Where to stay in Cinque Terre November 2023

Trails being open may be dependent on the weather.

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/requesting-monterosso-hotel-recommendations

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/quiet-places-to-stay-in-cinque-terre

I'm not sure of the price for a single but we stayed at Hotel Villa Steno in Monterosso last October. I can honestly say it was one of our best experiences in a hotel. The breakfast was very good. Made to order daily. Very nice rooms and friendly and accommodating staff who made recommendations for dinner, etc. We loved staying there. It was a short walk to restaurants and bars. We hiked between towns on trails open and took the train and a ferry ride. Would go back in a second. We stayed 5 nights after a 2 week trip to Ireland and one week in Scotland.

We had a wonderful experience staying in Monterosso at Hotel Porto Roca. The restaurant was outstanding with fantastic water views.

I see many mentions of the Hotel Villa Steno-all very positive. We have friends who stayed there and loved it and one of them is very particular. A view room would be a bonus!
We stayed in Manarola last fall. It was crowded but we enjoyed it there. No room with a sea view for us though! Our view onto the upper Main Street was fun especially early morning and later evening.

Another vote for Hotel Villa Steno. We stayed there last September. It’s in Monterosso Al
Mare. You may need to check if they are still open then.
It’s a long walk up to the hotel- if you have any physical disability you may want to reach out and ask about their sister hotel on the beachfront.
But this is one of my favorite hotels I’ve ever stayed at.
Here is my story-
I was missing my dog so much at that point in our trip. Imagine my delight when we came back to the hotel in the evening and the family that owned the hotel- had their dog out. We played with her and got lots of happy puppy time. Such a delight! The owners of the hotel are just so friendly and nice and want to be sure everyone is happy. They have a great breakfast and very friendly, clean and beautiful updated hotel rooms. So kind and really a truly authentic and nice time. They are just truly the BEST.

This evening I went on-line to get booking information for Hotel Villa Steno and I learned they are closing November 1 till April. I guess they close for the winter.

I am checking out the links that were provided. The links provide some additional recommendations on where to stay. This is all great information.

Thank you very much for the responses.

I believe that most of the CT closes in the winter, not sure it would be the best time to visit. Sorry

Kerry,

November to about April is not the best time to visit any of the towns in the Cinque Terre, as hotels and other tourist facilities tend to close for the winter. You may be able to find someplace to stay, but the weather is often not the best at that time of year. If it's raining, hiking the trails is not advisable.

Note that two of the Sentiero Azzurro trails have been closed for a long time (Corniglia - Manarola and Manarola-Riomaggiore), and they definitely won't be open at the time of your visit. The other two (Monterosso - Vernazza and Vernazza - Corniglia) may or may not be open, subject to weather. Also, the Ferries between the towns don't operate at that time of year, AFAIK.

Is there any possibility you could visit that area earlier in the year?

Kerry, personally I think I'd "wing it" with lodging reservations for November in the Cinque Terre. It's harder to do that in season (maybe impossible in July-August) but should be doable in November. If it rains and/or trails are closed, have a backup plan to go somewhere else. But maybe the weather will be nice and you can decide near the last minute. If you carry a device like a phone, it's pretty easy to make lodging reservations on the fly with a site like Booking dot com.

I believe that Casa Cato, a guesthouse in Vernazza, is open year round. It is right on the hiking trail to Corniglia and has six rooms, some with sea views. We stayed there twice before and really enjoyed it. In October 2023 we are staying at Villa Steno in Monterosso and cannot wait. Villa Steno has been very attentive to all of our questions. You might contact them to see if there is a chance that they might stay open a bit longer this year. They could also give you some good recommendations if they are closed. November should be a great time to visit the CT especially if the weather holds. Have fun.

Hi Sharon,

Thank you so very much for your response. I checked the Casa Cato website and they close for the season starting November 1. It looks like a great place, I understand why you like it. I did take your advice and I just sent an email to Hotel Villa Steno just to see if they are open, and if not, do they have a place they recommend.

Thank you again for your response and if you have any other ideas please let me know.
Kerry

We stayed in Manarola in October. 2022, with beautiful weather. Mid week we were able to book last minute. We stayed at Ca d'andrean, and it looks to me like it is open in November still.

No sea view, but it is up a bit in town and we had a lovely view of all the coloured homes lining the town. It is my screen saver now!

In November you may want to try our favorite place. It's in Vernazza. A small privately owned 8 or 10 room place, owned by Tino, who also owns the restaurant downtown, Gambero Rosso. It's a bed and breakfast (or at least was when we were there several years ago). The rooms are very nice, clean and beautiful. They are over the bakery, called Il Pirata 5 Terre. Wonderful to wake up to all the goods baking and the best part was THAT WAS the breakfast. You could pick whatever you wanted as part of your stay, including juice and coffee. Hope it's the same now. You will love it.

Great question to ask - it works for us too, as we're visiting CT Dec 9-10 this year.
I know, it's probably rainy, but this is pretty much our only time available. Besides, we live in the Pacific Northwest, so not afraid of a bit of rain.
Let me know what you hear back from the recommended lodging, if they are open at all.

Cheers and happy trails!
JQB

juliq76, I can understand going to Rome or Florence in December...but why the Cinque Terre? The towns are adorable, but big attraction in my opinion is the hiking, and if the trails are muddy, are you really going to hike? What would you tell someone who was making a special trip to the PNW to hike in the Columbia Gorge in the mud and rain? I love the Cinque Terre and have been there a few times, but In don't see a big point in going in December.

At very least, I would "wing it" and not lock yourself into visiting the Cinque Terre if you will be in Italy in December. If by chance the weather is great, during that stretch and the trails are likely to be dry, then arrange to visit last minute. Assuming there are places open, should be pretty easy to find last-minute lodgings I'd guess. But if the weather is terrible, have a Plan B you can revert to instead where rain wouldn't ruin the experience such a problem.