Please help me to find a nice quiet place in Cinque Terre suitable for a parent with a young child (Aug 30 - Sep 5, 2008).

We are renting a villa in Montespertoli, Tuscany, in late August (15-30). After that, we'll have 6 more days in Italy (I've got the return tickets already).

I will be alone with my 4 y.o. son (my husband will have to return to work earlier), so I was thinking about going to Cinque Terre to spend the time by the sea. We haven't been there yet. Do you think it is a good idea? I wouldn't want to stay in a very crowded, touristy place...

Cinque Terre is not a must, I just wanted my little boy to enjoy several days by the sea, in a beautiful and a more or less quiet place. I also wanted a place where we could do some easy walks.

We are renting a car for the whole period and we are flying back home out of Pisa.

Thank you in advance!

Cinque Terre is a crowded, touristy place and it's filled with stair cases and steep uphill climbs, which I think your 4-year old might not enjoy.

Instead, try Camogli, with its lovely flat seaside promenade, where children play every day at 5pm in the small piazzas that overhang the sea. There are boat rides to take. It has a pebble beach (like CT's beaches) but you can buy some plastic water shoes there.

Or go to Sestri Levante, which has two sandy beaches and no end of kiddie amusements. It's where italians take their kids. Great food.

Both places could offer you easy access to nice walks, although nature walks usually involving true climbing. Above Camogli, you can take a bus to San Rocco, and there are flat areas to walk. From Sestri Levante, you can take the train to Cinque Terre.

Another pretty spot is Portovenere, but it's not on the train line, and hence harder to get back to Pisa without taking buses or taxis with your luggage.

PS: Be prepared for crowds at the beach in August in Italy. But some places are less "touristy" than others. Camogli is a working fishing harbor. Sestri Levante is a holiday town for Italian families.

My husband and I have been to the CT region a few times over the past 5 years and we absolutely love it.

I was there very late in the month of August in 2002 while on my backpacking trip after college. It really was no more crowded those last days of August and first days of September than we have found it when we visited in May, and it was a great deal less crowded than when we visited in June.

http://images.google.com/images?q=se...a=N&tab=wi

http://images.google.com/images?um=1...=Search+Images

http://images.google.com/images?um=1...=Search+Images

zeppole is sooo right. We got to Manarola with our luggage on wheels and had to haul it up steep hills and lots of steps. If you're alone with a 4 yo and your luggage and their necessities you'll be wishing you went some where flat. Try Sestri Levante for sure. Keep it as a base and then take the train for short rides to Cinque Terre so you can check it out.

Just remember to take time to watch the sunset between your toes while you're enjoying that wonderful sweet wine from there or gelato!

Thanks so much to all! I can't believe I received so many responses so quickly!

And thank you, zeppole, for the images! Very beautiful, some of those remind me of Cefalu. I knew there would be steps to climb in CT, but I didn't realize they would be so steep...

I am renting a car, so moving the luggage should not be a problem, unless I'll have to park far from the hotel.

I hope it won't be too crowded so late in August - we'll arrive on the 30th.

Zeppole - Could you please tell me a bit more about Portovenere? Is it a good place to stay with a kid? I am not worried about the train line because I'll have a car.

Could anyone recommned any particular hotels or B&Bs in Sestri Levante or Camogli?

Thanks again!

In Cinque Terre, the parking lots are high up on the hills. They are car-free towns. Some hotels provide luggage assistance.

I think Portovenere would be a lovely place to be with a small child. There are lots of flat places to walk and run around, lots of cats, lots of fishermen. I can't recall if there is a swimming beach, however.

Portovenere sits at the end of a very long road that curves around the Bay of La Spezia. Although the town is the closest destination to Pisa, you are unlikely to want to move your car once you are there because I suspect that one road in and out of Portovenere is a constant traffic jam in August. But you can take boats from there to Cinque Terre when the weather is good, but they might be crowded.

I've never stayed overnight in Portovenere, so I can't recommend one. But I would make sure they can offer you parking and are in the central part of town.

http://images.google.com/images?q=po...a=N&tab=wi

For Camogli with a small child, there is the lovely 4-star Cenobio dei Dogi, the 3-star La Casmona and the 2 star I Tre Merli or La Camogliese. Some charge for parking, others do not.

I did not like the hotel I stayed in Sestri Levante (Miramare). I'm sorry I can't recommend another, but again, you want to know from whatever hotel you choose if there is parking and there I think it is best to specify you want to be close to the water, or near the "lungomare."

There are, of course, beach towns closer to Pisa on the Tuscan coast. But almost everyone agrees it's worth the extra miles to go to Liguria. I think you need at least two hours to get to Camogli, 90 minutes to Sestri Levante and an hour to Portovenere from Pisa Airport.

Some other places I've never been but which might fit your needs:

Levanto

http://images.google.com/images?um=1...=Search+Images

Bonassola

http://images.google.com/images?um=1...=Search+Images

Lerici (which I believe has a dinosaur museum and a castle)

http://images.google.com/images?um=1...=Search+Images

bookmarking

Lera - I would also sugest Portovenere. It is a lovely town right on the sea with the center built around a old castle and fortifications. It is easier to get to with a car and has parking in town. There is a harbor wharf area that is very pretty. Several restaraunts are near the water. There is a boat that will go to the CT villages as well. We have always stayed at the Hotel Genio in the old town center. The folks are nice and the rooms are good although not fancy. They usually have protected parking for a car or two as well. The hotel is situated so that it feels like you are in the castle. I think it would be fun for a 4 year old.

I do love Portovenere but for you the best bet is Levanto---flat with good beach. Check out Villa Margherita.

forget cinque terra to strre and few beaches. look at map and find viareggio on the west coast a good resort town with lots of sandy beaches. get reserations now as it will fill up fast in august. in italy high season extends now well into september

Sorry, but I think Viareggio would be awful with a small child. There is far too much exposure to shadeless sun, too much distance from your hotel room and refreshments to the water, too much tromping across hot sand -- and not much charm or color, like Liguria.

And it can be far muggier than the Ligurian shoreline.

Thanks again to all for your advice! I do appreciate your help!

So far, I have the following options:

1. Hotel Genio/Portovenere - garden view triple room (EUR 120)

2. Grand Hotel Portovenere - garden view double room (EUR 155)

3. B&B La Camogliese/Camogli - triple room (EUR 100)

I could not find any information if there was a swimming beach at Portovenere. On a satellite photo it looks like there is some beach, but I am not sure. I do like Portovenere, but if there's no beach at all, my 4-year old son will be very disappointed...

Notbob - Is Grand Hotel Portovenere much better than the Genio? Is it worth it to pay the extra euros for a smaller room?

Zeppole - What do you think about Portovenere versus Camogli? I like both and can't decide which one to choose. Please help!!!

I'm looking at some of the photos of our last trip to Portovenere and there is a small beach near the town center. It has sand and some water but is small. We have only been there in early spring, so I don't know if it use very useful, but it is there. I have never been in the Grand Hotel but I believe it is a 3 or 4 star and the Genio is a 1 star. The Genio is not fancy but the owners are nice and the rooms are clean and typical of what you would find in a one star.

Lera, I live very close to Camogli and spend a lot of time in it, and have only visited Portovenere. While I enjoyed Portovenere, I think Camogli can be a small child's paradise.

The long, carless beachfront street sits above an expansive pebble peach. There is a carousel, and in the evenings, all the children in the town, from infants to teenagers, take over the tiny piazzas that overhang the beach to ride trikes, play soccer, skip rope, play tag. Everybody is welcome. The eateries that line the sea not only have serious food but cheap finger foods like foccacie and crepes and gelato, bakeries, etc. There are boat rides, short and long to other ports, with pretty scenery for you. Fisherman return to clean their catch in the marina of Camolgi at sunset. Cats hang around hoping for the scraps.

Portovenere has many of these same features: boat rides, long, flat expanses for play, cats galore, and I'm sure the Ligurians there dote on children as much as they do in Camogli. It is closer to Tuscany.

But Portovenere is off the train line, and should you get a few rainy days at the seaside, or tire of the sun, you might think about hopping a train to Genova for to visit the children's museum or aquarium. That's about 45 minutes from Camogli, but quite a bit further from Portovenere, if you'd want to go at all. (From there, I might try the dinosaur museum in Lerici.)

In many ways, you can't go wrong with either for a seaside vacation, and it's not just your boy but you who should be happy too! So if you think you'll be happier with the short trip to Portovenere, just go for it. I'm perhaps biased toward Camogli.

http://www.vibeagent.com/hotel-La+Ca...amogli-2873302

Oh my! I thought you would help me to make the final decision, but now I am even more confused! I do like both places!

I love cats, and I did enjoy Zeppole's remarks about cats waiting for the scraps of the catch... Can't wait to get to Liguria!

For now, I am still keeping both reservations (La Camogliese and Genio), hoping that I'll make up my mind later.

Notbob - I spoke with the Genio Hotel, and I agree with you that the owners are very nice and friendly. Despite my somewhat limited Italian, I had a very pleasant conversation with the man who took my reservation. Today he has made me a better offer, so I think that it is not worth it to pay more for the Grand Hotel Portovenere. If we stay in Portovenere, we'll stay at Genio.

Zeppole, thank you so much for all your advice! It sounds like Camogli would be best for the child. But as you said, I have a right to enjoy this holiday, too. I can't explain why, but if I were alone, I would have chosen Portovenere. It is just a feeling.

Zeppole, would you agree to the statement that Portovenere is a bit less touristy than Camogli? Do you think it would be too much hassle to split the 6 nights half and half between Camogli and Portovenere?

Lera,

I think you can't go wrong with either choice, but Portovenere and Camogli are very much equal in being "touristy" and my impression is that Portovenere caters more to foreign tourists than Camogli does, despite Camogli's increasing notoriety (partly due to loudmouths like me)

Because Portovenere has some connections to Byron and Shelley, it has long been on the tourist map for romantics. Another reason for its popularity with foreign tourists is that it has regular boats going to Cinque Terre. The popularity of Tuscany with foreigners has drawn some people looking for a beach vacation that southernmost part of Liguria.

Or to put it this way, Portovenere actually has a vending machine which sells jars of pesto -- which I find amusing and charming -- but Camogli does not.

The mainstay of Camogli's tourism is Italians popping in for a drink, a lunch, a romantic weekend, a swim day with the kids, or a family wedding. That said, from May to September, waves of blondish people in shorts and heavy boots waving sticks march through town, and people with video cameras wander everywhere. The beachfront shops sell, in addition to flip flops, lots of oil paintings of the sea -- although Camogli also has a boutique tourist trade, much more affordable than Portofino, but with the same emphasis on artisan jewelry, or clothes from Peru, etc.

By the way, both towns are run by the local cats, who especially seem to love the extensive stairwells of Portovenere. They seem to have divided up the town into several dozen cat fiefdoms.

The towns of the Ligurian seafront between Genova and Portovenere share a remarkably similar look and cuisine (in contrast to the startling variety you often find between town in Tuscany). The mainly only differ in degrees of wealth. All of them live off of seasonal tourism and the sea. If you go up into the hills, you will immediately find a life tourists never see. But at the shoreline, it's the Riviera.