Cinque Terre memories and advice please
 

I have decided to figure out how to add Cinque Terre into my trip to Italy and I hope that Fodorites can give me their best advice and views on it. Where did you stay? What did you do? How did you get there? How long did you stay? Restaraunt recommendations and cultural exhibits? Favorite beach, path, viewpoint, fountain? Looking for as much information as you have to offer. thanks.

The only real beach (but nothing great) is at Monterossa, which is the most touristy of the five towns. The best path? That's easy -- the main trail all the way through the five villages. You can do it in a day -- quite a good hike, or break it up. We stayed in Manarola for two nights which I thought was fine. Stayed at the delightful little Marina Piccolo Hotel which is right by the little harbor and has a nice open air dining room by the cliffs and water. Vernazza may be the prettiest of the towns, but also quite touristy. The center village of Corniglia is the least touristy of all -- but really doesn't have any place to stay, unless you can somehow find a private room.
To me it was all about doing the hike along the coast through the villages.

We stayed for a week at a very pleasant B&B in the village of Arcola:

http://www.lapiccolaoasi.com/

From there we "commuted" to the CT by boat, departing from the lovely port town of Lerici (not far from Arcola) and traveling across the Gulf of Spezia with a stop at Portovenere. Having an all-day ticket, we could jump on and off the boat service and/or hike between the towns. We made a number of all-day excursions such as this but we also drove to Lucca one day, to Portofino another day and also enjoyed Tellaro, a non-touristy little fishing village south of Lerici.

We stayed two nights in Levanto, the '6th' CQ town. It was a fairly easy drive into Levanto, which is a medium sized Riviera beach town. Levanto has a pretty nice beach, lots of hotels, and lots of places to eat. The best meal we had in italy was at a neighborhood trattoria near the train station in Levanto. Sorry I can't remember the name, but it was on a corner about a block from the station, heading away from the beach area.
The first day, we hiked the trail from Levanto to Monterosso - a 3 hour rugged hike with spectacular views and no other people around. We caught the train back, which was a 5 minute ride. The next day, we took the train from Levanto to Riomagiore, then did the 5 hour hike thru the 5 villages. It was truly fabulous. Once in Monterosso, we caught the train back to Levanto. If we ever go back, we would probably do 3 nights, just to linger and explore this beautiful area.

Zootsi...do you by chance remember which hotel you stayed at in Levanto. And would you recommend it to others?

Thanks.

We also stayed in Levanto, at the Europa Hotel which is a small locally owned hotel. We really enjoyed Levanto. We did half board and the food was great! We also did the hike from Levanto to Monterosso and it was one of the highlights of our trip. We took the train back. The hike starts near a 12th century church, and goes through olive groves and small farms before it changes into natural scenery. There is no fence between you and the sea, and the cliffs are quite high. Just beautiful.

We enjoyed our stay in Manarola at La Torretta (a nice b and b) as Manarola seemed a bit quieter. We went swimming in Riomaggiore, Manarola,(suntanning on the rocks) and in Monterosso.The waters were beautiful to swim in and as long as you don't mind rocky beaches, you don't have to have Monterosso as your sole choice. In Manarola, we enjoyed our dinners out at Marina Piccolo and Trattoria Billy. We spent 5 nights in Manarola and found the extended time allowed us a small hike per day and then some swimming time! We also would use the trains quite frequently between towns.
cheers,
CC

Jim, I often suggest the Villa Margherita in Levanto. Not fancy, but well priced and well located. We stayed 10 years ago at Stella Maris which may be in in the Karen Brown book. Do not miss Portovenere with your camera.

Thanks, Bob, I'll check out Villa Margherita.

I was planning to base in Rapallo, but Levanto looks like a better option.

You can purchase a "Cinque Terre Card Plus Boats", which covers local trains running between the five towns, as well as the boat (boat service only goes to 4 of the CT towns, as Corniglia doesn't have a harbor) and your hiking permit. The one-day card costs 13.60. Find add'l info about Italy thru website, www.emmeti.it