Cinque Terre in May
 

Keen to visit the famous 5 villages and do walk tours. I heard parts of the path are out of bounds. Does anyone know what the status is now? Open to public?
Also how do we walk from one village to next, is it guided or we can do it on our own? Travelling in a group and some are very fit while others are not.
Some advice is appreciated, thank you.

Prepare to be a bit underwhelmed by Cinque Terre. The condition of the trails between villages is difficult to predict, especially 7/8 months away. It depends on the weather between then and now. However, I've always felt that the villages and the views are overrated and can disappoint. It's a bit like Portofino. Walking between the villages doesn't require a group tour, just head off for the next place. Parts of the trails are not suitable for those with mobility difficulties.

The paved "easy" path is unlikely to reopen before 2024. Most paths do require steep uphill climbs and steps. The park has a website that details all of the paths: Paths and Outdoor | Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre
Those who are not able can use the train and ferry. You can make a time estimate for the walkers and meet up for lunch, etc. No worries. Or, they can do day trips.

The Via dell'Amore has been closed for a long time (over 10 years) due to landslide risk. It's scheduled to reopen in 2014. This was the easiest and most popular trail. Here is an excellent description of the trails, with a map.

https://www.cinqueterre.eu.com/en/footpaths-cinqueterre

You need a Cinque Terre card for the two most popular trails that are open.

Thank you all, appreciate your thoughts, advice and links.

I forgot to ask, we are a group of 5 and I think getting an apartment might be cheaper. Any recommendation on which town to stay and hopefully not too expensive. Or can we stay at La Spezia? Thank you.

Thank you for managing our expectations.

We did the Corniglia - Vernazza trail which is considered "average." I did not find it easy and wouldn't recommend it for someone who is not fairly fit.

It would probably be cheaper, but my experience is that it's not easy for a group of friends to share an apartment. I have two friends who haven't spoken to each other for years because of too much togetherness on a trip. One thought the other always grabbed the best bedroom, more than her fair share of bathroom space, and an inordinate amount of living space. I know this because she complained to me, but never confronted her friend about it.

In an apartment usually some bedrooms are "better" than others. Sometimes someone has to use a sofabed. Who gets the best bedroom? Who gets stuck with the sofabed? How equitable is the bathroom sharing? Does anyone snore? Are there early risers who make noise at 5 AM? With family members these issues can usually be hammered out, but with friends there's often a certain hesitation to be frank.

We have traveled several times with a couple of friends. They have some habits that annoy us, and surely we have habits that annoy them. At the end of the day, it's a relief to retire to separate hotel rooms where we can get it off our chests in private.

We always share an apartment when traveling with a family group, but with friends we never have. (I once went camping with my best friend and that ended up being a close call.)

Wise! Thank you.

The villages have slight differences but overall, I'd say pick based on accommodations because they are so close together by train. I always start with Booking.com, where you can search by all your desired parameters, including price. I would stay in one of the neighboring villages like Levanto or Portovenere, but I would not stay in La Spezia. It's a city, and I assume you want the lovely village experience.

If you want to stay outside the 5T, you can choose Levanto or Portovenere , on either end of the villages. Both are nice towns. I stayed in Monterosso, the largest of the villages.

I was very disappointed in the 5T but mainly because it was overrun with tourists, mostly young college kids. I was there about 18 years ago in early June. At the time you could walk the trail from one village to another. The only one that was hard to reach was Corniglia, which required a steep climb. I didn't bother.

The villages themselves are quite charming but I have no desire to go back.
As someone mentioned, you can travel easily between the villages but trail or ferry, altho' the ferry sometimes does not run in inclement weather or rough seas.

We loved the Cinque Terre. We visited in October and it was lovely. No crowds. Stayed in a nice hotel in Monterosso al Mare. If hiking is your #1 goal, you may be disappointed because of the closures. But shoulder season there was fabulous. Highly recommend.

An Italian newspaper (La Repubblica)had an article in 2019 about a proposal to limit (or to spread out) the number of people arriving in the Cinque Terre by train. I don't know if the proposal (to require reservations on the trains) was ever carried out.

The news article includes a video. It doesn't matter what is said; if you just watch the video, you'll get an idea of the crowds.

https://amp-video.repubblica.it/amp/.../338867/339468

This video seems to have been filmed in the summer; in the off-season the crowds wouldn't be as dramatic. However, the first time I was in the Cinque Terre, about 15 years ago, on a drizzly day in October, the crowds were still a bit over my tolerance level. I remember telling my husband that I would hate to be there in the summer.

I haven't been back since the cruise ships began docking at La Spezia, which has definitely not improved the situation.

Taking in all your comments, we have about 6 days in the region. Perhaps I should be spending some time in other towns apart from Cinque Terre. Any suggestions on places/towns nearby to visit? Is Genoa worth visiting? Noted on Levanto and Portovenere.

Genoa is certainly worth a visit. It's a beautiful, atmospheric , historical city with too many individual places to see to list here. Have a google. The same is true, although not quite to the same extent of Pisa. Pisa is not just the Leaning Tower.

I did a 3-nighter in Genoa a couple years back, and used it as a base for daytrips. One daytrip was Sestri Levante (lovely!), then Riomaggiore and Vernazza in the Cinque Terre (stayed less than a half an hour in each), on the way back stops in atmospheric Sta. Margherite Ligure and always-enchanting Camogli, before getting back to Genoa for dinner. Was it rushed? Well, not really. 17 minutes was plenty for Vernazza in this day and age. Riomaggiore has spectacular views in very-well-trodden spots, but that was about it except for the delish fried seafood - - it was a fab trip, despite the tourist hordes in the Cinque Terre. Here's the pretty piccies of the 3-day Genoa stay: