manarola with a walk around the main town area. Sorry to be so wordy. Hope this helps.
Happy travels!

The boats should be operating in May and we really enjoyed going from town to town by boat (except Crnigilia, which doesn't have a harbor).

We spent 3 nights in Cinque Terre last May. We stayed at La Torreta in Manarola and loved it. One of my favorites spots ever. Manarola is quieter--Vernazza was a zoo during the day, maybe it quiets down at night. Probably has more night life, but we loved the feeling of a small village that we got from Manarola. We spent 2 days hiking and the other two days were getting there from Lake Como and then leaving in the morning for Venice. You could stay for two nights and do a lot of hiking in one full day if you need to shorten your stay.

I know it is a very touristy location now, but we really enjoyed our visit and marvelled at the physical beauty. Might go some place less touristy next time we visit that part of Italy, but for a first trip back to Italy in 30 years we loved it.

Sorry, that should be spelled Corniglia.

We also stayed at La Torreta in Manarola. It was one of our favorites on our Italy trip.

I had heard about Vernazza being a zoo also, but did not find this the case and I think it was May or June for us. It may just depend on the day. I really don't think there is nightlife there - just dinner and maybe a bar or two. I did enjoy Manarola for the brief time I was there.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll check into Monarola too.