Wary of Crowds at CT

Manarola is a great choice to stay to avoid the crowds, which tend to congregate especially in Vernazza and Monterosso. I think you'll be fine. BTW, Venice can be very relaxing if you avoid the crowded places during the crowded times. Be sure especially to wander around in the evening.

I was in CT in May. While the trails were crowded at the start during peak times there are plenty of places to be. I felt Florence had a more crowded feel than CT did. I visited all the towns, train stations were crowed during the day but it's wonderful early and late and even mid day when you get away from the more crowded areas.

Manarola is a great choice. October 2009 I went and even then Vernazza felt overrun and frustrating. manarola is just lovely. Enjoy!

Well, crowding is something relative. The Cinqueterre is no longer a "hidden spot" of picturesque sea villages, but a well-known tourist destination. Crowds get worse on Saturdays, with many Italians taking day-trips. If your primary goal is to walk, you can stay in Manarola or Corniglia. The latter is not by the sea, and the smallest of all villages, which makes it difficult to reach by boat. Manarola is also less crowded. If you want the scenery, there are other areas that offer the combination of seaside villages + mountains (less the trekking), like Framura and Bonassola (in the vicinity of CT).

I may be in the minority these days but CT is one of my favorite places in Italy. The food is phenomenal and every town is beautiful. But I am also one who is not bothered by crowds. Personally I view it as a bit hypocritical to be a tourist who complains about crowds (I'm part of the problem). CT is magnificent. I think the trick is to find a B&B which is up some stairs and away form crowds and with a nice view. Grab a bottle of wine and enjoy the view. Also do the hike, I don't care about the crowds, the views are well worth it. Plus if you are with a crowd stop and let them pass. You will have plenty of time by yourself on some of the more difficult legs to the hike.

Laura, I tend to agree with Scott, as I also really like the Cinque Terre, and haven't found the crowds to be a problem so far. I'll be back there again this Fall, and hopefully my opinion doesn't change. I've decided to stay in Monterosso this time, and have chosen a Hotel that's above town to some extent, so it should be quiet (and provide a great view!). Rick sounded a bit disappointed in the current state of the C.T. in one of his recent Blog entries, but I'm hoping the current "management problems" will be resolved in the near future. Happy travels!

Thank you all for your replies- it helps me feel a bit more at ease with our plans. Less than 2 months! :)

I don't think you will find the number of people in the Cinque Terre overwhelming. We were there two years ago on almost the exact same dates you are planning (on a Rick Steves' Heart of Italy guided tour). The worst crowd I experienced was waiting for the little ferry, folks were packed to get on. But, once on, there was plenty of room for everyone and it was a pleasant ride. Don't be put off by all the postings. I have no point of comparison, because I didn't visit the CT 15 years ago.....but again, its popularity was not off-putting to us at all (and I generally hate being in wall-to-wall masses of humanity). Enjoy your trip!!

Laura, we too were concerned about all the negative posts about Cinque Terre , especially the ones saying it has been ruined by the crowds. But there are also positive reviews, and the carfree aspect appeals to us. So we decided to go and see for ourselves last June. I chose Manarola for our village and we loved it, in part because of where we stayed, but also because the village offered a peaceful and relaxing experience. We enjoyed the vineyard walk and deep-water swimming from an uncrowded rock, no beach. We did hike over to Vernazza and were really, really glad we chose Manarola. Vernazza was crazy with crowds. We could not wait to leave and get back to our "own" village.

Lola, can I ask where you stay in Manarola that made your stay so enjoyable?

Becky: In Manarola, we stayed at La Toretta at the top of the village...beautiful spot with balconies overlooking the sea. It's not the cheapest place, but it's also not the most expensive. Mini bar in room...nice shower with multiple jets. It's highly-rated on tripadvisor. You can't go wrong if you're okay paying a bit more: http://www.torrettas.com/ BTW, I agree with what others have said regarding crowds not really being an issue. Manarola itself is very quiet. We were there in July and only ran into serious crowds at the beach in Monterosso, but it was expected and not really that bad...paid 20€ for two lounge chairs and an umbrella...good for all day. Happy travels!

We also stayed at La Torretta. It was lovely, from the warm welcome and glass of prosecco on arrival, to the nice breakfast served on our deck, with a view of the sea and bouganvilla-covered arbor next door. There are lots of extras not mentioned on the website---free minibar (not alcohol though) and afternoon activities such as wine tasting, guided walks, and so on. There is free wifi in the "lobby" area (which is a nice shaded patio.) Some of the rooms (including ours) are reached by an outside stairway that has very large steps---fine for us but this would be tough if you have bad knees. Check on that if this might be an issue for you. There are other rooms with inside access via a "normal" stairway.

I have to speak up in favor of Cornigllia. We stayed in Vernazza in October 2008. I really liked it although I thought it was pretty crowded. My husband thought it was "life too compressed." When we were planning a return trip to Italy we decided to go back to the Cinque Terre for a few days. Husband wanted to stay in Monterosso. We couldn't get any replies from hotels/apartments in Monterosso. Some friends of ours had stayed at SoleMareTerre in Corniglia and loved it. We emailed them and Eleonora Rossi emailed me right back. We rented two apartments from her and were very pleased. We were there earlier this month and we were happy that the apartments had air conditioning. As for Corniglia, we loved it. It got a little crowded during the day as the hikers came through but it was fun watching the passing parade. The crowd was never as bad as in Vernazza. We ate at some good restaurants there and had one especially fun evening at supper at Il Pirun. And the gelato in Corniglia was probably the best that we had on our trip. Corniglia might not be interesting as a day trip, not that much to see. but as a base for staying in the Cinque Terre I think it has a lot going for it.

We were just in Cinque Terre and Florence, and I agree with a previous poster that Florence was way more crowded feeling. Cinque Terre was the best part of our trip. We stayed at Aria di Mare in Manarola and would definitely recommend staying there! It is up and away from the tourist scene.

Just returned from out trip, which included 3 days in Vernazza. Actually, L'eremo mar which is about a mile outside of Vernazza on the trail to Corniglia. We're in our mid-50's and wanted to relax and unwind in CT. We were not looking to hike the trails between each town. Vernazza is picturesque...but frantic. Lovely little fishing village where I thnk all the fisherman leave in mid-May and return in October. Would you get up and go fishing when you could rent your bedroom out for 100 Euros a night in the high season? Vernazza, Corniglia and La Spezia were the only places we visited on out trip. Skip Corniglia. Experience Vernazza, but the earlier in the day the better. Visit Il Pirata, the Pirate cafe. My advice regarding CT is to stay in a larger town near the train station and train into the smaller destinations, hike if you want to, etc. Paying to stay at a place in Vernazza puts you over a square where 20 somethings are partying all night until 4 am. That's OK if you're into that, but not if you're beyond that stage in your life. On the day we left CT we stopped in La Spezia and had lunch. It was nice to return to a normal Italian town and be treated warmly, not like one of thousands of tourists that flood the town every day.

For a quiet place in Monterossa, check out the Hotel Villa Steno (used by Rick's guided group tours). Lovely on a hillside, balconies that are fabulous. Waking up and seeing the quiet beauty of the town and the sea is a wonderful memory. Staff is delightful. If climbing a few sets of multiple steps (didn't count, but lots) to get to their fabulous hillside location might not be for you, they also have a sister hotel in Monterossa that is right on the water (also used by Rick's groups). Both hotels owned by the same fabulous family, and family members are on-site running the hotels. Check out their web sites, and also their ratings on www.tripadvisor.com Also, a wonderful way to travel between villages is by boat. Reasonably priced and gives you the wonderful views of seeing the villages from the water....or take the train (or hike) one way and then boat back, etc.

I think you need to be prepared for crowds (In the following order of magnitude) #1 Venice (nightmarishly crowded) #2 Rome (disneylandishly crowded)
#3 Florence and CT are tied for 3rd All of these Italian destinations are very crowded, and likely the most crowded in all of Europe. Especially during the summer. At least on the CT you can hike into nature out of the crowds. My suggestion would be to adjust expectations and practice patience. Venice, Rome, Florence and the CT are all very beautiful places. Enjoy.

We have just returned form Italy and I did not really find the crowds a problem-tour groups,yes, overall crowds, no. I think you have to plan your visit and pick your times to stroll. We found that things were relatively quite in the early morning and that our 8:30 and 9:00 reserved admission times got us off to a great start with lots of time to fill in other things we wanted to see and were frequently less crowded overall. In Rome, visiting lots of things in the late afternoon seemed to be better than mid-morning to mid-afternoon: at 2:30 our wait to get into St Peters was less than 15 minutes. We stayed in Vernazza, but visited all five towns, although only two of the trails were open due to weather issues. If i were to go back, I would stay in either Vernazza or Rio Maggiore. Again, we hiked in the cooler, less crowded morning and then found the crowds thinned out a lot by evening when the weather was better. "Mad dogs and Englishmen--you know?

Just remember that when someone says Rome or Venice (or wherever) is crowded, even "nightmarishly", what they're really saying is that parts of those places are crowded during the peak tourist times.