Which city in cinque terra to stay overnight

emty,

Any of the five Cinque Terre towns is good depending on your preferences, but I'd suggest also looking at Monterosso, which is the most northern town. It's the largest and therefore has a greater number and choice in accommodations, and also the largest number of restaurants and other tourist amenities. It also has the nicest beaches. Riomaggiore is considerably smaller.

Is there any possibility you could stay for two nights? After travel times are considered, one night allows only a few hours in the late afternoon / evening to look around. You'll have to check-out of your lodgings by about 10:00 the next morning and move on to your next stop.

We stayed in Riomaggiore in June, but that was way back in 2001, before the area became a national park. We just showed up in the town, and after making some inquiries, managed to book the last available room in town. It was a great place to stay, but you might want to reserve your lodgings before you get there.

Vernazza has always been Rick Steves’ favorite “backdoor” place to stay amongst the five.

While the other 4 are right on the coast, Corniglia is a little inland, if that makes a difference.

We visited Monterosso on a day trip, and it was a bigger town back then, bigger than what we were looking for for staying our nights in the area.

Vernazza was amazing. I can recommend Gianni Franzi's rooms at the top of the cliff with great views (https://www.giannifranzi.it/english/index.html).

I did not stay in any of the other towns, but I found:

• Manarola: would be my second choice; most similar to Vernazza;
• Corniglia: wonderful local atmosphere, but the least "oceanic";
• Monterosso: too much like hundreds of other beach towns in Europe; lacking the isolation of the other four train-and-boat-only towns;
• Riomaggiore: the most out-of-the-way in the sense of being the fifth at the end of the line. Harder to see all five towns if you are staying here.

If there is a big cruise ship in the La Spezia port, Manarola and Riomaggiore are said to be the least impacted.

Good point above re staying an additional night. One-nighters are not really expedient; worse in the CT because of travel times

I used to prefer Vernazza but now prefer Monterosso. Another advantage of Monterosso is that you can often catch a train to your next destination without having to change trains, and that isn't possibile from any of the other 4 villages. For example, there are afternoon Intercity trains to Milan and Pisa that require no changes.

Five small villages , all very close to each other.
Largest village with a beach is Monterosso , easy to get around. Stay in one place the whole time.

We loved staying in Riomaggiore last June! We rented an apartment through Airbnb. It was great!

Riomaggiore wasn't as crowded as some of the bigger towns, and it was beautiful!

Manarola is my favorite place to stay. I have stayed there twice. The feel of Manarola, to me, is less flashy than Monterossa (personal preference), with several family-owned restaurants. There are several specialty shops to peruse as well.

Agree, love Manarola, not that you can go wrong. Vernazza is also wonderful. We stayed last month at Hintown Pretty House in Vernazza, easy walk from train station but also not too close to train (don’t do that, noise!). La Pirate Caffe across the street is a local gem for coffee and breakfast.

Make sure you understand the lodging location in advance and fit it to your hiking ability. Some lodging is high up on the hillsides, in some cases many stairs or very steep slopes. We ran into people who were surprised by that. Not a problem for everyone, just be aware in advance because you will be going back and forth many times.

emty,

One point to mention about Vernazza is that it can be absolutely mobbed by cruise and tour groups at times. That will probably be especially true in June. The short main street from the rail station to the harbour can be "SRO" at times, and it's not a pleasant holiday experience (I've know that as I've seen it). Vernazza seems to be the Cinque Terre town that most people think about, as that's the one most featured in tourist brochures.

Another Monterosso fan here for some of the benefits mentioned earlier. Being the largest of the five villages, it can handle more tourists without feeling overly crowded, like some of the others.