Parking a car in Vernazza?

This is the kind of question that's difficult for anyone here to accurately answer, because we don't have sufficient information to accurately predict what the parking situation will be on the day you're there--the same lack of information problem you're having. You can try the Vernazza lot above town and if it's full, double back to Levanto. And any guesstimates you may read here should be treated as SWAGs: attempted guesstimates about an uncertain situation. August is probably be the worst month for parking there, especially if it's on a Friday or Saturday night.

Marty, the drive to Vernazza is best described as a "white knuckle experience." We took the train and met up with friends that made the drive. It took the driver a couple of days to recover. The train is so inexpensive and such a nice way to arrive anywhere in CT, so my vote is park in Levanto. Vernazza can also be insanely busy at certain times of the day, especially in summer.

My wife would agree with Tim about the drive to Vernazza as she was a passenger. As the driver it did not really bother me and I would not hesitate to drive up to the Vernazza parking lot again. Now, had my wife been driving I would have been as nervous as a cat in a room full of rocking chairs.
Just to give you an idea of what it is like driving the road to Vernazza go to the following link:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ProfileGallery-i17920788.html

We did the drive to Vernazza on the 6th of July (a Sunday). The drive was not bad at all (yes, it's a single lane road, so you have to be careful - we used the horn a lot on the hairpin turns), but the feeling I had, seeing Vernazza appear from far below, cannot be described.

We parked in the lot, without any trouble. Our hotel (La Mala) had recommended that we call them that morning so they could let the parking lot know that we were coming - no guarantee of a spot, but a better chance. We arrived in the middle of a Sunday afternoon, and there was plenty of parking.

We had absolutely no regrets about driving to Vernazza, and we would definitely do it again.

Thank you all for your input. We will try to speak with the hotel prior to our arrival. I guess that we will make the decision on the day of our arrival as we arrive in Levanto, on Thursday morning.

Lane - I just watched the video clip. Amazing!

Stop and train in. Vernazza has a small lot above the town. I probably could have parked their during our visit in late October but I seriously doubt you would find a spot in August.

Thanks Marty. It was quite a drive and if you notice in the video there are guard rails along the portion that we videoed but if I remember correctly there were some sections along the road with no guard rails. Total concentration on the drive is advised.