Cinque Terre... Which village to stay in?

You can get to all villages by foot and train, and many by boat. They are very close together. I've stayed in both Monterosso Al Mare and Vernazza. The first is great for the beach, and you can always spend the day there. You can rent beach chairs if you're not part of a hotel. I found Vernazza charming until the tour guide and 40 tourists flood the town at least twice daily. I liked it better before it became so popular. I've decided if I make a third trip to the Cinque Terre, I will stay in a private rental in Riomaggiore. It's a little steeper, hence it might not be as attractive as the small Vernazza. All of the towns have charm, and you can't go wrong because you'll visit them all.

In Sept. 2014, we stayed in Vernazza and enjoyed our time there. As the other poster stated, the villages are close together, and transportation is not a problem. We did not have an issue with it being too crowded. There were a lot of tourists, but not enough to ruin our stay. This Sept.(end of the month), we will be staying 3 nights in Riomaggiore. We didn't have enough time there on our previous visit. By the way, I reserved our hotels a couple of months ago.

Julie,

Most of us here have a favourite of the five villages, and in my case I prefer Monterosso. It's the largest of the five and therefore has the greatest number of hotels, restaurants and other tourist amenities as well as the best beaches of the five. The lodgings in the other towns tend to be small affitacamere rather than "proper" hotels, and not all provide breakfasts with the cost of the room (that's important to me).

In mid-September the cruise ship and other tour groups will still be descending on the area in droves, so that will be a concern in all of the towns. That's typically only a problem in the peak part of the day, from about 10:00 - 16:00. Vernazza is more acutely affected by that as it's quite compact and doesn't handle huge crowds well (I know, as I've experienced what it's like when two or more groups arrive there at the same time). Monterosso is larger and has both an "old town" as wells as a "new town", so it tends to absorb the crowds better.

Corniglia is probably the least favourite due to its location high on a rock bluff, and it's considerably smaller so doesn't have as many accommodations to choose from. Manarola and Riomaggiore are smaller but would be good choices if you can find accommodations there that fit your criteria.

Do not stay in more than one town as there's simply no reason to do that, especially with a short 3 day visit. You can easily get between towns using the local trains, and the travel time is only about 5-10 minutes for each segment.

Whichever town you decide to stay in, you'll need to get accommodations booked soon as mid-September can be busy there.

You most definitely do not want to stay in more than 1 village on a single stay, that would make no sense.
The towns are connected via walking trails, a ferry boat and a train with the train the towns are 5 minutes or less away from each other.

If you prefer more of a resort hotel and/or beaches Monterosso is the choice.
If you like isolation and the least amount of crowds Cornigla is likely the best option
Of the 3 left Rio Maggiorre is the largest and likely to have more lodging options.
I think Vernazza is probably the most picturesque and has better access than the other 2 towns to the main walking trail, it also is going to the most crowded mid-day.
Manarola has maybe the single best postcard viewpoint in all of Cinque Terre and would also make a delightful place to stay.
The only hikes originating from here would be more serious ones though which for some will be bad and others good since it will lessen the crowds a bit.
When it comes down to it and with a Sept date you may not have the luxury of being so choosey and have to take best available property.
Be careful to see on a map exactly where the property is as some places are listed as a village town but they are actually quite far from the village up in the hills.
With the exception of Monterosso the other towns there are not really any hotels. Most everything is more of a B&B type place and there are also rooms to rent which is why I think many people opt for Monterosso, as they have more true "hotels"

We chose Monterosso due to the ease of walking from the train station to our hotel with our luggage. I have arthritis in my knees and many of the smaller villages have lots of stairs from the train to any lodging. In one village we saw people lugging HUGE suitcases up very steep, narrow streets (which was the main street). Monterosso suited us well, we loved eating at Ciak and there was so many picturesque spots, it really took our breath away. Our hotel was still a good 20 min walk (part of that walk through an awesome tunnel) but so much beauty you don't mind! We went in October, but would love to go back in the Summer and spend a day at the beach. We did not see any of the Cruise ship people, we did meet some nice people that stated they were on a day tour.

I would not choose to stay in Corniglia. Corniglia does not hava a harbour, and is approximately 50,000 steps up from the train station. It really is quite a climb.

We were very happy with our choice of the Hotel Pasquale in Monterosso when we visited the CT 10 years ago. I disagree with your husband's idea about staying in more than one village - it is too easy to travel via train, boat or trail between villages. With that said, I was somewhat disappointed with the Cinque Terre. It is the most overrated place in Europe that I have ever been. It was nice, but based on what I had read, I was expecting magic.

I am a fan of Vernazza. Second choices would be Riomaggiore and/or Manarola. Corniglia is not near the harbor, so I wouldn't choose that. Monterosso is the largest, but IMO, the most touristy. The other towns have more of a "culture" feel. Just my 2 cents.

Definite vote for Monterosso. We stayed in the old town by the bell tower (don't worry it doesn't go all night.) Beautiful walks, my favourite restaurant in the whole world and lazy days in the water. Can't get much better.

My wife and I stayed in Manarola and absolutely loved it. It was our "vacation with a vacation" and neither of us like "resorts" so we rented a place above the cliff with a great view overlooking the harbor. We explored Manarola but mostly relaxed, drank local wine, and sampled the restaurants, with plenty of options. I fell in love with anchovies prepared with nothing but olive oil and citrus juice and "fizzy" water. We ate breakfast every morning at a restaurant on the waterfront that actually served eggs garnished with delicious capers. We didn't make it to Vernazza and Monterosso because the main trail north was closed and there was a train strike, but did walk the Via dell'Amore to Riomaggiore and were glad we chose Manarola instead.

Has anyone had the experience of booking a room in this area through vrbo.com? I have found a few nicer rooms there but wasn't sure how safe it was to book in Italy through this site? Also how do you normally book these types of rooms when they accept cash only ?
Julie

I'm one of those difficult people who like staying in the smaller places. We stayed in Corniglia twice...yes, there are stairs from the train station, but there is also a shuttle bus...just don't arrive too late in the evening if you plan on staying there as the bus only runs until a certain time.

I used arbaspaa.com to book my accoms - they book everything from rooms to B&Bs to apartments and hotels. They also book excursions - hiking, flight, sail, wine. You can send them your budget, where and when you want to stay and they'll let you know what is avail. Super nice and very prompt replies to inquiries.

Otshoe,

For rooms which want cash, they ask for a credit card when booking to reserve the room, but they don't charge it. You pay cash when you leave. This is pretty typical in Italy.

We are still in Italy, and we stayed in Monterosso last week for 3 nights. We loved it. We stayed at the Villa Adriana. It is very close to the station, 5 min walk. THe towns are close by train, you can buy a day train pass and go between the villages, and yes they are 5-10 minutes apart by train but hiking between them it's a 2-3 hr hike. And the last 2 town paths were closed. I'm not a hiker and it was pretty hard for me but totally worth it. We hiked to Vernazza. And stopped at the rest by train. And we liked Monterosso the best but really they are all great. Don't be like us....we bought the Cinque Terre train day pass and got on the train and didn't know we had to validate our pass :/ who knew!? So we had to get off at the next town and validate it. It's just a machine that time stamps your ticket. Enjoy your trip!