Cinque Terre in September: with or without reservation?

Leslie,

you only encountered 3 other groups on your hike in July? 2008 or was that a few years ago??? We did that hike end of June this year and even though it was a humid 96 F and most certainly not ideal hiking weather I'm sure there were easily a hundred other hikers on the same stretch. And yes, Vernazza was one of the most crowded spots we've been to. Riomaggiore and Manarola felt a bit less busy.

If you're able to arrive in the morning, not on the weekend, and are not too choosy about your accommodation you can find something. As a family of 4 with a limited budget we couldn't risk that. We stayed in La Spezia and even though that is not a touristy place at all the hotel we stayed at was fully booked and had to turn away travellers while we were checking in.

We did the hike from Monterosso to Vernazza on 7/7/08, starting at 4:30 PM, and we did in fact only encounter 3 (OK, maybe 4 - I wasn't counting) other groups. For the most part, we had the trail to ourselves.

Vernazza is not too crowded to appreciate and enjoy. It is an absolutely wonderful place, and I would highly recommend staying there. We were there in early July, from mid-Sunday afternoon through late Tuesday morning, and it was amazing. We hiked from Monterosso to Vernazza late on Monday afternoon, and we saw 3 other groups hiking - that was it.

As for showing up without a reservation, personaly, I would not risk it. You could certainly regret showing up without one and not getting a place; I can't imagine how you could possibly regret reserving one in advance.

I guess I should have said that we would be arriving on a Wednesday.

Also, can anyone comment on the weather in CT in early Sept? Is it still beach weather?

yep...I'd say the water temp was about the same as S. Cal, air temp in the mid 80's during the day.

Just came back from Vernazza last week. Yes, there were plenty of tourists there - but it wasn't too crowded at all. We had no trouble finding restaurants without reservations. Vernazza, in our opinion (and in the opinion of many other travellers) is the prettiest of the five villages, and I would highly recommend La Mala as a place to stay. In the end, reservations are easy to make via the Internet no matter where you stay, so why not go with piece of mind and avoid having to spend any time at all looking for accommodations when you arrive. Incidentally, although it was very busy in town last week, there were people at the train station soliciting people to stay in their "camere" so there must be plenty of places to stay and rooms to rent.

I second the recommendation for La Mala' in Vernazza. It is quite expensive, but, in our opinion, given its uniqueness (lovely house, great rooms, air conditioning, mini-bar with free water, grapefruit juice and beer, breakfast included at bar in piazza, terrace literally hanging from the cliff, high above the water), it was totally worth it!

Since I have walked all five villages and stayed in Vernazza I can recommend staying in Ver. It is smaller and more crowded, more picturesque and quiet. I would try to get a room there first. Then move on to another village and keep going until you find a room you like. The train ride between villages takes only 5 minutes; so you can visit all of them easily.

If you move fast you can visit all five villages in the 2 days you are there.

I expect in September you can show up at your favorite hotel, tell them what you need and they will find a place for you. I'm not sure if that would work in Summer but worked well for my family of five in Vernazza in October.

Vernazza has no night life. Since you're in your 20's, you might prefer Monterosso al Mare. It has the only real beach and better nightlife.

We are going to be in CT the 3rd week of Sept and were told we should have reservations. We'll be staying in Monterosso El Mare at teh A Cà Du Gigante.

I've never had a problem arriving in Riomaggiore without reservations, but with only 1 night/2days I would reserve in advance and not spend precious time looking for accomodations. All of the villages are wonderful. Corniglia has the least conveniently located station. Riomaggiore and Montorosso have the most frequent train service.