Cinque Terre - Open Trails

Chris,

That's not the best time of year to visit the Cinque Terre and especially to hike the Sentiero Azzurro trails. To begin with, two of the four segments are closed and impassable (Corniglia-Manarola & Manarola-Riomaggiore) so you wouldn't be able to hike those regardless of when you travelled there. Also, many of the hotels, restaurants and other tourist amenities will be closed for the season at that time of year so you might have to stay in Levanto or La Spezia.

One other concern is the weather. Although long term forecasts are not always accurate, there could be rain during that period and in that case, it would not be advisable to hike the trails as they can become somewhat slippery and treacherous. One forecast that I checked called for "periods of rain" at that time of year, with temperatures of about 9ºC.

To get the most enjoyment from the experience, you might consider planning a trip to the Cinque Terre at another time of year.

Good advice from Ken.

Additionally, you should reference the park's website for most current trail closings. You had linked the proper page to the map in your post above: lines marked in black are closed trails. Additionally, this other page contains info and status on individual trails. As you scroll through it, the ones you want to make note of are those labeled SVA2; those are the segments of the Sentiero Azzurro, coastal "Blue Path", you were asking about.

http://www.parconazionale5terre.it/Erete-sentieristica.php

As you can see, the current status of all 4 of them is "closed". Two of them, Corniglia>Vernazza and Vernazza >Monterosso, will likely reopen at some point but as Ken said, the other two legs have been closed for some years now and are not expected to reopen in 2019.

Any specific times of the year to visit that area without any foreseen issues regarding hiking the main trail and accommodations etc.?

I'm not sure what "foreseen issues" regarding accommodations you're wondering about? A lot of them close during winter, and they fill quickly in advance of the summer and shoulder seasons.

While the warmer months are best for the trails, there's never a guarantee which/how many of the park's many trails will be open on any given day/week. It all depends on weather at the time. They'll close during periods of rain/storms, and some can also close unexpectedly to rockfall and other damage which can make them unsafe. The warmer months are also going to be when the most-traveled trails will be the most crowded.

In short, unforeseen issues can occur any time at all. As far as the "main trail", assuming you mean the Sentiero Azzurro, the two segments I mentioned above are expected to remain closed in 2019.

@ted, You will get responses directly to your inbox if you post this as a new question. To answer your query simply, the “season” is April thru October but there are no guarantees that any or all of the main trail will be open. However, there are many many trails besides the famous Sentiero Azzurro.

Cinque Terre is a place to enjoy outdoor activities, there's very little in the way of indoor activities. And late December is not the time to go to the CT, if you do you'll probably be disappointed.