Cinque Terre

We stayed there for two days last week, and did not want to leave, even though some of the major trails were closed and it rained both nights. I would have liked to spend more time eating the delicious Ligurian food; pesto, focaccia, anchovies, olives and wine! It is a lovely, low key place to stay.
Bill

Depends on what you want in the trip. You will easily cover the walking / hiking trails in 2 days.If you like to sit & enjoy the view, maybe a third day, but 4 or 5 seems like too much IMHO ( and I LOVE the CT ! )

If you have 5 days, take 3 for the Cinque Terre. Then take 2 for the Bay of Poets. You can go from the CT to the Bay of Poets by ferry.

I agree with LaRae! We spent 5 nights there in October 2012 and used the time to explore the area beyond the 5 villages. You can read about out trip here,and here and here. We really enjoyed the relaxed pace. It is one of our 3 favorite ares (so far) in Italy, so we went back again this year which you can read about here. There are also Camogli and Genova, which are in our plans for next fall.

Laurie,

Whether a week is too long will depend on what you want to do there. That's a good time frame if you plan on using it as a "home base" to tour other locations in the area, as well as touring each of the five towns, hiking the trails or perhaps doing a bit of swimming or relaxing on the beaches.

You could for example spend three days touring the C.T. towns and the other four taking day trips to:

• Porto Venere and it's associated islands, Palmaria, Tino and Tinetto (visiting all will likely take the better part of a day).
• Levanto (beautiful beaches!).
• the posh resort of Portofino, where the recent Andrea Bocelli concert was held, and perhaps a short look at Santa Margherita Ligure (both of those places will also take the better part of a day).
• The Marble Quarries of Carrara (if you're interested - check Trip Advisor for reviews of the tours).
• If you're an avid hiker, you could also try some of the other trails besides the famous No. 2 (Sentiero Azzurro) that everyone hikes. One example is the trail from Monterosso to Levanto that Laurel describes.

IMO, there's more than enough to do in that area to keep busy with for a week.

Happy travels!

While staying in the CT, you can also explore Portofino and Santa Margherita

I agree with Ken. A week would not be too much for me but I love the CT area. We were there for 5 days in September and we took day trips to Camogli, Portovenere and Portofino. We based in Monterosso. It was our second trip to the CT and I just can't get enough.