Cinque Terra

Debbie, Unfortunately, Monterosso is a very popular location (the nice beach is probably one reason) so that may be why the prices are a bit higher. Would you consider staying in one of the other villages or perhaps in Levanto (which also has a nice beach)? You might also have a look at staying in Riomaggiore. Although the swimming area isn't as nice as Monterosso, you may find a better deal with rooms there. When will your trip to the C.T. be taking place? Good luck and happy travels!

Well have you looked on tripadvisor.com, Cinque Terra forums,, Rick only lists a few choices in all his books, there is usually many more good choices available. I personally have never stayed in a Ricks Pick, but have visited Europe quite a few times and used tripadvisor hotel listings to find most of my hotels.

We were in Monterosso at the end of April. We stayed at the Hotel La Colonnina. We thought this was very nice with a roof top terrace and a courtyard garden. We would definitely stay there again.

In May 2006, seven of us stayed at Villa Margherita (B&B) in Levanto, for 4 days. We bought daily train passes that let us travel back and forth amongst the five cities, getting on and off at will. One evening at sunset in Riomaggiore, we bought a boat ticket and travelled along the Cinque Terre coastline back to Levanto. That was beautiful. Levanto has a very nice beach and the city is small enough that we walked daily to the train station and back and forth to the beach, from the B&B. The B&B also made dinner reservations for us at local restaurants. We thoroughly enjoyed the area.

when considering where to stay, it's worth finding out the cost of train travel between all the towns. the trips are very short, but travel more expensive than our RS Italy Book (2011) had said. there was no day pass available just for trains in Oct. 2011, and individual legs of the trip were more expensive than expected. It's still not prohibitively expensive, but we found ourselves staying put more than originally planned, because our home base of Monterosso was beautiful and comfy, some legs of the hiking trail were closed, and train travel was both more crowded and expensive than expected. Check out the 2012 book or maybe guidebook s online. It's hard to save money on lodgings, but we saved on food, somewhat, by eating lots of pizza and pasta and by picking up some food and drink in a little grocery in the old town. We'd splurge just a bit on dinner, enjoying inexpensive but delicious wine while watching the sun set on the water. There are lots of cost-free things to do in Monterosso, incl hanging on the older or newer breakwaters, enjoying the public beach, or hiking up into the hillier portions of town to see the sights.
Hope you have a great time!