We are planning a trip next year in late September/early October. Which would you pick for 3 night stay? Is there a major difference between the two? Are the boats still running? Do you have favorite places to stay? We stayed in Levanto last year but for only one night. We were only able to stay in the area until early afternoon the next day. We saw Riomaggiore and Vernazza. It was amazing and I have been dreaming of going back to the area and spending more time! Any advice would be appreciated.<BR>Thank you!

SML is one of my favorite places. IMO, it's as beautiful as Portofino, but much livelier. It's also a very short bus or boat ride from Portofino. It takes close to an hour to get to Cinque Terre on the train from SML. Portovenere is much closer to the CT, but there is no train service -- you have to either take the boat to CT or take the bus to La Spezia and then the train to CT. I've read postings saying that the boat runs frequently, but the schedule I saw when I was there had only a few trips scheduled (maybe there's another boat line I didn't see) and the boat wasn't running at all that afternoon because the sea was too choppy. I ended up doing the bus/train thing, which was a little bit of a hassle. So, just based on my own limited experience, I found SML to actually be more convenient for CT than Portovenere even though it is quite a bit further away. Also, I admit that I didn't give Portovenere a fair chance because I was only there for an hour or so, but I didn't find it as appealing as so many other posters do. I will probably give it another chance someday, though.

Just another thought. If you are dreaming of the CT, why not stay there? How about Monterosso? It's larger and less quaint than the other villages to be sure, but I'm very fond of it (the view from the hike to Vernazza, looking back at the beach in Monterosso, comes into my mind just about every day). Then from there you can go to the other villages, to Portovenere if the boat is running, or to SML/Portofino. I have the feeling you're looking for a somewhat upscale hotel, so why not stay at the Porto Roca?

Agree with sam. Either stay in SML or one of the CT towns.<BR><BR>

Thanks for the answer! I think I'd like to maybe explore more of the area instead of just the CT. So I was wondering if it would be easier to do from one of these other two towns. We would be driving in and I've heard Montorosso is kind of a nightmare to get to by car. Does anyone else have any other suggestions??

Hello DebiC, we just recently returned from a trip to SML. We did not go to Portovenere so I can't compare them but we loved SML - beautiful scenery and a great town to explore. <BR><BR>We stayed at the Hotel Laurin at the last minute because we did not care for the original place we were planning to stay in. The Laurin was great. We had a large room with a terrace overlooking the harbor. We would definitely go back there again.<BR><BR>We drove to Monterosso from SML and, yes, it is challenging drive although we would not call it a nightmare. If I could do it again, I would go to the CT towns by boat. <BR><BR>Enjoy your trip!<BR><BR>

I think that if you want to explore more than the CT, then SML is a good place to stay. I think you are more isolated in Portovenere. As Sam pointed out, from SML you can take the boat to Portofino. It continues on to San Fruttuoso and Camogli, both very much worth a visit.