Cinque Terre Lodging

Heather, If I read your questions correctly, you plan on staying two nights / one full day in the Cinque Terre? Travel by train will be the quickest, and the trip from Venice will take about six hours so you'll only have the latter part of the afternoon for touring. It would help to have some idea on your criteria for "lodging recommendations" (ie: price & comfort level), and also when this trip will be taking place. For a group of six, your best bet will probably be to stay in Monterosso, as it's the largest of the five towns and therefore has the greatest number of Hotels, restaurants and other facilities (as well as the nicest beach). One other benefit is that it's at one end, so taking the boat from either there or Riomaggiore would allow you to see all the towns. One thing you might consider would be to take the boat from Monterosso to Riomaggiore, walk the famous Via dell'Amore (Park Pass will be required), and then take the train back from Manarola. Happy travels!

Monterosso sounds great. Plus, we may want to pub crawl at night, so a bigger town is probably better. We are traveling in April 2013, arriving on a Sunday, touring on a Monday and leaving Tuesday morning. The less expensive the better, but we are willing to pay more for ambiance, views, etc. Another question, are there side stops we should plan on our way to Florence on Tuesday? We don't have a terrible amount of time (arriving in Venice on a Sat morning and leaving Rome the following Sat)

Heather, One important point to mention concerning your last note.... Monterosso and all of the towns in the Cinque Terre are not exactly conducive to "pub crawling". There are lots of restaurants and a few small Bars, but no "Pubs" that I can recall. In addition to some small wine bars, you might enjoy visiting Cantini di Miky, which is right on the main street in the "new town" section of Monterosso. In Riomaggiore, Bar Centrale is one of the "hot" places for action in the evenings. Once you see the C.T., you'll probably wish you could spend more time there. I really enjoy the ambience of that area, and had a great time when I was there last year. April is the start of the tourist season, but it would probably still be a good idea to pre-book accommodations, especially for a group of six. If your budget will allow, you might consider either Hotel Villa Steno or Hotel Pasquale (both in the "old town" section). Cheers!

I just wanted to mention that if the sea is rough the boats won't be running. You can still take the train and get off in each town. You can also hike between the towns if that is of interest. Have fun!