First trip to Cinque Terre. Which village and how many nights max?

Keep your options open - don't get too fixated on one town before testing where you actually can find a room available. I have stayed in four of the five villages and enjoyed them all. Manarola is smaller and also my first love. Rick suggests (and our guided tours spend) two nights and one full day as part of a wider, two-week trip. You could stay three nights and really relax, but then you need to move on and see more of Italy!

2 nights.
Any town except Corniglia unless you like the stair stepper at your gym (there are hundreds of stair steps to reach the train station from the village up above). Monterosso is the largest village with more accommodations and amenities (restaurants, shops), also the only one with a decent beach. All are just minutes apart by frequent commuter trains going back and forth between Genoa and La Spezia.

With the devastation of the floods a few years ago and Vernazza being hit the hardest I would suggest to stay there to help the economy. It certainly is my favorite and there are a few places with rooms facing the small harbor.

I suggest staying 3 nights. We stayed 3 nights on our first visit to the CT in 2009 & I liked it so much that I decided to spend five days in the CT this past September. We just love the CT! You didn't mention what time of year you'll be visiting but I'm assuming it's not in the fall where the risk of rain increases. When it's raining, there's not a lot to do in the CT. We stayed both times in Monterosso as it's the largest of the CT towns and has the most amenities. It's still a quaint town but offers more dining options, etc.

When will you be there? We're heading back to Monterosso for the third time next month. We enjoy the people, the town, the food, and the accommodations. That being said, we definitely enjoy hiking to the other towns and/or taking the boat down to Portovenere and back for the day. This trip was planned so I can enjoy my birthday on the first day of the Lemon Festival in Monterosso; scheduled for May 17th.

OF,

My suggestion would be at least two and preferably three nights (once you arrive there, you may wish you had booked a longer stay). My favourite town of the five is Monterosso. It's the largest and therefore has the greatest number of restaurants, hotels, shops, etc. and also the best beaches.

Regardless of which town you choose to stay, I'd recommend booking as EARLY as possible as accommodations there are often booked long in advance. When will you be there? If you have a guidebook, there are good listings for hotels there.

Hi everyone,
I am going to stay 3 nights in Monterosso.

Arrive June 2
June 3
June 4
Leave June 5

I have looked at so many places and it seems many places are booked! Please send recommendations of great bnbs / apts / hostels to stay.

Thank you!

You've waited far too long to book your hotels especially in an extremely touristy place like CT. If you look here you'll see a plethora of places to stay in the CT:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotels-g187817-Cinque_Terre_Italian_Riviera_Liguria-Hotels.html

Yes, I have waited far too long! I am now going to search in Riomaggiore for availability. Suggestions welcome.
Thanks!

Hello everyone,

Success :)
Thank you for your help! I have found 3 nights in Monterosso!

We've staying in Corniglia both trips - if you want small and quiet and fewer tourists - this is the spot (but I'm one of those contrary people who like to stay more off the beaten path). Unless you get in really late, there is a shuttle bus that takes you from the train station to the village square...when we were there in mid-Sept, I think it ran until 7:30-8pm or so.

Even though it's a little late for a lodging search, you might try Arbaspaa. They are located in Manarola, very helpful. We rented a lovely apt. with a sea view in Manarola through them. There are also options for just a room rental instead of an entire apt., also b & b, hotels, farm houses, etc. And in all 5 towns! Good luck with your search. Enjoy!

Hey OF! We'll be in the CT June 2-7 (unless we decide to cut it short; thanks for making this thread!) so maybe we'll run into you there. ;)

Not meaning to threadjack, but is 5 nights way too many in the CT? It's the relaxing/hiking portion of our honeymoon (We'll be in Venice and Florence before and Paris after).

That is awesome! Maybe we will run into each other. Whereabouts are you staying?

We are also late to the game and haven't booked our place to stay yet. Everything else on our trip is booked; this was probably not the place to save for last! I'm booking today and we'll probably stay 2 nights in Monterosso and 2-3 nights in Vernazza or Riomaggiore

Personally I thought CT was rather boring. We stayed 3 nights which was probably 1 too many, and the tourists were as thick as pea soup. It's a nice place...just don't stay too long.

I stayed in Levanto - a small town just north . It is only about a 10 to 15 minute
train ride thru all the 5 terre towns to the southern most.
With a 1 day train ticket, you can hop on and off any of the towns you want to
explore....... at the train station you can also buy your hiking pass (required)

Levanto is a bit larger town and has a great swimming beach - good restaurants
and it is a nice place to walk around.
I stayed 2 nights here and went to the 5 terre each day.

Headed there in just a few days for three nights. Have always stayed in Vernazza before, but a this time have booked a nice place 15 minutes away in Deiva Marina, called Hotel Clelia, that looks wonderful (hotelclelia.com). It all works. We have been over here for two + weeks now! and if I had it all to do over, I wouldn't sweat the reservations so much. Toledo had a bazillion hotels we could have booked...probably cheaper and more central than what we booked.
Enjoy your experience. There is no "one right way" to do this. Just try not to arrive at midnight when you are desperate. I've found, in my experience, the best experiences happen to me spontaneously. Enjoy!!