Verenna or Levanto

Hello kloose, and welcome to the boards,

These are somewhat different towns to compare - can you expand on your interests and what you want out of your visit?
Both are relatively small towns so what are you looking to do with your 4 days? Is it 4 nights you're staying?

I'm sure people have a lot of opinions, but what you want matters most.

=Tod

Thank you for the response. Looking for some sightseeing. My ability to walk long distances is limited.
Would like to have a place to hang out for a couple of afternoons. Bellagio or Montessori. My wife wants some light shopping.
I don't know if the weather would be warmer in one or the other.

More info, we are spending 6 nights in Rome. One night in Siena, 2 nights in Florence and 3 nights in Milan at
the end of our trip. We've been to Rome and Florence before. Looking for a quit spell.

My immediate concern whenever someone mentions potential mobility issues in Varrena is that town hangs on the countryside everything falls away to the lake and this leads to some steep streets made out of stones not pavement.

This picture over somewhat exaggerates the issue because you don't have to do this all at once but are accurate:
https://c8.alamy.com/comp/W3EMGX/old-alleys-in-a-charming-village-of-como-lake-varenna-italy-W3EMGX.jpg
https://c8.alamy.com/comp/S1N2E4/alleyway-leading-to-lake-como-in-varenna-italy-S1N2E4.jpg

I really like Varrena and I'm, not trying to talk you out of it but comes with some considerations. The quaint town itself is separated from the train and ferry station by a walk so you should consider that when you pick a hotel if you are going to be going back and forth from your hotel to the ferry. You can walk some of the town on Google maps to get a feeling of the distances. There are also several taxis in town that can move you from the station to somewhere near your hotel. There is flat walkway from the waterfront to the ferry station so if you are by the water it is flat.

There is only light shopping in Varenna - some tourist stuff, light clothing etc but no real Italian store chains or anything like that. Varenna is connected to Bellagio and Mennagio by ferry and make for great day visits. Both are somewhat flatter with charming waterfront walks and have more shopping - Mennagio a little bit and Bellagio has a whole waterfront promenade of ritzy stores with restaurants and galleries as you would expect. If Mennagio or Bellagio interests you maybe you could stay at one of those.

Alongside Levanto there are number of oceanfront towns right there so I would look at all of them and pick one keeping in mind they are minutes from each other on the train. I know Ligurian locals love Chiavari, we ran into an English couple on the train who had spent a week in Sestri Levante and we planning on coming back for a month but they reported hating Rapallo which is reportedly beautiful. But everything gets ritzier as you approach Portofino so I guess the level of rich and famous you're interested in dictates how far up the coast you go. The train station at that end is in Santa Margherita Ligure which is Portofiino adjacent and looks like a good mix of ritzy but large enough to explore. Everything on that stretch of coastline is at most 30 minutes away so you could easily pass a day or two checking out the flavor of each town.

Levanto has the advantage of being connected by ferry to Cinque Terre, Port Venere and La Spezia if that interests you at all. Someone just posted that they found CT lovely and crowd free in March but I don't know about the season in April.

Hope that helps, have great trip!
=Tod

Thank you, Good info on Varenna. I think Bellagio is a strong contender. The walking in Varenna could become an issue.
Would like to do both, but as Rick says "plan as if you will be back."

I’ve stayed in Varenna twice and agree that other than the waterfront area you will be dealing with stairs or sloped streets, depending on how steep they are.

I’ve taken the ferry to Bellagio on each trip and while the area closer to the lake is flat the town does expand uphill. It’s not as steep as Varenna, but it’s not close to flat either. If shopping is important Bellagio is a better fit.

I might add that in Varenna you would still have a steep walk down to the water front to catch the ferry to Bellagio. And in Bellagio, once past the first waterfront street, there will be steps to climb as well. Lovely town, but still lots of steps.
We stayed in Vernazza and took the train from Vernazza to Levanto, on RS recommendation, rented bikes and rode along the Mediterranean coast on a bike path converted from a train bed. We also biked all over Levanto. It is a charming town, and I don't remember many steps or difficult walking. From there you could catch a train to Santa Margarita and Portofino, or the ferry to the Cinque Terre towns and Porto Venere. We really liked Porto Venere.
We loved Lake Como, but for more options of places to visit from a central base, I would opt for Levanto.

Thank you for all of the replies. We have booked Levanto for 4 nights and am looking forward to it

We, too, are looking at slightly less daily climbs and wondered about Levanto or Porto Venere. Are there any hotel suggestions at either that are recommended?