My sister and I would like to spend 3 days in the Cinque Terre vicinity with stops in La Spezia and Portofino. We plan to take a train from Rome. Questions: Can you recommend a good 'central location' and 3 star hotel? We prefer to spend three nights in one place but do not want to spend too much time on trains so central is key. Grazia!~
Posted by
11647 posts
The Portofino Peninsula also is the location of Santa Margherita Ligure and Camogli which we much preferred to Portofino with it’s high luxury shopping, hotels and dining. Portovenere is another good choice, south of the Cinque Terre.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32384 posts
I would recommend basing in Monterosso (the most northerly of the five towns) and adding a day or two in that area for day trips to Portofino or other locations. There's not really much to see in La Spezia so your time might be better spent elsewhere. When is this trip taking place?
There are a number of good hotels in Monterosso, and you might consider either Hotel Villa Steno or Hotel Pasquale. I don't know how many stars they have, but they're both excellent hotels. They're both located in the "old town"".
A day trip from Monterosso to Portofino is fairly straightforward. Take the train to Santa Margherita Ligure, either walk down the stairs to the town or take a taxi, and then get the boat to Portofino. Reverse the steps for the return trip. There's not really much to see in Portofino, but it's such an iconic location, it's worth a look for a few hours.
Regarding Porto Venere, if the ferries aren't running due to weather or whatever, it's a bit "awkward" to get there so I probably wouldn't bother.
If you haven't travelled by train in Italy before, be sure you do some research on validating tickets for Regionale trains, travelling with reservations on express trains, etc.