Best place to go and stay in Cinque Terra

I love CT, but most of the towns involve 'thousands of steps.' You could stay just north of the CT in Levanto which is more flat and has a nice beach area and train in each day (very easy to do and only a short distance.) Less crowded and probably more reasonable rates. Your 180 a night-is that $$ or Euro? Also what time of year are you planning to go?

Look in Monterosso. There are lots of rooms/hotels available without "thousands of steps." Much of the town is fairly level; some places have ocean views; some places have very reasonable rates. I like the Agavi (mentioned in the RS books) and others on this Helpline have recommended rooms and apartments in Monterosso.

Hi Elizabeth,

My husband and I stayed at Edi’s Rooms in Riomaggiore (www.wel.it/Vesignaedi). This was our favorite place we stayed in Italy. We were in the Case Mimi room which had a huge balcony overlooking the sea. There were a lot of steps though...that's how you get the great views! But not too bad. It was very clean and just the perfect location. It also had a refrigerator, coffee maker, and table and chairs inside the room to eat. This room was 80EUR. They did have other rooms to rent for less as well. Edi is also recommended in the Rick Steve's books (and when you go to their office they have X-mas cards from Rick's family).

We liked staying in Riomaggiore because it was connected to the Via Dell Amore which is an easy path to the next town Manarola (approx 20min walk). It's also great to watch the sunset from the rocks in Riomaggiore. Riomaggiore is a quieter town which we liked and thought was really romantic. There was 1 bar that we would get drinks at and talk to the locals. Seriously the perfect place in the world I think.

Have a great trip!

Thank you for all your suggestions very much appreciated. We have now found a hotel in Lerici and it has had good reviews. Thank you agin. Liz