Cinque terre, what will I find?
 

what is a good amount of time to spend here/

Three or four days, if you intend to visit each of the five villages...live in one and walk to the others.

You don't need 3-4 days to get a decent feel for the CT if you don't have that much time. I'd say two nights is a good minimum, because you'd want that one day between nights just to hike the main trails between Riomaggiore and Monterosso (or as far as you really want to go). I had three nights. I arrived the first day to do some hiking and basically checking out the villages, did mostly hiking the 2nd day, and spent the third day at a much slower pace dwelling in each of the towns, re-visiting places I'd enjoyed the first two days. I loved the CT, but in a pinch I could have skipped that last day/night.

You have more answers on your other thread. Click on your own name to see it.

Italians, is my guess.