Where to stay in Cinque Terre?
 

I'm having trouble deciding where to stay in Cinque Terre. There is a lot of choice and I have already looked at many places on the internet. Is it possible to get self contained accommodation in Riomaggiore that has a sea view but you don't have to be on the 5th floor?
I would love to hear from anyone with first hand experience. We are planning on being there in early May 2013.

Are you avid hikers?
Will you have a car?
Why Riomaggiore--it is quite vertical?

If you will have a car you will have to deal wirh parking which is alomost non existant in CT. The most northern town ( (although not one of the 5) is Levanto amd we stayed at the Garden Hotel(reasonable and popular) which had parking and took the train to all the towns except Corniglia(too many steps) It is a hop on hop off train and you can do your thing as you please. the area is lovely,awesome scenery, great hiking, decent food and nice wine.Your timing will probably be just great as the weather should be nice and things blooming.

I also stayed in Levanto on both of my visits to the Cinque Terre, though I didn't have a car. I stayed for practical and budget reasons; I couldn't find cheap enough places in the other towns that weren't up a hundred stairs, private bathroom, etc. If money were no object, I'd probably have stayed in Vernazza, Riomaggiore, or Manarola. Levanto is a nice town but it's more of a conventional beach town unlike the five villages.

amer_can, next time take the shuttle bus from the Corniglia train station up the hill to the town. They wait at the train station exit. Coming down the steps on the way back isn't such a big deal.

La Torretta in Manarola. Loved it-it's a great location in one of the quieter towns and the people that run it are some of the nicest people you will ever meet. They have a wonderful breakfast and a great happy hour!

I just got back from Italy yesterday. We stayed at the Hotel Pasquale in Montorosso and I would definitely recommend it. It is a small hotel but I believe every room has a sea view. The rooms are small but good and the bathroom in ours was completely redone and excellent. Breakfast was included and good. We had a car and they offered to reserve a parking space for us. We left our car in the parking garage and used the trains to visit the villages.

As far as the Cinque Terre, all the trails were closed so we could not experience any hikes. Truthfully, I was not as impressed with the Cinque Terre as I thought I would be. If you are going for the trails and they are closed, there is not much else to do. Others will have their opinions, but I still prefer the Tuscany area and the Amalfi coast.

Thanks to all of you who sent replies so quickly. We are not avid hikers but will probably do the via d'amore, which is the flat part I think. We also plan to use the boats and trains to visit all the villages.
We will not have a car and will be arriving by train from Rome. We want to spend a week and we want an apartment that is self contained ie with cooking facilities.
I know the tracks are closed at the moment but may be open by May next year. We were thinking of Amalfi coast but have decided to stay in northern Italy as we are also going to spend a week in Tuscany,a week in lake como and a week in Venice .

If you are thinking of doing a lot of cooking, see what kind of stores are there because I don't remember seeing anything much bigger than a convenience store. Obviously the residents must shop somewhere, but I didn't see any bakeries, butchers or coop stores.

For the via d'amor take a lock to lock your love there or your plan to return..Whatever!! It's hard to imagine not being impressed with CT . It has it's own charm and you have to look past the crowds..and enjoy the beauty. even walking from town to town can be an adventure not found elsewhere.

I've been to the Cinque Terre twice. It's an amazing place. However, I think a week there might be a little much if you won't be hiking - one of the big appeals of the area.

rfbk50, there were definitely little grocery stores in central Riomaggiore - I went into a few of them looking for the cheapest bottles of coke light. I think there was at least one little butcher shop there as well. Levanto to the north is much bigger than Riomaggiore and would have plenty of stores.

We didn't go to Levanto so I didn't know about the stores there. We had virtually no crowds in November. We did think that if you made the trip to do a bit of hiking, you could be really disappointed if the trails were closed. I do think they have made a remarkable recovery since the mud slides, but I just didn't feel that the area lived up to the hype.

I don't know if the original poster is from the US but schlepping groceries from three towns away by train can be a real culture shock. I know I would reconsider eating out three meals a day rather than cooking.

We are from Australia .

Have you considered Santa Margherita Ligure? If I were there for a week, that's where I would.want to be. We loved it.

There are very few self catering apartments in Santa Margherita Ligure.

You might find a nice rental in lovely untouristy Moneglia (the name means "jewel). It is only a few train stops from le Cinque Terre. You need to be careful not to get too far from the train station, so ask for a precise address before you rent and calculate the walking distance using Google maps or Michelin maps.

http://www.homelidays.co.uk/EN-Holid...oneglia_r3.asp

There are other websites you can find by doing a google search for self-catering in Moneglia.

I really want to stay in one of the Cinque Terre because I think it will be beautiful being there at night. I pick riomaggiore because it looks a bit bigger than the others and seems to have shops for buying groceries. Monterosso al mare doesn't look as picturesque as the other 4 towns.
I looked at La Toretta but it is way out of my price range for a week.
I would still like to hear from someone with recent first hand experience.

I would go on Trip Advisor, find the top-rated places in Riomaggiore and maybe a few of the other CT towns (Manarola and Vernazza anyway) and read the reviews. Look at B&Bs/Specialty lodging especially, as there are very few "hotels" proper in these towns, mostly apartments and B&Bs.

I like Riomaggiore. I would love to have to stayed there.

Monterosso is very nice. We stayed at a beautiful hotel there, Porto Roca, excellent food amd setting.

We stayed at Casa Lorenza and loved it. The price was very reasonable and the first floor apartment was very spacious. It had a kitchen so you could cook if desired. The apartment has a nice grassy patio area with lounge chairs and tables with a fantastic view of both Riomaggiore and the ocean. At night you can sit outside (after first watching the sunset!) with nicely lit views of the town and the fort above the town. You won't be on the "5th floor" as you state, but you WILL have to walk. That's what the Cinque Terre is all about. If you don't like to walk, I would go somewhere else. You can read my trip report for the Cinque Terre part. The trails were closed when we were there, but Lorenza recommended a fantastic hike for us. You can also take a boat to Portovenere. Lorenza will pick you up at the train station, by the way. Don't bring a car unless you have to.

We stayed 8 days in a big apartment in Manarola..We took day trips to Portofino, Pisa and Lucca..The other days we spent visiting the others small villages of CT.
I would love to return to that area.We always said that Cinque terre was heaven on earth.

I forgot to mention that we did not have a car and traveled by train.