Cinque Terre- Need advice what town to stay in, going in Mahy

Tom, First of all, could you clarify why you need to make reservations very soon? Many of the smaller accommodations in all five of the villages will now be closed for the season, so you may not even be able to contact them. Regarding which town to stay in, at this point it's too early to predict what condition Monterosso and Vernazza will be in at that time of year, but I suspect they will both be ready to accept some visitors in May. The merchants there will need lots of support, so that's something to consider. Riomaggiore, Manarola and Corniglia were unaffected by the floods and slides, so you could certainly book accommodations there. Also, the "new town" section of Monterosso was only minimally affected, so that's another possibility. You might also have a look at Levanto, as that's really close to the Cinque Terre (only a few minutes by train to Monterosso). What method are you using to choose lodgings? Are you looking more for conventional Hotels or smaller B&B's or Pensiones? Cheers!

Thanks for your help and more feedback on the question would be appreciated. We need to book far in advance because we like to stay in apartments. We book through VRBO and they tend to fill up very fast. Initally, we were going to stay in Levanto but the pictures of the flooding seemed pretty bad. Veranno seems like the hardest hit and not likely to be ready by the spring. We still are committed to spending time in the area but want to determine where we are staying now to book the apartment and also it impacts other areas we are going in italy because of the timing.

I've always stayed at the Mueble Agavi in Monterosso, listed in the RS books. It is located between the old town and new town on the water and is close to the train station. If I go to the CT in 2012 I will call them and see if they are ok and open. Hotels in the "new" town should be ok. Riomaggiore, Manarola, and Corniglia are plenty picturesque. Among those three, my first choice would be Riomaggiore. It seems larger, with more cafes and places to stay. (Great views, too.)

Tom, "Veranno seems like the hardest hit" Are you referring to Vernazza? Vernazza was damaged to a greater degree than Monterosso, and will require significant re-construction of infrastructure (water, power, gas lines, etc.). AFAIK, the village still remains under evacuation, with only reconstruction crews remaining. I normally travel "solo", so have never had occasion to use VRBO. You might have a look at This Website to see if one of their properties might fit your needs. I stopped by their office for a short chat when I was there in September, and I'm sure they'd be able to provide a comfortable place to stay in Riomaggiore.

You might check out the Hotel Villa Argentina in Riomaggiore. They have both ordinary hotel rooms and flats with kitchens. We had stunning views overlooking the village and the beach from our tiny little balcony. I know they're open all year round, so you should have no problem getting a reply.

Tom,
In Riomaggiore. I stayed in BABO, Mar-Mar Rooms last May. It is fine. Good location. They have a office and have about thirty rooms and apts. If you are looking for lower rate apt, Try RIO Rooms, they have just a few rooms and apts. No office, You have to call the owner by phone and he will pick you up.

Hi Tom,
I also book apartments for my family. I highly recommend La Bouganville in Monterosso. Even though this is a B&B, not an apartment, the property is lovely and located 5 minutes from the train station. It actually was an apartment and has been renovated to offer 3 suites and a breakfast room. We stayed in an apartment in Riomaggiore and found the town and accommodation in Monterosso much better.

Tom,
Here's a good place in Corniglia: http://www.eterasse.it/en/index.php

The 1st 3 towns were mostly unaffected by the floods. You're always safe staying there. I would suggest trying to spend some time in the V and M, since they are rebuilding (i.e. expensive) and could use all of the help that they can get.
Have fun!

We stayed in Manarola for six nights. We used the company A Casa Cinque Terre and highly recommend it! http://www.acasa5terre.it/ The individual apartments are owned by locals and Claudio and his partner own the management company (they are the middle man that coordinates the rental properties and the owners with the renters). We found the apartment to be very clean, centrally located with spectacular views and it provided everything that we could have needed (i.e., towels, dishes, bed linens, etc). It was also quite affordable. We found Manarola to be the best town of the Cinque Terre. We feel that we had plenty of time to investigate each town. Riomaggiore was second best. The only problem with Riomaggiore is that the town gets flooded with tourists in an unbelievable way. Corniglia is a little on the boring side (because it's was too quiet for us). Vernazza was very busy but seemed like a young town if that is the thing that you want. Monterosso was way too touristy and we actually got ripped off a few times there. I would not recommend staying there, that is just my opinion. Manarola has great restaurants. It was lovely to buy a bottle of Cinque Terre wine, purchase pesto and pasta from the Co-op and have a wonderful meal and drink the wine and watch the sunsets. We felt very at home there and will definitely return. We highly recommend using A Casa Cinque Terre. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to ask.

here's a vote for Monterosso: we were there 4 nights at beginning of October. (stayed at Buranco Agriturismi) We thought it might be too touristy after reading about it first and chose it for convenience of location (trains to Venice are easy), but actually found the beaches beautiful and calm, not crowded, and the streets not as congested w tourists as Vernazza because M is more spread out.
there are places up the hilly streets on the edge of old town and new town to explore. We got so comfortable in Monterosso, wandering around, hanging at the beach and enjoying views and fresh air w a glass of wine here and there (and sick of throngs of tourists on trains) we actually skipped 3 other towns we'd planned to tour and will just have to go back to visit Riomaggiore, Manarola, and Corniglia. Manarola sounds really appealing in the recent post here.

We have stayed in Vernazza and in Corniglia. I loved Vernazza, my husband did not. He thinks it is "life too compressed." This year we stayed in Corniglia and we both LOVED it. We rented two apartments from Eleonora Rossi at Sole Terra Mare. Corniglia sits high above the water, a drawback to some people, but I think that may have caused it to miss the worst of the flooding.

Thanks so much. This site has never let me down!