I've read many posts on the subject (thank you!) and have a first cut at an itinerary. Any feedback is most welcome.

We like to stay in several different hotels and are thinking 6 hotels for 2 nights each. Budget is roughly 200-300 Euro per night. Trip is July 13-24. Seems like train/bus/boat is the way to go (vs car rental).

We arrive in Nice (only option for miles upgrade) and will fly out of Genoa:

Nice (2 days; hotels? La Perouse (pricey), Windsor, Meridien?)
Train to Portovenere (2 days; GH Portovenere, Royal Sporting?)
Then Monterosso (2 days; Porto Roca?)
Then SML (2 days; GH Mirimare ($$), Continental?)
Then Camogli (Cenobio dei Dogi?)
Then Genoa (2 days; where is best location/best hotel?)

I have the Italian train website and will look into the schedules, can I assume all these towns can be reached by train? Then bus/cab/ferry around from there to visit other areas?

Thanks,

Mike

Mike, You must like to unpack.I see this as a wonderful itinerary with a max of 4 hotels---3 is better:

Nice[ Grimaldi--3 nites]
Portovenere[ GHP--3 nites]
SML[ Continental--4 nites]

You may want to add Genoa if it figures in your transport plans.
Good luck--hard to go wrong.

Thanks Bob. I forgot to mention that we don't unpack (we learned our lesson the hard way)--we live out of our massive suitcases! I'm an expert at grabbing that shirt at the bottom of the suiutcase without wrinkling the other stuff.

Actually, my wife agrees with you about limiting the hotels. I like the excitement of walking into that new hotel room, and worry about getting 'stuck' in a not-so-good room for more than two days.

Thanks again.

Mike

We stayed at the Porto Roca and loved it. We also stayed at the Windsor in Nice. It is not as upscale as others, but the common rooms and the garden with a pool are great. The Windsor was a lot of fun. It has a great bar and colorful people.

Our kids stayed at La Perouse in Nice and found it enjoyable. We stayed at Royal Sporting in Portovenere and liked it. In that town you might make your selection based upon how much you are willing to walk. GH Portovenere is directly in town, while Royal Sporting is a little ways out. Latter has pool which would be useful for your timeframe. Not sure about former. Cernobbio dei Doge is one of our favorites. Splurge a little and go for one of the junior suites on the ground floor that opens directly onto the pool. Views of the city from the pool area are terrific. Enjoy.

Thanks for the responses.

I got shut out of the Grimaldi (even though our trip is nine months away!). Assuming La Perouse is too expensive, can anyone suggest a hotel (250-300 Euro?) with a good location?

Also, I stumbled looking for train schedules from Nice to Genoa (Eurail), then Genoa (local) to the CT. I clicked on every button on the Eurail.com and trentalia.com site, but could not find schedules. Can anyone tell me where I can find this info?

Thanks again.

Loved Le Grimaldi in Nice. Hard to believe but not surprised that they are already booked that far in advance. How about Portofino? It's incredibly beautiful there and the Hotel Splendido is to die for but it may be over your budget. My husband and I splurged on 1 place, this could be your splurge of the trip. We also wanted to stay in a less touristy place so we stayed in Lerici, a quaint Medieval Port.

Hi,

I am trying to book the Hotel Porto Roca in Monterosso, but their website does not seem to allow it. It shows rates, and a way to email them, but no way to make a room reservation.

So I emailed them with my request over a week ago and so far, no response. Any suggestions?

Mike

Mike, Here's a suggestion...follow Bob's advice. Give a lot of consideration to staying in the town of Santa Margherita, and The Continental Hotel.

Mike,

We were in Nice again this summer and the Italian Riveria, so I have a few suggestions to make. First, I agree with Bob the Navigator. Three hotels, four max would be optimum for your trip.

In Nice, I'd recommend BEAU RIVAGE, which is only about a two-minute walk, if that, from Old Nice ( home of the wonderful flower market, seafood restaurants, great shops, cafes, bistros, etc.). Check previous posts by a frequent contributor here named UNDERHILL. She recently stayed there.

I'd also recommend the Radisson SAS on the Promenade des Anglais. It is not well-located ( in fact it's about a 30 minute walk from Old Nice) but it was totally renovated from top to bottom this year, has an excellent rooftop pool/bar with outstanding views of Nice, and is in your price range.

For the Italian Riveria, I'd go with Bob's recommendation for Hotel Continental in Santa Margherita. We stayed at the Miramare, but it was about $330/night in season, and although I tried to book it a year ahead, I only landed it due to a last-minute cancellation in June.

I think if you're going to stay in Santa Margherita, there's really no need to stay in Genoa or Camogli. Genoa is only about an hour away; Camogli much less. Also, we had friends who stayed at Cenobio, and thought the property itself was nice, but found the rooms dingy and noisy.

By the way, to get to Cinque Terre, I think you have to get off at Genoa, take the local train to La Spezia, then backtrack to each town.

Anyway, good luck with your plans!

Just wanted to add that you should e-mail the hotels you're interested in right away. It's not too early. Many of them get sold out quickly to repeat guests.

mikewalsh, Porto Roca has a three night minimum. You'll need to consider that when booking. I think you could combine your Portovenere/ Cinque Terre stops.

Thanks for the responses, I have taken Bob's advice and have cut back on our hotels--one of which is Potro Roca (3 nights, 7/18-21) if I can find out how to book it online!

Good for you ! Have fun and report back.