Cinque Terre intinerary and accommodation help please
 

After spending 7 nights in Florence we are planning on 4 nights 5 days in the Cinque Terre region- before travelling onto Milan ( have to fly out of Milan).

Have trawled Fodors pages but seem more confused than ever as to where to base ourselves. Like the idea of the beach in Monterosso ( swim maybe?) the quaintness of Vernazza, or even the peace(?) of Maranola or Levanto. Nightlife not important.

Would like to include a daytrip to Genoa ( leaving luggage at Genoa train station) on our last day before catching train to Milan.

We are a couple, travelling by train, with an accom budget around 100 Euros per night but could stretch it further for the right place.

Traveling May 2010-
Hiking is not our top priority- looking to experience beautiful scenery ( ok there will be some walking) and Italian ambience.
Usually prefer apartment accom for independence but open to B&B.

Characteristic with a terrace sea view would be perfect!
Like everyone...searching for that special experience!

Any advice on where to stay and logical order for sightseeing very appreciated. Thanks

Hi lavender,

I have been trying to make a similar decision - just too many choices and I think I am doing too much reading as it just confuses me. Our budget is the same as yours too. Anyway have a look at this site might be a start and give you some ideas. They appear to be a company that manages lots of accommodation in the CT.
www.arbaspaa.com/apartments_cinque_terre.aspx

This one is at the top of my list (at present!)in Manarola.
http://ariadimare.info/sitoeng.html
No kitchen but you do have a fridge and check out the terrace, that looks like a winner! His brother owns a very popular restaurant next door called Trattoria Billy.

I am sure someone will chime in here with with much more expertise than me.

Best wishes for your trip.

Maudie

If hiking is not your priority and you want to experience an Italian ambience and visit Genova, I suggest you locate yourself somewhere other than the Cinque Terre towns, where tourists outnumber Italians 18-to-1, and it's a longer trip to Genova. You can day trip to le Cinque Terre.

If you want to stay close to the CT, check out apartment listings for Moneglia. If you would like to be closer to Genova, check out Camogli, Bogliasco and Sori. You will find, by and large, that Ligurian town layouts only rarely allow for terraces with sea views, although sometimes you can track them down. In most towns, enjoyment of the sea and sunsets takes place at cafes with pretty views and other public places and piazze. Private terraces most often (not always, but often) have views of other rooftops or gardens and hills.

http://www.homelidays.co.uk/EN-Holid...oneglia_r3.asp

http://www.homelidays.co.uk/EN-Holid...camogli_r3.asp

http://www.homelidays.co.uk/EN-Holid...gliasco_r3.asp

Thanks Maudie and stepsbeyond. Looked at the Camogli website now I really like the sound of Camogli too!! However I believe train time from Camogli to first CT town could be an hour and ferries may not run due to rough seas.

Do you think we could successfully split the nights between the CT and Camogli- ie 2 nights each place? Would probably have to forgo apartment for hotel/ B&B in that case.

we loved basing ourselves in levanto...its a real town...lots of places to stay....for me 3 nites would do it however... especially if you are not going to hike....we just took the boat from one end to the other and got off at different towns...there is the train also...

Unless you're traveling in June-July-August, staying in one of the 5 towns is, imo, the whole point of being in CT...whether you're into hiking or not! Day-tripping from outside the towns can only begin to give you a sense of the real life and beauty of the towns. Staying several nights; having the opportunity to walk the Via Dell'Amore at night; wandering the streets early in the morning when the fishermen are unloading their boats; eating breakfast in a little cafe with other "Cinqueterreans" -- things like that are, for me, some of the greatest joys of this spectacular spot on earth.

We have stayed in Manarola twice, in October 2007 and 2008. It is one of the quietest of the 5 towns (Rick Steves' people don't flock to Manarola!) Both times, we had scheduled only two nights, and ended up extending our stays by several nights. And we cannot wait to go back!

Lucie, Manarola sounds perfect for us then, all the things we enjoy. Where do you stay? Do you know of the apartments I was looking at?

CT is wonderful. Stay in one of the villages. Four of us stayed in Riomaggoire in a beautiful small apartment overlooking the harbour in 2003. It was Affittacamere "Edi" with a double room, living room with two singles, kitchen, bathroom and a terrace with a wonderful harbour view email [email protected]
This year we are taking ourselves two of our children and spouses and four grandchildren and will return to the same apartments in September
The walks are fabulous; the scenery stunning; the food delicious; etc etc

Maudie, in 2007 we stayed in Hotel Marina Piccola.
http://www.hotelmarinapiccola.com/
In 2008, we stayed in Ca'd'Andrean.
http://www.cadandrean.it/englishindex.htm
The MP is closer to the water, so you can (if you're sure to request) have a room overlooking the ocean, which is pretty special.
The Ca' is quieter, less in the hub of things (though Manarola isn't exactly NYC no matter where you stay!)
Next time we'll stay in the Ca or in La Torretta, which is also lovely, though a teensy weensy bit more of a hike if you're using public transportation (as we do.)
http://www.torrettas.com/

We stayed at La Torretta last May for 3 nights and absolutely loved it. The people that run it are wonderful and the room rates comes with a great breakfast and a neverending appetizer and wine happy hour every evening. We ate at Trattoria Billie's two of the nights and it was delicious. There is a wonderful walk above the town of Manarola that twists and turns through family vegetable plots and vineyards. I would really love to go back some day with our kids.

Wow, La Torretta looks wonderful! I have added it to my list of must-places-to-stay. Thank you!

Thanks Lucie, I will look into all those suggestions. I have heard great things about Trattoria Billies. We will be using public transport so I will take that into consideration but the more walking we do the more pasta & gelati we can eat! But happy hour sounds great too as well as that walk, I am sure we are going to love Manarola - it is going to be our "holiday" within our holiday - time out to smell the roses!

Many thanks.

You are going to love Manarola..I stayed there with my daughter and Grandson for 8 days.We took a day trip to Portofino one day and and another day to Pisa.We just loved walking the trails, swimmings, exploring the other villages and just enjoy the view which is magnificent.

<i>the more walking we do the more pasta & gelati we can eat!</i>

Exactly our philosophy, Maudie...which is why we never object to elevatorless hotels and uphill treks to get to them!

La Torretta looks wonderful but a bit more than we were budgeting on, though if breakfast and happy hour is included then that could sway me.

I am still drawn to the aria di mare apartment that I posted above because of the terrace area and the fact we can just chill out and do our own thing.

Thanks so much for all your wonderful ideas - apologies to Lavender for hi-jacking her thread.

lavender, you wrote:

"Do you think we could successfully split the nights between the CT and Camogli- ie 2 nights each place? Would probably have to forgo apartment for hotel/ B&B in that case."

Yes, but I also don't think an hour's train ride for people who aren't into hiking is too much to take to see le Cinque Terre. LucieV and I have a different take on the five towns (especially the graffitti-covered via dell'Amore!) and I have to ask where else in Liguria she has based or even visited. Most people who post about le Cinque Terre have never stayed outside of it. Although all of the towns along the coast are resort towns, catering to seaside pleasures, the culture of the ones dominate by Italians, day and night, is really much different from the tourist preserves of le Cinque Terre.

I have enjoyed some visits to le Cinque Terre, and indeed super-steep Manarola is generally shunned by tourists uninterested in climbing. (There is a bus, however). And the church there is very pretty. But people who want to swim, experience some more profoundly unchanged coastal life on the Mediterranean, explore Genova and have great food and scenery, there are superior options in my view that don't preclude a visit to le Cinque Terre in daylight, taking a boat trip there to see what all the gushing is about, but returning to a base filled with Italians and often better food, and more convenient for getting up early the next day and enjoy the art and architecture of Genova, Nervi and Chiavari, or the easy going fun and swimming of Sestri Levante.

ACKtewally, steps, I have been traveling to Italy for almost 40 years; I have visited so many places I can't even remember them all, including the hilltop-village-of-no-touristy-importance where my relatives live. I speak Italian, and I have always been very comfortable being with Italians.

I have no ax to grind regarding staying in CT v. staying outside...it's just that, in my very, very humble opinion, daytripping into CT does not give one the sense of the place that one gets by staying (living there!) for a few days. Obviously, the charms of any place (or any person, for that matter!) may be apparent for some and elusive for others. C'est la vie, n'est-ce pas?!

Interestingly, despite our many trips to Italy, we had never been to CT before 2006...partly because we were influenced by the many people (including my own sister) who consider it a touristy, overhyped place. Thankfully, we took our son's advice and made time for CT in 2006...and we so fell in love with the place that we rearranged our trip to spend 3 more days than we had planned. And we returned 2 years later, finding it not only as wonderful as we'd remembered, but even more so.

Re: the graffiti on Via del Amore...none of the graffiti in Europe (or even in the US!) bothers me. Besides, when walking the path, my eyes are on the view, not on the walls!

My point: we all have different experiences in places, and we all experience places differently (trite, I know, but true.) I assume that when people inquire about a place to visit, they want to hear from those who thoroughly enjoyed the place as much as from those who felt otherwise!

The Cinque Terer is all about hiking. Stay in santa Margherita Ligure instead.

HT, your first line is misinformation par excellence!
CT is so much more than hiking...one need not even set foot on a trail to enjoy that spectacular spot on earth!

Your second line is true: SML is lovely, indeed.

I was thinking of SML as well.

Main concern about staying in the CT is arriving and leaving with luggage. Sounds like the local train service isn't really set up for luggage.

So you may be reduced to hiring an expensive car service, especially if you start or end your trip at the CT and have to fly in or fly out of Genoa or Pisa and find ground transportation to the CT.

So my thinking was to fly into GOA, then get to the train station and go to somewhere like SML, where I'd stay 3 days, maybe 4 to visit the CT and places like Portofino.

<< Main concern about staying in the CT is arriving and leaving with luggage. Sounds like the local train service isn't really set up for luggage.>>

scrb, in fact, the local train service is absolutely fine for travelers with luggage. We've done it twice, with no problems whatsoever. Of course, we don't travel with a lot of heavy bags. Plenty of other people who use the train also stay in CT.

There is absolutely NO need to rent a car!

scrb,

Arriving in le Cinque Terre with luggage is not a problem, so long as you are willing to haul it uphill to a hotel. (You'll generally have the same problem arriving with a car, getting your luggage back to the car from your hotel).

If you want to visit Portofino, it is easier to do so from Santa Margherita Ligure than le Cinque Terre. You can walk, bus or boat to Portofino.

LucieV,

My question wasn't about where else you had been in Italy. My question was where else you stayed in Liguria and on what basis of comparision you advised against staying anyplace other than the CT and making a daytrip to the CT.

Think it might be possible that had you overnighted in other places along the coast you would have fallen in love with them? Have you only daytripped to Santa Margherita Ligure? )

I agree that when people come here to ask a question, the responses should be guided by one's personal experience. Your postings seem to want to steer people exclusively to one place as if you had spent lots of nights elsewhere along the coast, and knew on the basis of experience and elimination that le Cinque Terre is the best place. I don't get the impression you have a personal basis for comparison, and this is lavendar's trip -- so he or she should consider all the options outside of the intensely touristy, hiking-oriented le Cinque Terre!

Hmmmm, didn't mean to stir up such controversy!!

Thanks to all your input I've decided to spend 3 nights 4 days CT, hopefully Manarola and 1 night 2 days Camogli. ( no time for Genova now) New Years Resolution is to get into shape to be ready for some hiking in the CT.

Without Stepsbeyond suggestion I would not have even considered staying at Camogli. So thank you for enlightening me. Wish I had more time in this area but am committed to a flight out of Milan....next time.

This forum is such a wealth of information, thanks for sharing.

hi lavender,

we went to the CT many years ago - we weren't overwhelmed. I realise now that our fault was to go for a day, and not stay to let the atmosphere catch up with us.

the 2010 edition of fodor's Italy has a great section on the CT, both getting there and getting around once you arrive.

have a great trip

regards, ann

>>>Sounds like the local train service isn't really set up for luggage.<<<

? The local train service isn't any different than train service all over Europe when it comes to luggage. You manage and stow your on luggage on any train.

stepsbeyond, with all due respect, I get the impression that you have never done other than daytripped in CT. If I am wrong -- if, in fact, you have spent several nights in one of the 5 towns -- correct me.

In any case, my "steering" anybody to stay in CT is sincere: I happen to feel that it is an extraordinary place -- unique not just in Italy, but in the world -- that cannot be experienced with a cursory day trip. Kind of like going to the Grand Canyon on a day's bus tour and saying, "Nice big hole in the ground, but what's the fuss?!"

PS, lavender:
Do not apologize for having "stirred up" any controversy...it's just that we Fodorites are nothing if not opinionated (and passionate about our opinions)!

Is the schedule for the trains serving the CT at the trenitalia.com site?

That is, you would put in two CT towns to search for the timetables of the trains within the CT?

Or put in a town outside with a CT town to see the schedule?

Or do you go the La Spezia in the south and some other town in the north to transfer to the CT train?

Hey! My wife and I are planning on going in March... great thread. I'm a little confused, it seems like the opinion is pretty divided between CT being overly touristy and a must see. I had to laugh at the Rick Steves comment we just bought that book about an hour ago ;)

Lavender,

You wrote:

"Characteristic with a terrace sea view would be perfect!
Like everyone...searching for that special experience!"

So I'm giving you this link to the Casmona hotel in Camogli in case you decide to base there or split your Ligurian stay into two parts. It has lovely terraces, but outside your stated budget. You might decide to splurge. It's an exquisite perch.

http://www.casmona.com/eng/hotel_casmona.html

LucieV,

It is precisely because I have daytripped to le Cinque Terre that I dispute your contention that the "only" way to appreciate its beauty is to spend days and nights there. I thought that was clear. It's simply not true that going on a day trip means not appreciating what it is. You should look at many trip reports on Fodor's of people who have based outside the five towns and taken the train in during the daytime and raved about the place. Many of them also said they were glad they had actually based outside the five towns. You are simply wrong about this -- not about they way you need to appreciate le Cinque Terre but in assuming others can't experience the actuality of it and have a better trip FOR THEMSELVES by approaching it differently.

Unlike a lot of posters, Lavender offered some pretty specific information about his or her personal preferences: A beach, Italian ambience, quaintness, peace, beauty, a daytrip to Genova plus no need to be positioned for lots of hiking. My opinion is what they are spending travel money and time to find is more easily found as a whole and in depth if they base outside le Cinque Terre and visit it -- or if they don't mind splitting their nights, spend two outside and two inside.

By the way, LucieV, if you like lovely seaside walks with gorgeous views, you might daytrip into Zoagli the next time you are in le Cinque Terre for this:

http://www.preboggion.it/images/Zoagli_svizzero.jpg

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/3068085.jpg

http://www.preboggion.it/images/Zoagli-Chiappara.JPG

http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/5908806.jpg



denzlite,

Yup, although the "argument" in this thread is not about "to see or not to see" le Cinque Terre. The "argument" is about how Lavender can get the experience he or she is hoping to find. LucieV seems to think le Cinque Terre is so overtouristed during the day you have to wait until late at night and sleep there or get up early in the morning before the daytrippers arrive (a la San Gimignano or Venice) or else it's blah. I say that for people who aren't keen on hiking, a single visit to le Cinque Terre on a nice weather day, with a boat trip, walking in a few of the towns, lingering through the sunset with an appertivo can make for a day of marvelously beautiful sights -- and still leave you time in Liguria to appreciate the charm of nearby equally uniquely beautiful towns (some with equally dramatic scenery) whose local Italian culture and cuisine havn't been thoroughly displaced by foreign tourists. And you'll find it easier to include a trip to Genova.

Stepsbeyond I'm ahead of you!! Have already booked at Hotel Casmona for one night, unfortunately no terraces available but a seaview is- saw the gorgeous breakfast terrace we can enjoy anyway! Yes it was outside our budget but yes I did decide to splurge...you seem to know me so well!!

Hope to catch a late afternoon train to Milan and make the most of our all too short time in Camogli.

Yes I did hope to describe quite specifically what I was looking for and you along with others have been tremendously helpful. I did however change my mind about the hiking ( at least little walks) and will spend some time enjoying the scenery that way too!

In Manarola I've booked Casa Capellini top apartment with terrace booked for 3 nights.

By the way, I'm a "she"!! travelling with a husband who actually enjoys hiking! For those who may have read earlier posts by me I was originally going to be travelling with 21 year old daughter but plans changed.

Have a great trip lavender! You will get to find out for yourself what kind of ambience you like best. Others may disagree, but I think of the ambience of le Cinque Terre as marvelously international and egalitarian. Yes, the olive oil and the vinyards and the well-preserved fisherman's houses are Ligurian, but it has for many years been cherished by youthful trekkers from all over Europe and America who enjoy hiking there and view=gazing there as a truly beautiful public space. It's not a party-town, but young travelers from everywhere fill the trattorie and modest bars, and get to know each other and swap travel tips. In other Ligurian towns, I think just as enchanting, italian families tend to dominate -- but be forewarned that means more cigarette smoke, more motorini, schoolchildren on your bus ride, babies in the restaurants, and no hamburgers, hot dogs, not much pizza but lots of lousy beer.

Should you get rain in Camogli that precludes a boat trip to San Fruttuoso or a stair climb up to San Rocco, hop the train to atmospheric Chiavari, which has porticoes to protect you from the rain and absolutely delicious food (especially at Luchin for farinata). If you like to eat well and explore a bit off the beaten track, order a copy of David Downie's Food and Wine of Genova and the Italian Riviera from Amazon. It has great recommendations for authentic budget eats in le Cinque Terre and Camogli and, of course, Genova.

try forte di marme