Cinque Terre - Vernazza or Monterosso?
 

We are senior citizens, traveling by car, and want to stay a couple nights in the CT area in October and thought one of those two towns might provide the best access by car, realizing that parking at a hotel is probably out. If you park in a P lot at the top, will most hotels pick you up there or do you have to drag your bags the 10 minutes to town? Which town would you pick from the above, or does it not matter which one in trying to capture the essence of the CT area? If you want to toss in a hotel recommendation too, that would be great. Many thanks, winesipper

If you have a car, I'd opt for none of the Cinque Terre towns ..... rather, would stay in Portovenere. Although, it's officially not part of the 5T, Portovenere has lots of charm and also overlooks the Ligurian Sea.

Run a search on "portovenere" and Bob the Navigator, a frequent poster on this forum who's made lots more trips to Italia than moi .... he's also a fan of this town.

OOOPs .... hit the submit button too soon. Also, meant to direct you to a thread which discusses the CT.

Cinque Terre- How many nights and which town? …..

http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...which-town.cfm

We stayed in Vernazza. I'm not sure what you mean by "pick you up." Vernazza has no cars (at least not that I saw) so you will have to walk to anywhere you stay. Some places will meet you and help carry your bags though, ours did.

The lot up top might be really far away from the town, and I guess they could drive you to the outskits and have you walk from there, but I never saw a parking lot.

We stayed in La Mala and loved it but as JBX says the Cinque Terre is not really good with a car.

Monterosso has a big lot on the water that is easy to access. I would not drive to Vernazza at all.

We stayed at Villa Steno in Monterosso and they have a small parking lot which was great for us as we did arrive by car.

It's a wonderful hotel but does book up far in advance so most likely will not have availability but wouldn't hurt to try. We really liked Monterosso. Vernazza was great too but much smaller.

... also, although you may not be hikers, this thread also has feedback of interest ...

Cinque Terre- How many nights and which town? >>>>
http://www.fodors.com/community/euro...which-town.cfm

I'd suggest Monterosso b/c it is the largest and most convenient of the towns. Would also recommend the Villa Steno - be sure to request a room with a view and a terrace (most have them but a few don't).
The other towns of the 5T are all very picturesque and charming, but they are much smaller, and with all the daytrippers, felt very claustrophobic to me -- altho' in October it probably wouldn't be as bad as the summer months.

Alternatives to the 5T are Levanto and Portovenere, the surrounding towns in either direction, both easily accessible by the frequent train service. Portovenere can also be reached by boat.

If you have decided which town and will have a car, let me know and I can advise about parking a car in Monterosso.