No room at the Inn...spaces running out in Vernazza

The four other Cinque Terre towns, in order of size, are: Monterosso, Riomaggiore, Manarola, and Corniglia. Not too many choices in Corniglia.

We are also going to Cinque Terre in September. We have booked our accommodation but here are the other places I looked at (sorry, didn't keep website addresses, but I found them all on the internet): Hotel ca d'Andrean, Aria di mere, Baranin B&B, Hostel Cinque Terre (all Manarola, the last is a YH but has private double rooms), Ristorante Cecio, la Posada, Ostello Corniglia (all Corniglia, again the last is a YH), B&B Il Vigneto, Ni Ria Affitacamere (both Volastra, a little higher above the water but perhaps better views?), Hotel del Rose (Bonassola, not strictly Cinque Terre but supposedly the beach is good, check the location on Google maps), and Il Girasole (Corniglia). Also try looking in Monterosso or Riomaggiore. We're on a tight budget so all the ones we looked at are under 100 euro/night, mostly under 80.
Good luck!

Janna,

You might try Mar-Mar Rooms in Riomaggiore, as I believe they have some "view" properties.

You could also have a look at La Torretta in Manarola (www.torrettas.com - a bit pricey, but great views!).

Also, check the Italy Guidebook for listings in the other towns, especially Monterosso as it's the largest of the five and therefore has the largest number of rooms.

Good luck and happy travels!

We stayed 3 nights in Manarola, and liked staying there as it a much quieter town than staying in Vernazza. When I was looking for last minute rooms this past July, Edi's rooms in Riomaggiore had space available ranging from 60-80E per night. Her info is in Ricks books.

The towns Levanto and Bonassola are possibilities near the CT. Some of the CT hotels can be reached only by telephone. The Agavi, in Monterosso, responds to phone calls from about 8 am to 4 or 5 pm (their time). That's where I stay; it's across the street from the sea with good views from most of the rooms. They are in the RS books.

Dear Janna,

my husband and I just go back from Italy. We stayed in Vernazza (CT) and love our room. We stayed for 3 nights in one of the rooms the twins of "Il Pirata Bar" (see RS's 2009 guide) own. They are nice and clean, with private ensuite bathroom and including breakfast. They don't have any seaview, but they are located just 5 minutes walk to the sea. Hope this information will help you. Regards,

Teresa (from Paris)

I don't know whether you have already checked, but La Mala, in Vernazza, is an incredible place to stay. It's a splurge, but the quality and location can't be beaten.

The website for La Mala is www.lamala.it

Thank you so much for your helpful and speedy replies!! I have another question: we're flying into Milan's Malpensa airport in the evening & need to stay just 1 night. We're taking a train to Venice the next day. Would you recommend just staying at a hotel near the airport, or should we try to stay right in Milan near the station? Can you get a shuttle from the airport downtown, or do you need to take a taxi? If it's expensive, would it be worth it to just stay near the train station?? Thank you in advance! You are so helpful! :)

Did you try www.vernazzarooms.com (daria bianchi), alcastellovernazza@yahoo.it (monica lercari), www.ivocamere.com, or m.annamaria@libero.it(camere fonatana vecchia)? I recently booked a room and had choices from all these and I also felt like I spent days on the internet trying to find rooms for our trip. Thank goodness that is done!

Janna,

I was in Milan recently, so can provide some information on the airport transportation.

In the same circumstances, I'd find a Hotel near Milano Centrale, as that will make it easier for travel to Venice on the following day. There are listings in the Italy book for Hotels near the station. One that seems to get mentioned every so often is The Best Hotel.

Travel from the airport is easy. You have two choices:

First, you could take the Malpensa Express train. This is a very easy trip and of course it's not affected by traffic. However, it terminates at Cadorna Station rather than Milano Centrale, so you'd either have to take a Taxi to your Hotel or use the Metro.

You could also stay near Via Dante (which IS close to Cadorna station), rather than close to Milano Centrale. That would give you an opportunity to walk to the Duomo or the Galleria Vittorio Emmanuele to have a quick look. I stayed at the Hotel London recently, and it was quite comfortable (check it out in the Guidebook).

For transport you could also use the Shuttle from MXP to Milano Centrale. I believe there are two firms offering that service, and you can pay the Driver so no need to worry about tickets. Check Their website for all the details.

Happy travels!

Keep in mind, not every room available in CT is bookable online. The ones that cater to American taste are generally available online (en suite, speak English, view, expensive).

As another option you can go to the Library, check out Lonely Planet or Rough Guide and make phone calls to places they list.

It helps if you can speak enough Italian to book a room. For free help with that you can also check out library resources or try BBC languages for a free basic online course. I'm also trying livemocha.com right now (another free online language course); it seems pretty good.

After our CT stay, we ended up in Milan and stayed 2 nights near the Milan Central station. Found "The Best Hotel" in Rickys book and headed there. Hotel was fine for our 2 night stay, a double was 70Euros, it had AC, and 30 mins free WiFi. Only a 5-7 min walk from Milan Central. As for transportation from the MXP to Milan, I can't comment on that as we flew out of Linate, and took the local bus #73 from San Babila metro station to the airport ( 20 mins ) and found it very easy, only 1 Euro! But there are also buses from the airport MXP to Milan central which are suppose to be very easy use and not to expensive.

I can personally recommend La Torretta in Manarola. You’d be hard pressed to find better balcony views directly from your room. Excellent small hotel! Quiet village...few American tourists. BTW, the hostel at the top of town in Manarola looks very nice. Check it out… http://www.cinqueterre.net/ostello/

Hi Janna,

I stayed in Riomaggiore at Edi's Rooms ( www.wel.it/Vesignaedi) and loved it! We were in the Case Mimi Room and it had a huge balcony with a table and chairs and the best view of the ocean! The room was very clean and had a refridgerator and coffee maker. I would highly recommend it and would definitely stay there again. I also really enjoyed the town of Riomaggiore. It was great watching the sunset from the rocks there. Plus it's at the start of the Via Dell Amore which is great to walk on as well during the sunset.

In regards to your later question about Milan, we stayed at Hotel Berna which is only a few blocks from the main train station. It was very clean and a great value. They had a huge breakfast buffet included. Plus free internet (for a certain amount of time) and the mini bar in the rooms were FREE (all non-alchoholic beverages). I would highly recommend it.

Have a great trip!

We always stay with Rina in Vernazza. We found her on a bench on the right walking from the train station. She and her doctor son have three huge rooms for rent. The one we stay in has a private rooftop deck with a great view. If the rooms are taken, she will not be out looking for tenants. No email or phone though. Hope this makes sense!