Cinque Terre Accomodation

I also chose to base in Levanto and my B and B looks to be 800 meters or a bit more than 800 meters from the train station. It also includes cold breakfast. Wonder if it is the same one? I did read somewhere online that cabs in Levanto are a flat fee of 10 Euros no matter where you want to go in Levanto. I read that it is easier to find a cab there. I also chose Levanto because it supposedly has more modern conveniences/stores open at times when the other towns may not.

Am interested in how people reply to this.

kwarner,

My suggestion would be to stick with the place in Levanto, for several reasons.....

• Levanto is a larger town than Riomaggiore, with more restaurants and other amenities. It also has a beautiful large beach.
• If there's a choice, I'd always go for the place that that supplies breakfast. However it's important to point out that Italian breakfasts tend to vary from one place to the next. Some hotels provide a full breakfast with scrambled eggs, cold meats, buns and breads, jam (sometimes homemade), juices, coffee, etc. Others provide only a Croissant, perhaps some cold meats and hard boiled eggs, coffee, etc.
• Levanto is closer to Santa Margherita Ligure and Camogli (which will make transportation a bit easier) and not really that much farther from Porto Venere and elsewhere. It's only about 4 minutes from Levanto to Monterosso, so you could easily spend the evening there (or one of the other towns) and enjoy a fine hot meal, and return easily to Levanto at the end of the day.
• Although 800 metres is a bit of a walk, it's mostly level and not difficult (IMO).

Buon Viaggio!

Mine is called Amando Levanto and Sarah the host sounds lovely.
Thanks for your replies. I feel I have made the right choice in Levanto as a base

Ken, thanks for the info regards breakfasts, I was aware they wouldn't be "full English" but that's half the fun of going to new counties - experiencing other cultures and other diets....yay I cant wait! and thankyou for the link to the Levanto beach front :-)

I'm another vote for staying in Levanto. I really enjoyed my visit there, was able to swim in the sea and also get to the 5 CT towns very easily by train.

In the other direction I took a boat to San Fruttuoso to see the underwater statue of Christ.
Very interesting to see - there are several statues like this in different places in the world.
We were told this is a statue to protect the fishermen in the area - don't know if that is the real story, but it was nice to see it.

Since you plan to visit Santa Margherita, I hope you take the bus from there to Portofino. There's a walk to the castle and the lighthouse and the views from there are gorgeous.

One note to add regarding a visit to Portofino. Rather than take the Bus, you might consider taking the boat from Santa Margherita Ligure. It's a very pleasant 20 minute (or so) trip and you'll arrive right beside the posh yachts that will likely be docked there. If you need more information on the boat trip, post another note.

Looks like the plan is coming together. Buon viaggio.

Glad to know the walk to the station is not too steep. It looks like it is not user friendly from the satellite map view that is why I was concerned.

Your plan sounds like it's coming together. You mentioned visiting Verona and Padua. They are located much closer to Venice and would not make good choices for days trips from the CT.