Monterosso al Mare or Portovenere
 

We have three nights on the coast. Should we stay in Monterosso al Mare, possibly Hotel Villa Steno or Portovenere, Hotel Paradiso Hotel or Grand Hotel Portovenere. We don't want a formal spot, something fun with a beautiful view and not hard to find. Thank you.

Trish,<BR>Have stayed in Monterosso and highly reccommend it. The food was incredible and the views stunning. Not a lot to do, but we really enjoyed a couple of very relaxing days. <BR><BR>Audrey

We stayed at the Royal Sporting Hotel in Portovenere and loved it. You can easily reach the Cinque Terre towns by bus. Hotels in nearby Le Grazie are cheaper but the town is smaller and less picturesque.

<BR>Joy ~ can you get from the Royal Sporting Hotel(or from Portovenere)to the CT towns by boat?

Hi Trish. Don't know if this matters to you or not, but Monterosso would have easier transportation connections to the four other Cinque Terre towns. Unless I'm mistaken, from Portovenere you have to take a bus to La Spezia, and then a train to the CT towns, or else take the boat to the CT towns whereas, from Monterosso, you can hop right on the train. <BR><BR>I was only in Portovenere for about two hours -- having taken the boat from Monterosso -- but thought it had a very beautiful setting. <BR><BR><BR>Philip, yes, there are boats that connect Portovenere with four of the five Cinque Terre towns (all except Corniglia, the only CT town which is not on the water.)