CT without a Reservation - Fun Adventure or Bad Risk

Interesting question. There is a small industry in some CT towns where you show up to their shops and they find you a room. I tease on this site about seeing many people in these shops holding little blue travel books with yellow lettering (RS book).
In truth and from testimonials on this site, it could be a strategy. There are many many places in the CT that do not have websites or email. And, everybody in the CT seems to have a relative or knows somebody with a room to rent. Thus, the reason for these rental agency shops. However, you best show up early in the morning. Anything great could be gone by midday.

There have been lots of messages on this site from travelers who have done this that have scored a small, clean room with gorgeous views that you cannot find on the internet. You have to show up and get lucky. Having a room or two to rent out during the high season is great extra income for the residents there. Sure beats fishing income.

Of course, there is a downside to this strategy but what’s travel without adventure.

If you can't find accomodations in Vernazza, try another village and know that the frequent train service will make it possible for you to spend as much time as you like in Vernazza. The towns are just minutes apart. I like to stay in Riomaggiore because it feels the most Italian to me (don't know why). Manarola and Monterosso are also fine. Corniglia is a bit less convenient because the train station is a bus ride or hundreds of stairs from town. I have shown up without reservations 4 times and found reasonable accomodations. However, because so many Rick followers flock to Vernazza, I would definetly make reservations for that village. Have a great trip!

On my recent arrival in Vernazza (I did have a reservation), we were approached by someone who was offering up a room for rent. I didn't pay much attention since I was already looked after. However, a couple days later, I noticed another person approach someone from the train and ask if she needed accommodations. She answered yes and we watched her follow after him - hopefully to view the room. My wife and I both commented that this was a little "brave" on her part - - - but obviously there are rooms for rent that we aren't seeing on the Internet since we saw this offer being made twice. Not sure if this helps.

Forgot to mention - - - you may want to be careful with parking on a festival weekend - if you're planning on driving a car into the CT. If so, let me know as I have a phone number for someone who owns land on which he parks cars - for a fee I'm sure.

Hi Joseph,
My boyfriend and I are heading to CT around the same time and had the same question.
Just wanted to give you his story from a few years back when he and friends decided to just "show up" in the CT...They had to sleep on the beach because all 5 towns were booked due to some kind of festival. And, I heard that these days sleeping on the beach (they were trespassing) can get you arrested.

Another friend stayed in Vernazza last October and said she met several tourists who were basically stuck in town b/c they stayed too late to catch a train back to where their hotel was.

We decided to book ahead instead of risking it. We chose Monterosso though, because we want something more lively at night.

Good luck!

Several years ago my husband and I arrived in Monterosso and found 2 rooms for 5 people that were in our group. When we got off the train in Monterosso, we were approached by a guy offering rooms. We were told to find a spot in Vernazza, so we declined, got on the train went to Vernazza and found only "full" signs everywhere. We went back to Monterosso, happily found this guy again, and he took us to see 3 different apartments for rent. We got two of them and were very happy.

This was late Sept. I'd think you can take the chance and arrive without plans and find a space. Vernazza gets over booked, so skip it and know you can get there by train in 2 minutes, it's not that important to stay there overnight!

I don't know why people only think of Vernazza, there are 4 other fantastic towns. Just cuz Rick Steves decided that's "the Place" Don't be a sheep, find something new and probably better, more authentic. Now that Rick has his stamp of "approval" Vernazza is over run with American's. you want to get away from Americans!

Monterosso has some fantastic places to eat! I think better than what we found in Vernazza. Great Pesto, amazing fresh fish ( in the ocean that morning, on our plate that night)

Most travelers arrive without reservations in the CT National Park.

The villages are close enough that you can hop on the train and be in the next one in 5 minutes if you need to look further.

I wanted to look at the apartment we rented in Vernazza BEFORE taking it and was glad I did because the amenities are different and the rates vary greatly. Dont rent in advance and be sure you look at any room you want to rent.

If you choose Vernazza, I would not move because you can easily visit all villages from any one and you will save on a room if you book for the week instead of by the day.

Wow...great info but I'm curious about what it's like in mid November.....same suggestions? What's a ballpark guess for a room in Cinque Terre for 2.....$100 euros or ?

Also, can anyone give me some transportation (train or bus) info?

We're separating from our tour in Montecatini Terme on November 14th and traveling on our own to visit Cinque Terre for 4 nights before returning to Rome for departure home.

Any idea how I should plan for getting to Cinque Terre and then Rome?

Thanks,

Jack

Jack, taking the train from La Spezia (or the CT towns) to Rome is quite easy. About 4.25hrs for the journey. Some runs have no train changes. CLICK HERE to see what the morning train schedule looks like.

We arrived at about 4 PM in Monterosso - weekday in September with no reservations, during a rainstorm. My wife had a wine at a cafe while I went in search of a room. All the hotels seemed to be full but I asked a clerk at one of them for suggestions. She knew someone who knew someone and I was soon headed to a shoe store where the owner had an apartment to rent. The weekly rent was cheaper than any hotel we could have gotten. Meanwhile, my wife was approached several times by women who had rooms to rent and she had checked out a couple of them by the time I got back to the cafe. We ended up taking the apartment and had a wonderful week. But I would suggest arriving earlier in the day.

just want to add one comment; while the time between towns is indeed just 2-5 minutes, the train system doesn't run like the subways! Depending on what time of day you want to go, your wait can be 15 minutes to over an hour for the next train.

There are signs in the trains stations warning people not to rent rooms from people who might approach them. I can't remember the exact message and if there is anything illegal about it.

TAB

Hey all,

Thanks to everyone who posted. Your advice was priceless. I thought I would check back in to let you know that we decided to risk it and head in without a reservation. GREAT DECISION!

Without any hassle - we had a room in less than an hour (with private bathroom!). No sea view, but that wasn't important to me. I considered all of Cinque Terre to be my terrace.

My advice for the able bodied (lots of stairs for this tip) - depart the Vernazza train station and head to the harbor. Look for signs pointing to restaurant al castello (on the left). Hike up the stairs (they zig zag so keep your eye out for signs) until you get the restaurant. Once there ask for Monica Lercari (owner). If they aren't busy, she will have all of her staff call all of their family and relatives until they find you a room. She will take good care of you. The head waiter even carried my wife's bags to the room for her after his aunt took us in! Make a reservation for dinner while you are there, great food and even better view.

Hope this helps!