Traveling next week and I need help. Have 3 nights booked in Rome, then planned to do the CT with a one night stay before heading to Florence for 2 nights. Was planning to stay in Monterossa but when the hotel I wanted wasn't available a friend raved about Santa Margherita and said we should overnite there. Looking at the train schedules, this doesn't seem practical. Is it? Should we gamble on finding a place to stay in CT w/o reservations on a Thurs. night?

I would not go to CT for just one night. Not too many places I would travel to and spend only one night. I would spend that night and day in Tuscany enroute to Florence. Lucca would be my choice. It's only 45 minutes south of Florence on the train. If you stay in Lucca I found a really great hotel there called Hotel Diana. It is just inside the city walls, double costs about 67 euros. Stay in the hotel annex building where everything was just remodeled. Gigantic full tile floor to ceiling bathrooms, sat. tv with CNN etc.

http://www.albergodiana.com/index.htm

Have a great trip whatever you decide.
Larry J

I just returned from Monterosso (Cinque Terre) and Lucca. I agree with Larry, it is too long a haul to visit from Rome for just one night. Santa Margharita, where I stayed last year is beautiful, but again too far for one night. There is so much in the area of Florence to see..spend your extra day there. It's funny, I stayed in Lucca for 3 nights at the Hotel Diana. We had a room in the annex or "Dependence" as they referred to it. It was 93 euro and was a great room. Marble bathroom, nice furnishings, a/c. Staff was very helpful with restaurant recommendations and train travel. I actually enjoyed, with all the heat, the smaller towns better. Don't forget Italy has been having a very HOT season so far, so don't push yourself too much and relax a bit. Have a great time!!

Forgot to mention..if you still plan on going to the Cinque Terre, I wouldn't want to go with out a reservation. With the warmer weather and peak season, it would be risky. What hotel were you looking at?

Santa Margherita Ligure is only an hour by train north of Monterosso so you could stay there after hiking/sightseeing in the Cinque Terre. We stayed at the Hotel Fiorina in SML and would recommend it.
There are lots of places to stay in the CT villages, why not email a few and see if you can get a booking before you leave? Try http://homepage.sunrise.ch/homepage/avong/cinque_terre/
Kay

Thanks for the input. My 21-year-old daughter traveling partner really wants to go to the Cinque Terre. She has visited it briefly and wants to go back to show me, so I don't know if I can scratch it! We will be traveling by train--should we go on to Florence and do CT as a day trip from there? The problem w/ staying in Santa Marg. is that it is over 5 hours by train to Florence, so uses up a big chunk of the first Florence day. My daughter has been studying art in Florence this summer and loves the city! So she has lots to share with me there, and maybe it could be home base for another night. The hotel I wanted in Monterosso was the Pasquale. I really don't have a grip on this yet, so please respond!

If you really must go to the CT, your best bet may be to stay in La Spezia - the city closest to CT. It's 4 hours by train from Rome, 15 minutes by train to CT, and about 3.5 hours by train to Florence.

I admittedly know nothing about La Spezia, but if you're just going to be there for a night and will be spending most of your time in the CT, I'd pick a decent hotel near the train station. Maybe someone who's familiar with La Spezia can tell us if this is advisable.

For all this trouble, I sure hope it doesn't rain when you're in the CT.

If for some reason you decide you don't want to travel so far out of your way, a Tuscan hill town (like Montepulciano) is a good stop between Rome & Florence.

I did this (sort of) a couple of weeks ago. If you take the 07:10 train out of Rome you can get to Monterosso about noonish (only 1 train change in La Spezia). We budgeted 2 days in Monterosso and I think this is optimum (a half day for the beach and a full day to hike/explore/more beach). We found the CT to be very relaxing after running around Rome for 3 days in 90 degree heat. I would cut a day from Florence, but I'm not an Art Buff. Florence was our least favorite city of Rome, Monterosso, Florence and Venice.

I would try to stay in Monterosso or Vernazza, the other towns seemed a little too sleepy for me. Can't help with hotel reservations (we stayed at trhe Hotel Pasquale) but Monterosso does have a TI and the following website might help.

http://www.fishnet.it/

If your goal is to spend time in the CT I wouldn't stay in SML or La Spezia. The "Milk Train" that runs between the towns seems to run later and later as the day goes on. You can waste a lot of time in a train station waiting for your train. Also make sure what time the train leaves when you do leave. We wanted to stop in Pisa on the way to Florence, but missed the train (my fault). we had to wait for the next train to La Spezia (1 hour) and then wait for the train to Pisa in La Spezia (another hour). a 10 minute mistake cost me 2 hours.

Good luck and have a great time.

A few years back, we had planned to stay in Florence for 4 nights and decided after we got there reduce our stay by one night to spend a night in Lucca instead. When we got there, we could not find a hotel as there was a festival so after seeing some of the sights decided to head to La Spezia. We knew that La Spezia was of little interest but would put us closer to our ultimate destination. We stayed overnight in a hotel a short stroll from the train station. The rate was L80,000 at the time. We decided we would then have a early start the next day to find accommodation in Vernazza. It worked out very well but I would not want to try and find accommodation in the CT arriving mid day in peak season. I would try and book a hotel in advance in La Spezia as it is a sizable town and a very short train ride to the CT. You probably won't have enough time to do the full hike but you will get a small taste of the region. It would break my heart to leave after a half day in the CT...you really need two nights to do it justice.
But if your daughter wants you to see it...it must have captivated her much like it did us.