Hello! We are a party of 11 traveling to Italy this summer to visit family in Lucca. On our way, we had hoped to stay in Vernazza. We are having a terrible time with travel agents in America who do not want to book us there because they say that it is really a huge mess, and still will be by late July (when we would arrive). Of course, I have found some lovely people online who would like to rent their properties to us. They say to come! They will be ready! All we hear here is Don't go! They WANT to be ready, but won't be. We have always loved the Rick Steve's way to travel. We will have young children and a senior citizen with us. WE WANT TO GO TO VERNAZZA! Are we being naive? Please help!
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Vernon, Canada
32325 posts
Klytia, Using a Travel Agent to plan vacations in the Cinque Terre and especially in Vernazza is not the best idea. Most of the small lodgings there prefer to deal directly with tourists rather than using a Travel Agency as an intermediary. I suspect it's going to be more of a problem finding accommodations for a group of 11. It would probably be necessary to book members of the group into several different B&B's. Are you absolutely committed to staying in Vernazza, or would one of the other towns suffice? Monterosso would be the logical choice, as it's the largest of the five and therefore has the greatest choice in lodgings. I don't agree that the area is a "huge mess", although I think it's fair to say that Vernazza won't be completely back to normal by July. However, a look at the "Uppdates" page shows the incredible progress they've made. If you'd like to see the current status with lodgings in Vernazza and the "old town" section of Monterosso, have a look at: Vernazza Monterosso As you're probably aware, the C.T. will be BUSY in July, so it would be prudent to get accommodations booked SOON! Your visit should absolutely be possible, but you may have to compromise on the location and accommodations. Staying in one of the other towns is not a big problem, as it's so easy to get between the villages via the local train or boats. Good luck and happy travels!