Cinque Terre

Most of the Cinque Terre villages have a small, paid parking lot which can fill up quickly. Monterosso has a bigger parking lot, or Levanto would be another option (one stop further on the local train), or La Spezia on the south end of the region.

It's a long drive from Barcelona, so I hope you're making several stops in France to make that worthwhile. Will you pick up and return the car in the same country? Or do a French car lease for 3 weeks or more? If not, a regular car rental is expensive to pick up and drop off in different countries. There are also cheap flights from Barcelona to Pisa; see www.skyscanner.com.

Thank-you Laura for your reply. We will be stopping in Carcassonne, Arles, and maybe Nice before seeing Cinque Terre. We enjoy driving through small towns and the countryside, so a car seems the best option. We will rent from Barcelona and fly out of either Florence or Pisa. Staying in Levanto or La Spezia is an option we are also considering but we prefer to stay in CT and hope that mid April to mid May dates are not as busy.

As Laura pointed out - do you understand about the huge drop fee you will incur by renting in Spain and dropping in Italy?

To avoid huge international drop off fees you can rent your car in Perpignan (France) and return it in Nice or Menton, both in France also. Then proceed by train to the Cinque Terre.
Europcar has offices in all the above mentioned cities.

Of all the five towns, Monterosso has the best parking facilities, with car parks in both the new and old town areas. The one in the new town is larger and right on the beach. Note that you won't be able to drive into the towns, and you'll also have to deal with ZTL areas in Monterosso. Some hotels do provide limited parking for guests on a "first come, first served" basis.

I assume you're aware of the potentially expensive "caveats" regarding driving in France and Italy?

I think if driving into one of the towns the hour of the day is important for parking availability.
Monterosso is really the only one of the 5 towns that have traditional hotels and some of them do offer parking, just make sure they know you require one before booking and get good instructions on driving to the location from them to avoid any ZTL's

Manarola, Vernazza, Rio Maggiore: From what I saw the small lots which are expensive (over 20 euro per night) fill up during the day but most likely not overnight. Therefore if you arrive early in the morning or late in the evening you may find parking easy ; if you arrive mid day you may find parking not available at all for any cost.
The small lots are cash only and obvious since they are the road end so you either park or turn around.

Depending on where you are staying it may be much further from the car park than the train station and vice versa ; the distance is not the concern really but the hills and steps are with luggage.

Corniliga I am not sure but suspect parking there is easier and if you are stay in the region but not in the mentioned villages those rentals usually would have parking.
As mentioned very few true hotels if any outside of Monterosso ; more B&B or Bed without the breakfast

Thanks to all of you who have taken the time to answer my question. You have helped me to clarify my options for visiting Cinque Terre and where to stay to enjoy the area. I appreciate your advice and experience.

bob