Day trip to the cinque terre,which towns/hike?
 

We are going to do a day trip to the Cinque Terre area from Santa Margherita. Is it best to go by train, by boat or by car? Which towns should we concentrate our time on? (I have figured that it is probably best to do 2) We would also like to do some swimming that day so towns with good (and not overly crowded) swimming would help. I was thinking about doing Corniglia and Mararola. Any suggestions?

We did the same - and train is very easy. Took it to the southernmost town, Riomaggiore, I think. If you just want to do a couple of towns, I'd recommend the northern 3 - Vernazza, Corniglia, and Monterosso al Mare. I think those towns, and the trails between, are the most beautiful. Hard to narrow it down to 2! You could start at the one of the 3 that's farthest south (don't have a map right here and can't remember), end up in Monterosso, have dinner there, and train home. The old section of town is charming, and we found a great little Genoese restaurant there.

Hi-- We stayed in Manarola for two nights and loved it. We hiked to Corniglia and basically just hung out and swam in Manarola. Late in the day we took the train to Vernazza but we left really quickly-- it was way overcrowded. The beach in Manarola isn't quite a beach in the traditional way (no sand or even extensive rock area to sit on but the swimming was wonderful)and there were very few people there during the day. It seemed like the least touristed area. The sunset from Manarola was amazing.

Adina, I'm looking at the CT for a trip this fall. Where did you stay in Manarola? Is two nights a good amount of time to spend in the area? Thanks for any information or suggestions!

amaster-- We stayed at the Marina Piccola in Manarola which is a short walk from the train and overlooks the sea. I found it in Rick Steves' book. We had a room for three on the top floor-- lots of stairs-- and a balcony with a view. The owners were very nice but I don't think anyone spoke much English. We kept the balcony door opened at night and had a comfortable breeze but people in smaller rooms on lower floors were sleeping with their doors opened to the main stairway. If you want time to walk the path between all the towns and also have time to rest/swim, you might want to have two full days. Two nights is the minimum but is definitely worth it. There is no need to see it all, just soak in the towns and views you do get to because it is all beautiful.