We're heading to Cinque Terre soon (!) and wondered if we'll be able to easily find ATMs there. Also, do the small cafes take credit cards or should we plans on bringing a good supply or Euros? Any dining ideas? We will be in all towns but centered in Manarola. Thanks all. Annealex

We stayed in Manarola in May. I believe I remember seeing an ATM in Manarola outside of the tunnel that leads to the train station. I have read that there are ATMs in each town. All the small restaurants took credit cards. We mainly used cash when we were buying drinks or gelato. Our favorite restaurant in Manarola was Marina Piccola. You are going to love Manarola. It was my favorite town!

No problem finding or using ATM cards in the Cinque Terre. Some of the apartment owners want only cash but restaurants and shops except for the tiny ones took the card.

CritterP is correct. There is an ATM in Manarola near the train station. Though ATMs are not plentiful in CT, we had no trouble using our credit card most places.

I also second CritterP's enthusiasm re: Manarola and specifically Marina Piccola, where we stayed four nights this past October. Heaven on earth, imo!

I think there is only one ATM in Manarola - which leads me to a comical story.

We arrived in Manarola fresh off a train from Milan (fresh off our overseas flight). We had about 150 Euro with us. We needed to pay our landlady 300 Euro cash. So we immediately hit up the ATM. My card was rejected (never figured out why but it was).

So needless to say we didn't have enough cash when we checked into our hotel. Our landlady told us no problem - and that we should leave the money on the nightstand the next morning and she would come up and pick it up.

So in the am we went down to the ATM to tryh again the ATM was out of money! We knew that we owed her money but we didn't want to give up our last euro, so we left a "down payment" and a note written in our horrific italian explaining the problem and letting our landlady know that we would finishing paying later in the day after we had gotten to another town.

We hit the ATM in Vernazza with no problem. And we took a lot out just in case. And I think we went to ATMs all the other towns too.

It all worked out for us in the end, but goodness it was stressful.

Have a great trip! We loved the Cinque Terre!!!

There are 2 ATMs in Vernazza. One is up the hill behind the train station to the left near the post office. The other is on the main drag.

I had the same problem as the above poster
with difficulties several times getting cash from these machines!

Hi annealex,

I had similar experiences at my first destination of Amalfi Coast. For some reason my 2 cards would not work in the "Bancomat" machines that were everywhere! Left me short of cash in the beginning.

Finally I discovered that my cards would work at the major bank office ATMs, like Bank of Naples, Bank of Rome, whatever.

I think it had to do with the networks changing in between trips. One trip they worked, next trip they didn't.

Dayle- I had that exact same problem throughout all of Italy, my card hardly ever worked in a Bancomat ATM. I am guessing my cards were rejected about 70% of the time! I spent a lot of time hunting down ATMs that worked for me!

This did not happen even once last year in France, Belgium, and the Netherlands.

In Monterosso there are atms on the main drag of town. Be sure to have only a 4 digit pin and to let your bank know where you are going.

In Monterrosso we loved the restaurant "Belvedre" its right in the old part of the town at the water. They have this great seafood dish that comes in a clay pot that everyone enjoys. They also had the best dish of pesto pasta I have ever had in my life. I am still regretting my decision 3 years ago to only eat half of the dish to save calories.

In the new part of town at the beach we found a great place that specialized in forcacia. Slices were about $1.50 each and they had about 30 varieties with meats and veggies. I can't remember the name but it was toward the end of the beach boardwalk in the new part of town.

Thanks all for the great info. I just checked my reservation and found that I, too, will have to pay for my little guesthoust in cash. Good to be prepared. Running from ATM to ATM is fun, but not that fun. Ciao. Annealex