where to stay in the Cinque Terre

The less touristy towns are Riomaggiore, Manarola and Corniglia. Corniglia is up on a bluff overlooking the sea. If you walk up from the train station, it's over 400 stairs that switchback up. However, you can take the minibus up. It's quiet up there but there are a few very nice restaurants.

For Riomaggiore, I suggest looking into http://www.locandadelsole.net/english/index.htm, the only real hotel in Riomaggiore or www.5terre-marmar.com. They specialize in rooms and apartments in Riomaggiore. For Manarola, you might look into www.torrettas.com. Also, you should have great suggestions in the RS book. I have not stayed at any of the above places but travelers posting on this site have and have provided positive comments.

check out maria capellini rooms in vernazza, 80 euros/night.

Hi Lauren,
I spent 6 days in Cinque Terre in May/08. I rented an apartment in the town of Manarola. It is the second smallest town in Cinque Terre.(pop. 500) It was beautiful. There were quite a few day trippers around but the evenings were very peaceful. My guess,there will be less tourists in October. Here is the site I used to book my accommodations. www.acasa5terre.it I hope you find a place to stay... Cinque Terre is definitely worth visiting!

Lauren,

I used Mar-Mar Rooms in Riomaggiore on my last visit, and would certainly recommend them. They have a number of properties available, so you may have a choice of rooms. As I recall, they request that guests arrive before 17:00 when checking-in, as that's when the office closes.

Breakfast wasn't included in the room cost, however Bar Centrale and the Gelateria across the street provided a nice "two part breakfast".

You could also check Hotel Ca d'Andrean and La Torretta in Manarola, and of course there's the "official" CT Hostel there as well.

Happy travels!

Hi Lauren
Cinque Terre is on my list of places to go and I've found this website with monasteries in the place. It's www.monasterystays.com. and has a few monasteries in the area and in Liguria. They seem good value and from comments on the website reputable. I'd check it out.

Recently stayed at LaMala (www.lamala.it) and it was absolutely beautiful. The rooms are very clean with fine lines. Beautifully comfortable bed after the millions of stairs one climbs everyday in Cinque Terre. Clean bathrooms, great shower - and vistas like you've never seen before. It is located in Vernazza - which is said to be touristy but it was nonetheless very beautiful. Depending on when you're planning on going, the tourists certainly won't detract from the area's beauty.

Thank you all so much for your responses. I have never done this before and am so grateful for the information I have received. I'm checking out all of those places now. Has anyone been to 5Terre in October? I'm wondering what the weather will be like. Thank you again.

I'd strongly suggest checking out Rick Steves book on Italy. There is a good section on Cinque Terre (we're going there Oct. 28 or 29). He list weather conditions, most used phrases and has all sorts of useful suggestions. We're looking at staying in Vernazza.

Hi, here you can see some useful information about accommodations in the Cinque Terre
bye

http://www.bebcorniglia.com/

Wonderful! Definately less touristy than other towns. If you plan on hiking CT the steps up to Cornigila are not that big of a deal, we enjoyed the view. The bus runs up and down too.

I stayed last November in Vernazza and loved the town and the people. Didn't have too many tourists while we were there. Stayed at Hotel Albergo - right down by the water - a rick steves suggested place.

Hi Lauren,
My family spent 6 days in CT in August 2008. We booked through www.acasa5terre.com. Our apartment was in Riomaggiore. We loved it - even the 122 stairs we climbed to reach our apartment. The towns all seems to be crowded with tourists during the day but Riomaggiore was wonderful in the evening. In October it should be less crowded. It was wonderful to sit at Bar Centrale morning and evening and see the same locals strolling, gathering and doing what they do. Have a delightful time - I know you will. The gelato next to Bar Centrale is the best.

Also it was so easy to take the train between towns and we visited all of them. We did the hikes in sections and loved it.
Good luck,
Linda

Hi Lauren,

We too used www.acasa5terre.it - we stayed in Manarola and loved every minute of it. You are going for a great amount of time. I don't know how the weather is that time of year, I am guessing cooler so the hiking might be great. The good thing is that with 5 days, you will have time to investigate all 5 towns. Rick Steve's book really came in handy too!

We went last may and stayed in monterosso right on the beach at La Spiaggia ..it was great and very relaxing and he has very good wine...I would definitely recommend this hotel

I wanted to thank everyone for posting replies to Lauren's question, for I had the same question myself! I have just booked a room in Corniglia for the first week of October through http://www.acasa5terre.it for only $100 per night. It has a small kitchen, and I don't believe it has a view but that's OK because I don't plan on spending too much time in the apartment anyway. I'll be out and about every day, taking photos, painting, writing, and seeing as much as I possibly can. I never would have found this Web site without your helpful posts, thank you all so much!