Manarola or Vernazza

Just there last week and to me-both towns seemed very similar and equally beautiful. I would, hands-down, chose Manarola though. I don't know if we just happened to be in Vernazza at a time when it was very busy and Manarola was not...but Vernazza seemed swamped with cruise tours.....to the point you couldn't easily walk through the square down at the water. Definitely not what we were looking for....

Yep, I would choose Manarola too. There is a path to walk in the evenings above and around the harbor area. The town is more spread out than Vernazza, so you feel more breathing room even if they are similar in size. And the rock jumping, if you're into that ...

Manarola for all the reasons stated above. Visit Vernazza VERY early in the morning or at night, after day trippers have left. We always like to go to dinner in a different village each night.

We also enjoyed Manarola. As charming as Vernazza is, it is very crowded. You didn't mention it but we thought Corniglia was really nice too-so much quieter than the others, and super cute. We decided if we ever went back, that is where we would stay. We actually stayed in La Spezia, so we had to train it all over. One day, we spent time in all 5 towns-so it is totally reasonable to see more than one in a day/evening. It was exhausting, but since we only had 1 1/2 days, we decided to try it. I am not sure I recommend it for most, but it was a fun challenge. :)

Make it 5 for Manarola. We chose it because I like the look of La Toretta, and really enjoyed our stay there. And when we hiked to Vernazza ( this was in 2010 when the trail was open) we were so happy we chose Manarola. The crowds in Vernazza at mid-day were appalling. It was hard to walk through the Main Street, and we could find no place to eat or to sit down. Eventually we found a bakery with a few piadini left, and we asked a shopkeeper if we could sit on her steps for a short time. She agreed, as long as we didn't block the steps. That was the one positive aspect of our visit to Vernazza.

Manarola has lovely views, a trail,through the vineyards and terraced vegetable gardens, and nice swimming. Youndo not have to jump off the rocks; there is a ladder into the water if you walk around the corner (toward Corniglia),

Thank you all. Manarola it is. Now I hope I can get a reservation as I know it is getting late. Any recommendations on hotels, B&Bs ...

We absolutely loved La Torretta. We had a Classic room, the lowest price, but ours had a terrace/balcony. I think it was #6. It is up a steep set of stairs, outside the main building. They deliver your breakfast on a tray in the morning. And there was an evening of wine and cheese included that is not mentioned on the website. Signor Baldi (I hope he is still the owner) made reservations for us for dinner, and we were very well treated at the restaurant.

We are staying in Vernazza for two nights (tues and wed) in mid-June. I’ve tried to plan for crowd issues by getting to town around 3-4 pm, then hiking to Monterrosso at 8 the next morning, hiking back to vernazza at 4-5 pm, then leaving for Florence the next morning. Will the crowds still be horrendous?

First off, I don't think you can go wrong with whatever village you choose to stay in. Corniglia is above the train station so I may think twice about staying here but it is a lovely town. That being said, we have always stayed in Vernazza--4x now. In June, July 2x and the last visit 4 nights early Oct. 2014. Yes, there are lots of people but we are out and about visiting the other villages so guess it never bothered us. The nights in Vernazza are lovely after all the daytrippers and cruise ships are gone. I am sure all the villages in the C.T. are lovely in the evening too. Buon Viaggio!

hey mkusters2
you can look up booking.com, put in your filters and see if something suits your fancy. also incinqueterre.com and apathtolunch.com has lots of info for the area. enjoy and happy travels
aloha

Without hesitation I would stay in Vernazza.....once the crowds clear later in the day it's a much more quaint and relaxed place to visit. Since we hike and visit other places during the day, the crowds in Vernazza don't make a bit of difference to us.
Manorala is (as noted) a more spread out place but for our preference there is no particular benefit.
The one shortcoming that is worth knowing about Vernazza is that there is not a proper grocery store. If you (as we were) are staying in an apartment and want to stock up on bread, sausage, salads, coffee, water etc. plan to do it elsewhere.

We just returned from our trip to Italy and spent a day in the Cinque Terre. We didn't get to all of the towns, due to lack of time, but wanted to give a plug for Manarola. We liked that town so much more than the others in the CT. I also found it to be the most picturesque of those we visited. The surrounding vineyards are so pretty and the trail that winds up the hill provides stunning views of the town. Like all of the CT it was crowded but not nearly as much as the other towns we visited. For me, that was the biggest drawback to the CT in general- it was very, very crowded and it seemed like 90% of the tourists were my fellow Americans, which detracted from the feeling of being in Italy. I can imagine that back in the day, before the CT was "discovered," it was very charming but we were disappointed overall. However, we were only there during the day and I hear it is much quieter after the day-trippers (like me) have left. I think staying there overnight will be a nicer experience. Also, go with your gut on where to stay: if you love the pictures of Manarola, then stay there. I love Rick Steves and think he has the best guidebooks out there but I don't always agree with his opinions on the best towns or sights to see. It's all a matter of personal opinion, so go with what appeals to you most. :-) We actually loved Santa Margherita Ligure, about an hour north of the CT. Very cute and colorful seaside town that didn't seem very touristy at all. We spent an hour sitting in the little park that's on the waterfront watching local kids playing soccer while the moms chatted away on nearby park benches. It felt more authentic and European than the CT to us.

Thank you for the input. We are staying in Manarola. I was thinking that since we had 3 days in the CT area that we would take the train and venture out a bit on one day, so thank you for the recommendation on Santa Marguerite Liguria.

getting to town around 3-4 pm, then hiking to Monterrosso at 8 the
next morning, hiking back to vernazza at 4-5 pm, then leaving for
Florence the next morning. Will the crowds still be horrendous?

aipease1, the crowds just are what they are and depend on any number of factors but I would expect the CT to be very busy. I am curious what you intend to do in Monterosso for 6 hours or so? Unless the going on the trail is really slow because of the amount of hikers (I assume you're hiking the SVA "Blue" segment) it shouldn't take you more than a couple of hours. You don't have any interest in seeing any of the other three villages? For instance, hiking from Vernazza to Corniglia, taking the train to Monterosso, and hiking back to Vernazza from there so you only have to do the same segment in one direction? That way you could at least see three of the 5.

Thanks to all for the input. I am saving this thread as we hope to stay there for three nights next year!