Which Cinque Terre village to stay in?

La Spezia is my recommendation. Much more variety of lodgings and restaurants than you'll find in any of the five small villages, not at all touristy, and easy to get to the villages. We had better food in La Spezia than anywhere else we visited in Italy, though Genovese pesto is unequaled.

All of the five villages are extremely touristy. Not my favorite place, really.

We stayed in Manarola at Aria di Mare. The town is quieter and the inn had a wonderful view of the ocean and town. It really only has one restaurant I'd recommend, and I highly recommend it. Trattoria Billy's. You would likely need a reservation. I would stay in Manarola again. It is easy to get between the cities and somewhat quieter at night in all the towns. You could easily eat dinner in one of the other towns. Corniglia was lovely but on top of a hill and a steep climb up to it.

We stay at moderately priced properties and Aria di Mare fit the bill.

Riamaggiore was a favorite for wandering around. We saw more locals there than tourists.

Any of the five where you find the most suitable accommodations for your needs. Corniglia is high up the hill from the station, so, although very quaint, it is not ideal for train tripping from there.

La Spezia is not a village. It is a decent size industrial port city, that is also the main port of the Italian Navy. If you are looking for quaint, you won’t find it there.

You might look at Levanto, the next town north of the CT. Not hilly, but a smallish town just a few minutes by train from the start of the CT. Rick Steves tours often stay there.

What Liz said. I enjoyed Levanto. Visited a number of years ago; not too touristy at the time with a nice beach populated by locals. Eateries seemed plentiful.

La Spezia is not a village. It is a decent size industrial port city, that is also the main port of the Italian Navy. If you are looking for quaint, you won’t find it there.

I disagree with the characterization of La Spezia as an "industrial city." The old town, next to the train station, is plenty quaint, and it's filled with great restaurants and a wonderful market. The marina is a terrific place to yacht-watch; it has as many superyachts docked there as anyplace short of Monte Carlo. And the park adjoining the marina is delightful. The industry and military presence is there, certainly, but well away from the old town and the civilian marina.

Your sort of characterization of La Spezia almost deterred us from staying there. I'm glad we ignored those slights. We had a wonderful stay.

You will get different opinions but I like to stay in the Cinque Terre rather than outside of it so that you have the quieter evenings when people have left. We stayed in Manarola and really like it, however I think Corniglia would meet your requirements better. It is a bit less touristy, has several nice restaurants.

jphbucks
You may have enjoyed the city center of La Spezia, and maybe even the historical center of the much larger and more industrial port city of Genoa, but the OP asked for a suggestion for a village at the Cinque Terre, and La Spezia is neither a village nor at the Cinque Terre.

Thank you everyone for all your feedback... please keep it coming!

Has anyone been to Portofino? We'll be in Liguria in early April, so anywhere may not be too crowded...

I would research crowded conditions in the area surrounding the Easter holidays. The coast seems popular not just with foreign tourists, but also with local folks taking a break. I would also check on Portofino prices as it seems to have a high-end reputation.

I have to agree with Roberto and Lisa.

Staying in Cinque Terre allows you the quiet mornings and evenings and doesn't make your stay as train dependent. We stayed at Marina Piccola in Manarola and really liked it, it was $150 a night. There, experience Nessun Dorma for charcuterie and fabulous views.

La Spezia also is the dock for all of the cruise ships, including the mega ones and you get cruisers pouring through the city. Check one of the cruises in port sites if your dates are flexible, some days they get close to 10,000 people a day unloading and some days none.

You say you don't mind stairs but here are Corniglia's, it was too challenging for us
https://www.dreamstime.com/stairs-to-town-train-station-corniglia-corniglia-july-stairs-to-town-train-station-image310845754

April will still be crowded. What is considered "season" is very different after Covid. And the weather is cooler then.
But we did love it! Enjoy!

We try to travel during shoulder season. However, we are finding a lot of places are losing their shoulder season or it has been pushed into winter. CT was one of those places. We were there at the end of October. It was far from shoulder season.

If I want to visit extremely touristed cities, like Venice or CT and many others, one of the choices I make is to stay in the city and enjoy the quieter mornings and evenings as opposed to day tripping and hitting the towns at peak. Sometimes people complain about the crowds when they visited at the most busy time of day and didn't venture from the well beaten path.

We also, opt for less desirable weather because our priority is fewer people. We will be in Salerno mid February and if it's sunny and mid 50s, we will day trip to Amalfi town and the smaller cities south of it.

We liked staying in Monterosso al Mare which has an Old Town and a New Town area. Hotel La Spiaggia was in a good location for walking. Request a sea view room with a balcony. It is also near the train station for seeing the other villages. Views from the beach are lovely!

We were very pleased with out choice to stay in Porto Venere and use the ferry to visit the CT villages. Our trip was the first few days of May, 2024. Porto Venere was not crowded in the evenings and had several good restaurants. We visited Monterosso and Vernazza the first day - preferred Monterosso because it was a bit larger with more to explore. The villages are quite similar - no need to visit all of them. We had planned to visit the other two villages the second day but Mother Nature decided to unleash torrential rains ( so intense that they had to close the main road through La Spezia) - so we just puttered around in Porto Venere that day.

We stayed in Levanto which was wonderful.

However, the days we were there, there was a train strike, so we couldn't get to CT. I vote for staying where you are on train dependent.

...that should be NOT train dependent.

We were very pleased with out choice to stay in Porto Venere and use the ferry to visit the CT villages.

The ferry is wonderful when the sea is calm enough for it to make calls in the villages. When we visited in early October the ferry could only dock in Monterosso. We still got a great view of all the villages from the water, which ultimately was sufficient for us.

La Spezia also is the dock for all of the cruise ships, including the mega ones and you get cruisers pouring through the city.

This is a fair point. No cruise ships docked in La Spezia during our 5-day stay, but if one or more had, the city would've been much more crowded. For our part we encountered no American tourists at all, nor indeed many from outside of Italy.

Whatever you do, DON'T stay in La Spezia. Its an industrial port city of zero interest.

We stayed in Vernazza and loved it. Manarolo and Riomaggiore look fantastic too. Corniglia is not on the sea, so it would not be my preference, but it is for that reason the least touristy. Monterosso is not car free and is the most touristy so it would be my last choice.

Check out Gianni Franzi for accommodations in Vernazza. Amazing views (thankfully you're OK with steps). https://www.giannifranzi.it/english/rooms.html

Whatever you do, DON'T stay in La Spezia. Its an industrial port city of zero interest.

We found lots to interest us in La Spezia. Sorry you were disappointed. I guess posters like you will help keep the city from being crowded with American and Canadian tourists.