Blown away by the photos and writeups. The only problem is that I was unable to get a response from a hotel. Are we (family of five)out of our minds if we show up with no prior reservations. I'm hoping to be there next week (6-19) for three nights. I have read past reports of locals approaching tourists at the train depot, directing them to apts. not listed on the web. Any feedback or advice greatly appreciated.

As the 19th of June not only occurs during high season but falls on a weekend (Saturday) I don't know about crazy, but I would say that you are trying to beat rather formidable odds. Many people will have arrived on the Friday night to take those apartments. Add to this your rather extensive requirements (five people) and the notion of booking ahead looks like it might be a good idea.

Whatever you do, don't skip this as a destination! If worst comes to worst and you can't find accomodations right in one of the 5 towns you could always stay in La Spezia and visit the Cinques from there. La Spezia is not a tourist destination but it is conveniently located near enought to the towns for you to make easy trips in. Cinque Terre is gorgeous!

Since Rick Steves started popularizing the CT it has not been the same.

In a word, Yes, you are foolhardy to think you can just show up there and find a place to stay. Why would you do this to yourself on your vacation?

Unable to get a response from a (one?) hotel or unable to get a response from any (of the many your tried) hotel? If the latter I would definitely have a back up plan in place - or you could end up sleeping in your car - or the train station.

Hi,
Try staying in Levanto. it is a wonderful town right before Monterosso. There are quiet a few hotels there. Do not miss the CT.

We also stayed in Levanto and liked it. There is a great hike down the coast to the upper CT town. We went to the tourist office, and they gave us a list of places to stay. We ended up at the Europa, a small family run hotel. It was clean but nothing fancy. We did 1/2 board and the food was wonderful. So the tourist office may be able to help you too, if you can`t find anything. We took the train down the coast and hiked between towns too. Don`t miss the CT.

Yes you would be. Try Villa Margherita in Levanto.

I will add to the votes for trying Levanto. Also stayed at the Europa and were happy with it. There are lots of choices for eating/drinking/some shopping, a nice beach, pretty buildings and when we were there (very early June), less crowds than the CT towns. It is only minutes by train into the CT national park. I was so happy we choose to stay there instead of one of the CT towns -- they are completely charming but filled with tourists (hey, I'm a tourist, too, but in a popular country like Italy where it is hard to avoid other tourists, it is nice to stay in places where you can get a little bit more authentic experience).

This part of the coast is beautiful and definitely worth any hassle you have finding rooms.

Devia Marina is another option some 17 minutes only by train to Monterosso and 30 minutes to the Portofino area through Ste Margherita. There is a three star in Devia called Hotel Clelia that looks very good to me - it appears to be a well established and service driven Family business.

Annabelle, I saw on a post (somewhere!)that you had a trip report including Levanto. Can you give me the title or date of that post? Is there a way of searching for the original author's posts? Thanks!

I will be very interested in the out-come of your stay in CT. We are also looking for lodging in Manarola but not until next June.

I just returned from the CT. We stayed at a small Bed & Breakfast 30 meters from the beach in Monterosso called "A Ca du Gigante". I know it is a new property so it is not in a lot of guide books - it was one of the best hotel stays in my life and I would visit Monterosso again in a heartbeat. Maria at the Bed & Breakfast treated us like royalty & it was a reasonable rate considering it was on the beach. Enjoy!

We (hubby & me) stumbled across the Cinque Terre, Vernazza one Saturday in July. We were out driving for the day and had planned to drive 3 hours back to our hotel. However, we immediately fell in love with the magic of the place and desperately wanted to stay overnight. The town was packed and seemingly not a room to be had. We followed advice of the kind villagers and kept asking around. We DID get a room, small, clean and basic for E50 called Eva's Rooms and that started a love affair with the area. I have been back a couple of times since, and plan to return again. I would hate if you missed the experience of the Cinque Terre it is truly special. Anway, through subsequent attempts to book rooms there I found e-mail to be the least success. You might try calling them directly or sending a fax. I have stayed in Gianni Franzi's in Vernazza which is very nice, although many steps up. If you fax them, they respond by fax within a day, you just might get lucky. Their website is www.giannifranzi.it. There is also another website with many sources called www.5terre.com - have you checked there. Good luck and I sincerely hope you get a nice place.

chopslot -- Did you go and did you get a room? Please let us know. I am curious.