Staying in Rapallo to explore Cinque Terre?

Rapallo or Santa Margherita would work
No need for a car

Any town with a train station will do. I love Moneglia (small quaint village) and also Sestri (bigger quaint village). But all of them are nice. Just do a Google search image of all the towns you are considering and see what you like.

A car is not needed. None of the towns in the Ligurian riviera are car friendly. Parking especially is scarse and expensive. If you park at the multi story carpark of Portofino expect to pay about 6€ per hour. Whether you should rent a car or use trains for your trip depends on your overall itinerary or ability to pack light. If you like to carry multiple large suitcases in your trips, trains are not for you either. However for that area a car is certainly not needed. If you decide to rent one for whatever reasons, find a hotel that can provide parking arrangements, leave the car there, and take the trains for your day trips.

Years ago we stayed in Moneglia. We had a car, but train was accessible and we used it. Took a boat from Rapallo to Portofino and back. From Moneglia there were several small boats to some of the Cinque Terre villages, but they stopped at the end of high season, around 1 September. We had an apartment up the hillside. Beautiful sunsets and I can still hear the put put put of the fishing boat in the evening.

I've no experience with Rapallo but if you want to explore the CT, I would stay IN the CT or probably no further north than Levanto. Regional trains between there and La Spezia - meaning, all the CT villages in between- are covered under Cinque Terre MS Treno cards. They come in 1, 2 or 3-day validities, include hiking fees for any open legs of the "Blue Trail", and bus service around the region: the bus that travels from the Cornigila train station up to the village eliminates a puff up a long stairway if not hiking to it from Vernazza (which is still a puff but of a different sort).

http://www.parconazionale5terre.it/page.php?id=158

Portofino: Are you planning to stay there? Just personal opinion but if you'll spend time in the CT, I wouldn't dedicate time to that one. The scenery isn't going to be enough different from the CT to warrant the $$$ (it is an expensive place). Reason for staying IN the CT? The villages are nicest during the hours the day-trippers aren't around!

No, you don't want a car for exploring the Cinque Terre. If you feel you MUST see Portofino, I'd day-trip it by train + bus from the CT.

Take the trains.

We like Camogli a lot. It is a little bit west of Rapallo and we did take a day to the Cinque Terre during a week there. Rapallo is nice, too, with a lovely cable car to a mountainside with walking and views.

Thanks for all the helpful information! Booked two nights in Rapallo and will make day trips from there to see the villages and Portofino.

Good choices! We took a boat from Santa Margherita Liguria to Portofino, spent a few hours max and got out of there. Very expensive shops( luxury goods like Gucci) and pricey hotels and dining. The setting is beautiful but we haven’t returned there on subsequent trips to that area. We always stay in Santa Margherita Ligure.
We first went to the Cinque Terre years ago and hiked all the trails, from one end to the other.

Rapallo is a lovely little town and a great place to stay if you want to explore the Cinque Terre as well as towns nearby. We stayed there in the fall of 2019 and loved it!

We stayed in Riomaggiore 2 nights and were able to enjoy the mornings & evenings w/o cruise ship & day trippers