alison

thinking of visiting cinque terre and environs in July. Has anyone stayed in Levanto? hotel, B&B, pensione or farmstay recommendations? Do you recommend Levanto as a base? what are good day trips other than the cinque terre? thanks.
we would be there 4-5 days.

MarcoB

Hi there,
Levanto is ok but if you want to discover Cinque Terre Monterosso is better.
There's a couple of cozy B&B's right in the middle of the village.By car or rail you could visit Forte dei Marmi and the Versilia Coast. La Spezia and Carrara are just commercial ports so don't go there.Another interesting trip is to the murble quarries of Pietrasanta area and then driving through Montemagno road visiting Lucca.

For more info visit www.myowntuscany.com

Cheers

Marco

Cherie

I stayed in Levanto in May of 2001 at an agri-tourism bed and breakfast called Villanova B&B. It's an old family farm, complete with villa (main building), family chapel, and several outbuildings. The road wound up through olive groves and vineyards and continued past the villa to our building at the back. Giancarlo, the owner, met us at there and showed us our room and made sure we were comfortable. He spoke excellent English and was so nice and so helpful, telling us about breakfast and parking and such, giving restaurant recommendations, explaining the train and boat systems, and even recommending the best hikes. Breakfasts were homemade and fabulous. It's a little too far out to walk into town but we found it absolutely charming and wouldn't hesitate to go back. I'm envious!

http://www.agriturismovillanova.it/welcome.htm

maitaitom

I am partial to Levanto as a base. Stayed there in 2001 and 2003. Town of Levanto is nice (and not as touristy as the five towns, in my opinion). After a day of tourists, it was nice to come back and eat in Levanto, althugh we ate in the other towns, too.

I actually found Monterosso the least interesting of the towns (just o.k.). Loved Vernazza, Manarola, Corniglia (even after the three million steps to the top) and Riomaggiore, and the hikes bewteen towns were wonderful.

We stayed at Villa Margherita in Levanto. It is a five or ten minute walk to the train station via the shortcut. It is an easy train ride to all five towns.
Prices are now over 100 euros. The place is clean, has breakfast and garden, but the rooms are relatively spartan. If I go back, I'd probably check out some of the hotels in town.

Wherever yu stay, I think you'll love the CT (although five days might be stretch).

Gariem

I based myself in Vernazza during my Cinque Terra visit in September 2004 (4 nts.). Found Levanto had a different atmosphere, being so much larger, which was less appealing to me. I stayed right on the harbor at Albergo Barbara - fantastic view, especially at sunset. The only negative was schlepping my luggage up 4 flights of stairs. Despite reports of all the Rick Steve types visiting (you'll know him if you're American), I didn't run into any of them except at the train station. And they were very nice people to chat with.

pat

We stayed at the hotel europa in Levanto. We did half board and the food was great! The best hike is between Levanto and the most upper town on the Cinque terra. (can never remember the name) Less crowded and fantastic views. Being an American, it was different to walk along the cliffs, with no railing!

annabelle2

Also stayed at the Europa in late May 2003. We were planning to look for a place in the Cinque Terre proper, but got off the train in Levanto, left our bags at the station and walked into town for lunch. Liked Levanto very much and found the Europa -- used it as our base for the CT.

We liked Levanto because there were quite a few nice restaurants and little bars, friendly people, a pretty waterfront and just a nice feeling to the town. Easy train ride -- minutes only -- (or a long hike)into the CT national park itself.

The Cinque Terre area is all beautiful and July will be busy no matter which base you choose. Frankly, I don't think you can go wrong; just make a reservation at a place that appeals to you and enjoy the entire area. You can hike/walk or take a quick train to all the CT towns and to Levanto as well, so wherever you end up you will get a great feel for this beautiful slice of coastline.

alison

to those who replied and stayed at Villanova and Villa Margherita, please tell more about those places, especially how long it takes to get into town if you walk and if it's nice to be outside the village -- pros and cons. any other input as i'm considering these 2 places. we'd have a car and take train/boat to CT and use car for day trips to other places. suggestions for day trips? Lucca?

maitaitom

The walk from Villa Margherita into Levanto is a short one (few minutes over a bridge). The rooms at the VM are nothing special, but the breakfast is good, the garden is a nice spot to write in your journal or sip a glass (bottle) of wine and the price is reasonable. I think rooms run a little over 100 euro now. They have a website. Just google it.

I liked being in Levanto because it seemed like a real town. While I love Vernazza to visit and have dinner or cocktails by its little harbor, I just liked the feel of Levanto better. There are a couple of good restaurants and the bar across the street from the Stella d'Italia makes a mean martini or three.

If you are making a couple of daytrips to Tuscany anyway, I might spend a few nights in CT and then a few near Siena, where you can take day trips to Chianti area, San Gimignano, Volterra, Lucca, etc.

Actually you could hit Lucca on your way to Siena from CT and then explore the other towns for a few days. Palazzo Ravizza would be my choice in Siena. Get a room with a garden view. Good restaurant, too. Just a thought.

Huitres

Levanto is often considered (by Italians) to be the 6th town of the Cinque Terre. However, it is very different from the CT in its feel as it is much bigger and more removed from the others. To get the true CT experience, I would stay in either Riomaggiore, Manarola, or even Monterosso. However, if you want to go up the coast to Portofino, Camogli, etc maybe staying in Levanto would serve you better as a base. There are certainly more hotel options in Levanto and they actually have a huge beach front (larger than Monterosso's). Mussolini had a summer home there and it is a popular beach spot for vacationing Italians in the summer.

pandan

Levanto is defintely less busy and crowded than the villages of the Cinque Terre, the prices of the hotels are lower. We prefer the B&B as the offer a much better value, tow i can recommend is La dolce vita (www.dolcevita-levanto.com) and Le Conchiglie (www.leconchiglie-levanto.com). Both are centrally locate and ask about 85.- € for a double. If you like to do daytrips I can recommend the Val di Vara (Varese Ligure) which is a medieval village about 30 kms from Levanto, the river Vara is also nice to swim especially in July/August.

Cherie

Hi Alison,
In the building we stayed in at Villanova, there were two private bedroom/bath suites on either end with a large living area in the center that was a common area. The bedroom was large and airy and comfortable with a window that looked out into the woods, where we heard a cuckoo every day -- a novelty for Americans. The bath was new and clean and sunny. Breakfasts were heavenly -- fresh pastries and farm-made jams, juice, wonderful coffee. We really enjoyed sitting out on the terrace and having our breakfast in the morning sunshine.
It was a little far for us to walk into town and we're walkers. But the train station is between the B&B and town and we trained to all the other CT towns anyway. There are some nice restaurants in town and a beautiful beach. We liked it as a base.

stephyjo_usa

Is there a sandy beach in Levanto?

ronin

alison - We stayed in Vernazza in May, and aside from a brief tantrum I had over the bum-rush of tourists the Cinque Terre towns get each day, I really enjoyed staying in the thick of it. I thought the waterfront in Levanto was more "Ligurian", or toned-down Riviera, than it was like one of the towns in the CT. We only spent an afternoon there, but managed to walk most of the commercial areas below the train station (only heard English once in front of a hotel!) and saw the castello (private residence now) and zebra striped chiesa of Sant'Andrea. The beach is VERY riviera-esque with its changing huts and groomed (imported?) sand beach. Lots of bars & cafe's along the promenade if your hotel is more than a few minutes walking distance to the beach. Your CT train pass will take you from Levanto to La Spezia without additional fares. If you want to use your Italian lessons, this would be a great immersion town within striking distance of a lot of great destinations.

zootsi

When we visited CQ in 2003, we stayed in Levanto. We don't regret our decision, as Levanto has a lot to offer in the way of places to eat, places to park, and places to stay. Although it is a 5 minute train ride from Levanto to Monerosso, Levanto has a different feel than the other CQ towns - it is more of a Riviera beach resort as opposed to a cute fishing village perched on cliffs. Levanto has a nicer, longer beach than the other 5 towns, and even has a small casino. If you are a hiker, the hike from Levanto to Monterosso is very scenic, and much less crowded than the more popular CQ trails. In Levanto, we stayed in a small, simple hotel called the Serafina in a residential area near the train stop. The local trattoria was the best place we ate during our entire italian trip.

alison

WOW, surprised to see this thread resurrected after so many months! We are leaving tomorrow for italy and would love to know the name of the trattoria mentioned by zootsi. thanks!

abqdeb

Bringing this back to the top cause I would like the name of that trattoria also! Are you out there Zootsi?

zootsi

I am so sorry, but I can't remember it's name. It was a neighborhood trattoria, on a corner not far from the train station - not a touristy area. It was on one of the streets that went down to the downtown/beach area, and we passed by it when walking from our hotel, the Sarafina, down to the beach. There were outside tables, and the place was quite casual. The night we were there, there was a large group of local college girls at the table next to us celebrating someone's birthday. They were being entertained by a guitar playing duo, doing vintage American tunes. What a kick hearing 20 something Italian girls singing Runaround Sue!