cinque terra

There are lots of choices of places to stay in all the towns. The only towns that were affected by the mudslides were Monterosso and Vernazza. Vernazza has not reopened everything, but Monterosso is open fully for business according to the websites. Rick Steves has some great information on the Cinque Terre and the latest news.
Your first step is to decide which town YOU want to stay in, then go from there. I have stayed in Monterosso, and will be staying there again this summer.

sue, Have a look at a Guidebook or the internet to see which of the five towns of the Cinque Terre has the type of "character" that you're looking for. Any would be good (IMHO). Monterosso is the largest town, and therefore has the most Hotels, restaurants and also the nicest beach. The damage that occurred was not really too recent. Three of the five towns were unaffected, so it's business as usual. The "old town" section of Monterosso has fully recovered with virtually all businesses open for the season. While rebuilding is still ongoing in Vernazza, many businesses have re-opened there also, and they're ready for visitors. Two of the Sentiero Azurro trails are currently open, and by October there may be more. Happy travels!

We visited a few weeks ago and only Vernazza really had major damage that was visible. The other towns were all fine

I have reservations at La Poesia in Monterosso We will be there July 4th and 5th . Heard its near the biggest beach.

http://www.elisabettacarro.it/

We went to the Cinque Terre in 2004 and stayed in Riomaggiore. On our visit there last month, we decided to stay in Lerici, on the coast just south of La Spezia. Lerici is a fabulous place to visit - beautiful beach in a big cove right on the water. Nice strolls into and around town, good restaurants. We had a rental car and drove to Riomaggiore and parked there for the day with no problem. If you don't have a car, you could take a short bus ride to La Spezia and train to Cinque Terre.

Just traveled to Cinque Terre 2 weeks ago. We stayed at La Serra Sul Mare in Monterosso Al Mare and loved it. It is up on the hill looking down on Monterosso but there are shuttles, at no charge, you can catch that will take you back top the hill to your hotel. Our breakfast there was included in the price and we had that gorgeous view to enjoy as we ate it. We walked from Monterosso to Vernazza.....hard, uphill climb but well worth the views. We trained from Vernazza to Riomaggiore where we had lunch and then walked the trail back to Manarola. We were glad we stayed in Monterosso....we felt of all of the towns that it had the better choices for restaurants and places to stay. We ate one of the best meals we had at La Cantina di Miky......eat the pesto lasagna.....incredible!

We JUST got back from our trip. Loved staying in Monterosso. We stayed at the agritourismo Uliveto nel Parco (google for website). Absolutely ADORED it! Tommy and Elena are very personable and accomdating, and the grounds are gorgeous. Tommy is an excellent chef, I preferred his meal to the one I had at Mikys in town (which was very good, by the way, Tommy's was just better!). Staying at an agritourismo is a great way to really get a feel for the local area. If you go there tell him Rachel from Wisconsin recommended you, and says hi!!!