I will be in Italy in June and am considering 1 night in Portovenere - I am afraid the Cinque Terre is overrun. Can anyone give me so insight - is it worth the visit? Hotel suggestions?

Tracy, we visited Portovenere 2 years ago and are going back this August. It's lovely and not nearly as crowed as the rest of the Cinque Terre. We stayed in Lerici last time and took the ferry to the Cinque Terre, but we stopped in Portovenere and loved it! It's very small but has a few hotels, check out the Hotel Paradiso, it has been recommended a quite a few times by others on this site. You are lucky that you will be there in June just before the masses arrive, although it really didn't seem so bad to us , we only passed a few people on the trails! Have fun!

we also stayed in Portovenere in 1999 as our base to the Cinque Terre. loved it and preferred it to Cinque Terre. Great place for strolling in the evening. Byron's grotto, the castle ruins above the town, all the cats.charming. <BR> <BR> Seems to be the "new" place to go. We stayed in the Hotel Paradiso. We thought it was an okay room, a bit "institutional" moderately overpriced, they forced their dinner on us (included in room rate). The food was not worth it, I would stay their again if they would give me just the room.

Christine, I have found two other hotels in Portovenere - the grand Hotel and The Sporting Hotel. did you see those when you were there

Bill and I just got our pictures back tonight and WOW, Portovenero, is our favorite. We were there two weeks ago and although it was cold it was wonderful. My only negative comment (though I'm guessing) it could be rather busy in the summertime. We had a car and it took maybe 30 minutes of winding roads (with no traffic); could be testy in summer. <BR> <BR>We loved the town, the church, the castle, the restaurants, the views. I just did a real quick check look/see - www.rivieraligure.it. It's in Italian, German and French. Request information for the La Spezia region and surrounding areas. <BR> <BR>We stayed at the Hotel Belvedere, had fantastic views of the Gulf and the eclipsed full moon. <BR> <BR>Hope this helps.

I LOVED Portovenere! Out of a 3 1/2 week trip to Italy in July 99, my husband and I both found Portovenere to be the highlight. It was far less crowded than the C.T., and was much more European, too. A lot of Italian families were there, giving it a "real" feeling. The town is beautifully sited, and the C.T. is easily accessible by ferry. We stayed at the Hotel Royal Sporting-- LOVED it! We had a balcony which overlooked the bay, and the hotel has a salt water pool which we spent much time around. It's about a half mile from the center of the town (not a big town), and, at first I was annoyed-- but the stroll from the hotel to the town and back turned out to be awonderful walk along the beach, sharing it often with familes and others. <BR> <BR>Originally I thought I'd want to be in the C.T., but after spending the day there, I was really happy that I decided to spend the time in Portovenere instead.