La Spezia
 

We are having trouble finding a apt/hotel for days in the La Spezia area. Our criterion- we only need one bedroom/bathroom, kitchen if possible, and living room. Most importantly- we want a view, we want to have coffee on a terrace, and be able to walk to the village we are in or near. We will use this as a base to see other towns, so we are not particularly tied to one town. Portovenere is beautiful, and we looked at the actual town of La Spezia itself but thought it might be too commercial/busy. Are we wrong?
Can we get some recommendations? You have been amazing at giving us advice/information about our itinerary so far- thanks fellow travelers!!!
Thanks!

Hmmm.Driven through La Spezia a few times; shopped there once.
It's a naval base and IMHO not attractive at all. So many
lovely small towns around the area I would choose b4 I stayed
there.

The road out of the town towards 5T has attractive overviews,
there may be rentals along that route.

Have you tried a search on this forum for the Cinque Terre villages? You can't drive in any of them, some have a little parking on the outskirts. They are all connected by local train or of course you can hike along the trails that link the villages. All of them would have small apartments for rent. We stayed at this place in Manarola, we just had a basic double with bathroom but it did have a balcony with fabulous seaview. I think they had a larger apartment as well.
http://www.casacapellini-5terre.it/

Kay

You do not want La Spezia. Look at Portovenere, Lerici, or Levanto and the 5 villages for what you want.

I only drove through La Spezia on our way to Portovenere. I agree with above comments, wouldnt even consider La Spezia . Portovenere is lovely, nice spot to get the boats to Cinque Terre towns. I dont know about apt rentals. We stayed at a hotel, the Royal Sporting.

If you don't have a car, it becomes problematic to stay in Portovenere or Lerici, so you don't want that either. If you do have a car, you shouldn't be using it in that area to go sightseeing. Once you leave a parking space, it is extremely difficult to find another.

The le Cinque Terre villages are very steep, very small and they are also extremely crowded and hot in summer. If you don't want to carry your luggge up and down a lot of stairs, consider staying in Levanto, which has its own little bay and gentle hills. It is much easier to walk around.

Levanto is also crowded with tourists in summer, so if you would prefer a peaceful village, Moneglia is a good place to look, and so is Bonassola. I've never stayed here, and I'm not sure if it has enough of a kitchen for you, but if you want to live like an Italian on the Riviera for a days of your life, this is the essence:

http://www.agriturismo-caduferra.it/...mo-mulino.html

PS: If you are coming with a car, rent a place that has parking, but use the trains to sightsee. There are also boats, but they don't always run, so stay someplace where you don't need a car or boat to get around.

Also, if you want to stay right in le Cinque Terre, look in either Riomaggiore or Manarola.