Is Monterosso or Vernazza or another CT town the best to stay in?

My favorite (and also Rick Steves') is Vernazza. Why? Hard to say. It's size, scenery, closeness of the sea, familiarity. Simply if I could choose it would be my first choice. But all of the towns are very scenic.

I liked Monterosso as a base to explore the others; if you want to go to a beach stay there; and I hiked from there to Vernazza.

It is bigger than the other towns so this might be better for kids running around.

Monterosso for us as well: bigger and more amenities, Not as easily overrun with day-trippers. But at this point you may be booking whatever is still open in the CT for your July dates: accommodations fill up quickly and far in advance of high season. Sooner the better!

Scully,
We also enjoyed our stay in Monterroso.
You can visit the other 4 towns via frequent trains.

Keep in mind that Monterosso is the only town in the CT that has a sandy beach.

Enjoy your trip!

Okay, thanks. I have booked a hotel in Monterosso, but it's 300 euros a night, and that feels about 50-75 euros a night more than I prefer. However, if that is the best town, I'll stay in it. Thanks!

Scully,

I have booked a hotel in Monterosso, but it's 300 euros a night.

Wow! That must be a luxury hotel!

Scully,

Monterosso is most definitely also my favourite Cinque Terre town. It's the largest town so has the greatest number of hotels and other accommodations, lots of restaurants and other tourist amenities and also the best beaches of the five towns. Some parts of the beaches are "pay-per-use" but that's not a big problem as there are also free areas (your hotel staff can provide information on that).

Which hotel did you book? You're booking rather late for a trip in July so if you've got a booking, I'd suggest hanging on to it. That's peak season so many of the places won't have any vacancies.

Priscilla, that's part of the problem, it's not. It's decent, but it's basically a big room with five beds. Breakfast is included. It's at the Hotel Villa Adriana. It's the room at the top of the hotel, with tiny windows that you can barely see from online photos. No view, and no terrace. http://www.villaadriana.info/

I literally emailed every single place of lodging that I found online and in the RS guidebook, and I looked at every airbnb and VROB apartment and contacted them as well if the price was within range. I'd really like to spend about 250 euros a night or less.

I don't feel like the Hotel Adriana is worth 600 euros for two nights, so I'm exploring other options and trying to figure out where exactly I can find a beach vacation without spending a fortune, but still feel like we're in Italy and not any random beach that could be anywhere (the beaches south of Cinque Terre, other than the bay of poets, don't feel unique. And the bay of poets is just as expensive as CT and not quite as charming.)

Maybe I'm wrong and the Hotel Adriana is fabulous and we'd have a stunningly good time.

Scully, you might look at Levanto? It's on the coast and the same train line as the CT villages: just 4 minutes away from Monterosso. Also has a beach. Accommodations may also be tight at this late date but it's a good backup when the CT is booked up, and you might find something within your desired price range.

Portovenere is also a great backup village and just beautiful. Take the train to each of the villages from there.

I would take a look at booking.com and see if there are other alternatives that are less expensive. We had a 2 bedroom apartment in Vernazza for 130 euros/night with sweeping vistas of the town and the coast. But we booked it 8 months ahead....

If everything of any other interest is truly booked, just go and enjoy ! The area is amazing and you won't be in your room !

Just to clarify one point.....

"Portovenere is also a great backup village and just beautiful. Take the train to each of the villages from there."

Porto Venere is not a good place to stay, especially as it has no rail service. As I recall, the nearest rail station is La Spezia which is accessed by bus. You can also travel by boat (weather permitting) but the schedules aren't as frequent. It would not be a convenient location if you want to explore the area. Similar to Portofino, Porto Venere also caters to the yacht crowd so it might not be a good "budget" choice.

Scully,

I've stayed at Villa Adriana and found the rooms quite comfortable. They serve a nice breakfast, have a nice garden area surrounding the hotel and there's a pool as well. As I mentioned earlier, this is peak season there so rooms will be at a premium. If you can find something else at a slightly lower price, it might not be of the same calibre. You may be able to find something cheaper for a double room, but for a family room the cost will be higher.

As someone suggested in a previous reply, you could also look at Levanto however I suspect rooms there will also be getting booked up and prices will also be at a premium. One other thing about Levanto is that it will be about as 15 minute walk each way from the main part of town to the station each time you want to go anywhere. It also may not have the same frequency of boat connections (for boat access, Monterosso is the best choice between the two towns).

Ken - good to know ! I have heard many great things about Portovenere from friends....I truly believed they had train service.

Scully, you might get some leads on a place if we knew the exact dates in July. Personally, I love Riomaggiore.

I'll add my support of Levanto. It's not part of the five villages that make up the Cinque Terre, but is a very short train ride away. It's a more relaxing town with a nice vibe and has a really great beach. Great way to get away from the crowds in the other villages.

We stayed in Levanto on one of our Rick Steves tours and it was perfect. I really loved the town, not too many tourist. Also another question for anyone out there in Travel Forum land, we stayed at a nice hotel in Levanto on the RS tour but cannot for the life of me recall the name. We are going back to Italy September 2018 and bringing our entire family (grandchildren 4 &6). Does anyone know the hotel, the hotel owner was also a chef and we had a fabulous meal one evening

? or have one to recommend?
Thank you, Angela

Angela, it was Hotel Primavera. The dinner they served our tour group was fantastic!

The place looks great to me and I think it's amazing that you were even able to get a family room for all of you this late. Air conditioned, in that location near the beach, with a pool, in high season, €60 per person per night including breakfast seems reasonable to me. As a single, I'd have to pay €85 - €95 per night, depending on the season.

The website says the high season price is €270 for a family room for 4. The extra €30 is probably for the extra bed for one of the kids. "Price for additional bed in a double room on request (depends on the age of the third person)."

If your room is like the family room(s) shown on the website, I think you can see out those windows, but you might have to stand up to do it. There appears to be a TV in each room. That's a plus.

From their website: "Each family room has 2 rooms (double or single beds as requested), 1 bathroom with shower and hair dryer, air-conditioning, phone, TV, fridge and Wi-Fi."

Scully,

The hotel looks nice and the breakfast buffet looks delicious!

I just re-read your post and hadn't realized that you were looking for accommodations for a family of 5.

I may be incorrect but I think it's difficult to find family rooms that accommodate 5 persons.

I'd think you'd need to book 2 separate rooms elsewhere, so €300/night for 5 people is actually reasonable.

Your children will probably enjoy the beach and the pool too!

Best wishes!

Porto Venere is not a good place to stay, especially as it has no rail
service.

Yep, I thought about that one for the beach but no, it doesn't have rail service so it's not particularly convenient.

Thanks for all the great input. I'm glad the hotel looks like a good one to everyone. It's much simpler than I'm used to, even in Europe, so I'm glad that it seems reasonable at that cost for Monterosso. The lady I've been dealing with there is very kind and helpful.

Scully,

Are you arriving in Monterosso by train and do you have a clear idea on the location of the hotel from the station? If you need any further information on Monterosso, post another note.

Thank you for the name of the hotel in Levanto. And you are right the meal they feed us was one of the best we had in Italy!!