Hello everyone. My wife and I were recently invited to our good friend's wedding that will be occurring in Portovenere in June. Since I was planning to take my wife on a trip this year for her 50th birthday, we decided that we would extend our trip and spend 7 to 10 days in the area on vacation. We're currently in the planning stages of the trip and since neither one of us have been to the Cinque Terre, we are not yet sure where we are going to be staying or what we will be doing. The only thing we are sure of at this point is that we will be attending a wedding on June 15th. We're hoping to have a home base in a nearby town and spend most of our time just exploring, doing some hiking and generally absorbing the culture. We're not sure yet which town we will be making our base but Rick's Italian guidebook has been helpful with familiarizing us with the area a bit. We don't really have a large amount of money to spend so we're not looking for anything super high end but we are planning to go "middle of the road"as far as accommodations are concerned. Any information that can be provided about places to stay, things to do, what the best airport to fly into might be, best days to fly in/out, and stuff like that would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.
-Chris
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
Chris, the best airport to fly into is Pisa. However, check your airfares. You might have to fly into Milan or Rome which are both about 4hrs away from the CT. If you stay in the CT towns, you can take the ferry to Portovenere assuming the seas are not high enough for the ferry service to cancel. Most scenic. You can also stay in La Spezia if you need to. Both the Hotel Continental and Hotel Astoria are near the train station. The Hotel Continental is about 400 feet away. There is a bus from La Spezia to Portovenere.
Posted by
OP
Laurel, MD, USA
4 posts
Thanks very much for the info. So do you (or others) recommend La Spezia as a good place to make home base? I've read in the guidebook and also here in the forums about the idea of not reserving a room until you get there, but instead looking around when you arrive. Is this a good idea in June? I'm worried it might be very crowded and finding a place to stay could potentially be a challenge. Thanks again.
-Chris
Posted by
Elk Grove, CA, USA
6898 posts
Chris, here is a previous post from me on the subject of just showing up in the CT for a room. RS does suggest this in his book. I often tease about travelers in the day rental place in Monterosso with this blue travel book with yellow letters (the RS book) as RS does promote this method of finding a room in the CT. However, many many posters have posted that it can work. Note that Vernazza is the most desirable town. Many, many of the places to stay in the CT are small and do not have websites. Even slightly larger places don't have websites. No outside advertising except what you may read in the travel books or on www.tripadvisior.com. When the train arrives in the towns, there are sweet grandma-type ladies who often frequent the train stations ready to escort you to a nice room. Posters report scoring great little rooms. Or, everybody knows everybody else. Stop in a shop and ask for a room. They know how to get you to one. It may be a relative. Also, these may be cash only but....
Last hint. Go early. Rooms will be gone by mid-day and the grandmas will be heading for lunch. There is still the room agency that may be able to find a room. Good luck.
Posted by
OP
Laurel, MD, USA
4 posts
Yes, I had found your original post when searching through the forums. I was honestly just hoping for more than one opinion. Thanks
Posted by
Alta Loma, CA, USA
1446 posts
Chris, I would reserve a room especially since you're going in June (high season) but that's just me. While I know it is theoretically possible to arrive in town and find a room, I personally don't find it enjoyable to walk around with luggage in tow and hunt for a room. I'd rather know that I have a confirmed place to stay. In Sept '09, we were in the CT & we met a couple who had spent several hours walking around trying to find accommodations and they finally ended up taking the train to La Spezia and staying there because they couldn't find a room. But, if you're needing a lot of flexibility and you're not sure which town you'll be in then you might try winging it. As for where to stay, I would stay in one of the 5 CT towns (Monterosso is the largest and has more amenities than the others). I personally would not want to stay in La Spezia but it's just my opinion. We only drove through La Spezia and dropped off our rental car there but what I saw did not interest me. It's a larger town & more industrial. Monterosso is easy to walk around and has good boat and train connections. We stayed in the old town and enjoyed it. Have a great trip.
Posted by
OP
Laurel, MD, USA
4 posts
Thanks very much for the information. I really appreciate it.
Posted by
lexington, il
4105 posts
While waiting on the ferry dock at Manarola, we had a conservation with a young couple. They had arrived the day before and found a room after several hours, but it was only available for that one nite, they then spent the entire next day until 1:30 looking for another room.
Not the way I'd want to spend MY vacation. Book now!