Cinque Terre Honeymoon Advice

It's very crowded, but still worth at least two of your ten days. I would not suggest staying in that region as a home base. Perhaps you might consider someplace near Siena or Florence. We stay in Pistioa, a 15 minute train ride from Florence. Have a great trip!

For a honeymoon, it's truly hard to beat Venice for a romantic Italian city. The CT get more and more crowded each year, although if the current economy continues to tank, you may have the place all to yourselves.

Personally, I think that 10 days in Cinque Terre is too much. But, honestly, there aren't many places that I would want to stay for that long.

Comparing Cinque Terre to Disneyland is an absolutely absurd notion! Yes, it can get crowded. But, we were there from a Sunday afternoon through a Tuesday morning (too short!), and it was a glorious, relaxing visit.

I would recommend staying in Cinque Terre for 3-4 nights, mid-week, to minimize the crowds. We stayed in Vernazza, at La Mala, and, while it was a huge splurge, it was such an amazing place that we didn't regret it. I would stay in Room 31 (they only have 4 rooms). It is by far the nicest (and most expensive) room - spacious, and a view that cannot be believed. La Mala is also air conditioned, breakfast is included (at a "bar" in the town square), and they provide a mini-bar stocked with free beer, juice and water.

I agree with Leslie that 10 days in the CT might be too much.
But if you DO decide to spend 10 days in the CT, and possibly stay in Vernazza, definitely splurge to find any accommodation as far away from the train station
as possible. Being too close to the train station in Vernazza was our only complaint about our 4 night stay in the CT.
Staying in Manrola or Rio Maggiore would probably be fine too if you are set on using the CT as your home base.
Another close town to the CT that might be nice to visit/stay in is Santa Margherita - we traveled there on a day trip and really enjoyed it.

Hi Danny, Agree that 10 days is too much. We were there 2 days and that was too little. I think 4 days is perfect and then I would spend the remaining 5 days in and around Florence. Three days in Florence and the other 2 as day trips from Florence to surrounding hill towns...so many to choose from. Also, we were there on a Thurs. & Fri. in early May and there were relatively very little tourists. We did run into school groups that were there for the day but on a whole, found it to be very, very lovely. We stayed in Vernazza at Elisabetta Villino Azzurro (www.elisabettacarro.it) Mobile 347-451-1834
I guarantee that you will be so elated with her place if you can get the room on the second or top floor. Either comes with a rooftop terrace that has a 360 degree view...castle, vineyards, town & sea. A small but very comforable & clean room and all for 65 Euros....an absolute steal!

Danny,

Have you considered Capri?

We have just returned from Italy. We spent several days at CT, and at Amalfi, and also outside of Sorrento.

CT is picturesque. But other than the villages on the tiny crowded beaches, there is nothing else to see. The closest attraction is Pisa - a long way off.

We most enjoyed our stay at a place just east of Sorrento. It had a west facing view with beautiful sunsets. (Sorrento itself faces north and the sunset was not viewable from the city.) The Sorrento Peninsula has train and bus service that could take you to Pompeii or Paestum for a day trip or to the town of Ravello for one of their summer concerts.

We did not make it to Capri, but we have been told that it is the most relaxing place. You would give up some flexibility on Capri as you would need to take a jet boat taxi to Sorrento or Naples if you decided to visit a place off the island.

Danny, most hotels in any of the touristy spots will not be like a Marriott or even a Best Western. They are mostly old but nice resorts. Most bathroom showers are very tiny and double beds have two twin mattresses on the top that are snuggled together.

Re double beds.

I was in the north for 12 nights, alone. For 2 of those nights I couldn't get a single, and both doubles had lovely big one-mattress double beds, a real treat since ALL the twin beds were very narrow. One of the doubles was in Venice, the other in Riomaggiore.

I don't think you will find anywhere that isn't crowded in Summer, especially anything with a beach.

It's your honeymoon, you'll want time alone. Rather than sticking to one of the CT, you could get a little off the beaten path by going inland and finding a place to stay. I haven't done it but read a thread recently on fodors.com of someone exploring inland from CT. You can still daytrip to the CT for dining, hiking and to watch a sunset. The only thing similar to a beach (or nightlife) in the area is in Monterosso.

Hi Danny,

I am going to disagree with the other people on this board - I think 10 days in the CT would be a fantastic honeymoon! Stay in Manarola; it is one of the smallest villages, and at night and in the early morning there are very few people around. I was there for four days this July, and I could have stayed forever! During the day, there was a fair amount of people, but Manarola was definitely less crowded than Vernazza or Riomaggiore. I guess you could split your time between the CT and Florence or Rome, if you want to see more sights, but they will be very hot and very crowded. I loved the CT, and I think it would be the perfect, relaxing honeymoon!

Congrats, and have fun!

There is plenty to do in the CT area. Spent a week there and could have stayed another week. This was in September a few years ago and it was not crowded at all. After exploring the five towns you can day trip by ferry or train to several other places - Levanto, Portovenere, Sestri levante, Portofino, Camogli and Santa Margherita are all easy to get to. If you really want to get away and not be bothered by tourists try the island of Procida in the Bay of Naples. We spent a week there and had a great time.

Hey Danny, I am also planning to honeymoon in Italy this year and am staying in Lucca. I have been to Cinque Terre before but years ago. I think I'd like to go back this time. What have you found in your search? Anyplace interesting to stay? I think we're likely to only spend a couple days but I'd like to try to make it romantic. Seeing your post and the responses, I thought I would check to see if you've found anything interesting.

Thanks,
Peter

Danny,

As Mike mentioned, the CT is a great base to spend 10 days if you would like. Most visitors simply hike the primary trail along the coast in between the five towns, then head out, but there are several more trails above the towns and heading out of CT on both ends to other towns which are well worth it(which is a plus if you like to hike). Also, you can daytrip to the south to towns such as Carrara, Pisa, and Lucca, as well as towns to the north in the Riviera di Levante (as Mike mentioned). You could even daytrip up to Genova if you would like. The CT may be a little crowded this time of year, but so will almost everywhere else in Italy. It shouldn't be too packed though. If you're trying to avoid these crowds, as some have mentioned, try to stay in Manarola, a nice and relatively quiet town. But overall it would be a great way to relax and have a great honeymoon.

If you are looking for a little variety outside of the Italian Riviera, you could spend 4 nights (3 full days) in CT, 4 nights in and around Florence, and your last 2 nights in Venice. That would be a nice way to finish.

But, again, if you're looking to relax, not have to worry about traveling place to place, switch accommodations, etc., then basing in the CT for all 10 days would be just fine.

Enjoy your honeymoon!

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If you were going to spend 10 days in the CT, there are additional places to visit that are accessible easily by train other than the 5 CT towns. I don't know if you and your fiancee are big food buffs, but I just bought a book recently published about food and wine terroir recommendations in the Italian Riviera (including CT) - they cover a lot of towns that are slightly north of the CT which really look amazing and quaint (not the larger riviera towns). We're going to the CT in Sept 09 and I fully expect to explore some surrounding towns. For the CT propery, they focus quite a bit on the restaurants in Riomaggiore v. Vernazza. I found their restaurant recommendations completely different than I had seen for other recommendations in the CT.

http://www.amazon.com/Italian-Riviera-Genoa-Terroir-Guides/dp/1892145642