Hi all,
Trying to plan the CT area of our trip and I would like your suggestions where would be a good place to base ourselves in for 3 nights, keeping in mind we have a car. There are 4 of us, 2 adults and 2 teenage kids (19&17), we will be coming from Milan. After here we will be driving to Southern Tuscany for a Villa stay there.
I take it a car in the main CT area is not recommended, so it would need to be somewhere we can leave the car and train/walk.
I looked at Portovenere but by all reports I have read having the car will be a hindrance???

Levanto is one popular option.

I had a car in Portovenere and had no problems although you would need to discuss parking with your hotel.

Many threads on this topic, like these two.

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...or-levanto.cfm


http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...-elsewhere.cfm

usually base at www.metropole.it

Last year awesome sea view room at the Red Lodge there 110 EU

right at the ferry dock to all the 5 towns

plus Portofino beautiful easy acess...

Happy Travels!

Take boat trip along the coast from Portovenere or train to the small villages along the coast to see the best of CT

With a car you have 3 good options:
Levanto
Portovenere
Monterosso

The other villages will be a hassle.

We'll also have a car and decided to base for two nights at the Hotel Firenze e Continentale in La Spezia. The hotel is right across the street from the train station that takes you to the Cinque Terre villages in a matter of minutes. The hotel has parking and is fairly inexpensive. People have chided me for staying in La Spezia since it's a military town, but since we're just sleeping there, we're not concerned.

Thanks for those recommendations, I think both Levanto or Portovenere sound like good options.