Nancy

Wondering where to stay in the Cinque Terre. We're looking for a charming place with great seaviews and a balcony. 3-4 star.<BR><BR>Any help would be appreciated.<BR><BR>Thanks,<BR><BR>Nancy

Paule

My husband stayed in Hotel Royal Sporting in Portovenere. It's a wonderful, charming town at the tip of the peninsula, nowhere near as crowded as the C.T. towns, yet easily accessible to them by ferry. We were there in July '99 and fell in love with the town. The hotel is a very comfortable one, I forget if it's 3 or 4 star, but does have terraces with great views. It's a little walk away from the center of the town, but quite walkable. If you're there in the summer, a great plus is the salt water swimming pool. There is another good hotel in town, the Grand Hotel Portovenere, which gets good reviews, too.<BR>I highly recommend staying in Portovenere, though, especially if you go during high season.

ellen

In the other direction, Santa Margherita Ligure as many choices and price ranges and is a quick train ride away from Cinque Terre.

Paule

Oops, meant to say, "husband and I"!<BR>I would not be very happy if my hubby was there all by his lonesome...<BR>Paule

Susan

North of the CT is the beautiful resort town of Sestri Levante. We stayed at a fabulous hotel there, a three star that in my book greatly deserves four stars but doesn't charge like a four star: The Grand Hotel Villa Balbi. We made our reservations through initaly.com and were treated like royalty -- fruit basket and basket of spa toiletries in the room, etc.

Sue

Hi Nancy,<BR><BR>The best hotel on the CT is the Porto Roco. It sit on the hill side over looking the sea in the town of Monterosso. There is a beach with wonderful towels and chasies. The food was very good and the dinning room of coarse looks over the sea. It is a 4 star hotel. My husband and I spend 6 wonderful days there a few years ago.<BR><BR>Have a great time.

Byrd

Hi Nancy-<BR>I second the Porto Rocco...wonderful!<BR><BR>Byrd

Mary

We just got back on Sunday night from France and Italy. We stayed in Portovenere at the Hotel Belvedere, a nice three star hotel, with views of the harbor that are breathtaking. Email if you need more info (I'm still unpacking).

Christine

Two years ago, I travelled around Italy, France and Switzerland. I absolutly loved CT so much that I returned twice, in two months. By far the best in accommotation is in Riomaggiore. Robert Fazioli on Via Colmobo 94, tel. 132 (0187920587, 0187920904) There is also his rival, a man named Edi also on Via Colombo at 0187920490, 0187760842. These are private rooms and/or rentals of big villas for extremely cheap. I can't wait to return this October. All the best, happy travels!!

MK

You can check out the Porto Roca at www.portoroca.it

Nancy

Thanks everyone ....<BR><BR>This is such a hard decision. Does the Porto Roca have seaview balconies?<BR><BR>

Ron

Porto Roca, most rooms with seaview belconies. Was the best July 2001. see mk message. enjoy

sam

I'm planning to hike from Riomaggiore to Portovenere, and then take some form of public transport back to the Cinque Terre. I keep reading about the ferry from Portovenere, but the only thing I can find on the web is www.navigazionegolfodeipoeti.it/5lands.htm. It talks about boats leaving Portovenere at 9, 10, 11, and 12, with "Possibility to have a stop in the villages of the 5 terre". Then there's a "half-day excursion", which leaves at 15:00 with a "one hour stop in the 5 terre villages". I expect to be ready to leave Portovenere in mid-afternoon, but this sounds like if I miss the 15:00 boat, I'm stuck, at least in terms of going by boat. Is this true, or is there someplace else I should be looking to find out about the ferry?

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robin-k

Sam:<BR>If you miss the last ferry out of Portovenere, you can take the bus to LaSpezia (~ 10-15 min ride). You'll want to get to train station, LaSpezia Centrale. I know the bus from Portovenere goes down via Chiodo in LaSpezia, but not sure if that same bus continues on to train station. Ask when you board "a treni in LaSpezia?" Once you do get to train station, you can take local train back to Cinque Terre (only 5 minutes from Spezia to Riomaggiore). <BR><BR>Don't know any websites that'll give you bus schedules; these are the city buses (don't forget to buy ticket @ tabachi BEFORE boarding).

robin-k

CORRECTIONS:<BR><BR>Bus from Portovenere to Spezia (to the Centrale train station) will take closer to 35-40 minutes. When I initially posted, I was thinking time/distance to Via Chiodo. And train between Spezia-Riomaggiore is 7 minutes, not 5. The local trains leave about every 20 minutes or so (often late!). Last train departs Spezia for CT @ 10:38 pm. View train schedule at www.trenitalia.com or www.fs-on-line.com

sam

Thank you so much for the information on the train, Robin. It sounds like I should really try to make that last ferry. But I'm still wondering if I have the full story on the ferry. I've read many posts in which it is suggested that people take the ferry from Portovenere to CT, and so it makes me wonder if there isn't another ferry that has more service than the four trips in the morning and one in the afternoon that I saw on the website. Does anybody know if there are ferry lines other than the one I found on the web?

Sue

Hi,<BR><BR>My memory of the ferry is that it is not a commuter type ferry, but a ferry for tourist. When your on it the captian points places of interest etc., therefore there are not a lot of times that it departs. Try to get the last ferry back to the CT as taking the bus to La Spezia and then the train to CT is quite time commsuming.