Which Town in Cinque Terre to Stay?
Sep 27, 2017, 10:47 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Mar 2011
Posts: 11
Which Town in Cinque Terre to Stay?
Traveling from Florence to Cinque Terre , with Milan as my final destination by train. Plan to spend 3 nights in Cinque Terre and visit all 5 towns. From a logistic point of view, which of the five towns, should I stay in. Thanks.
Sep 27, 2017, 10:56 pm
#2
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: SFO, VCE
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Sep 28, 2017, 1:16 pm
#4
Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: SFO, VCE
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Posts: 2,881
A little detail would help, like what you want to do when you get there. The primary activity in CT is hiking from town to town, since each town is small, and there isn't much to do in the towns themselves.
During the middle of October the Cinque Terre starts to wind down. Remember, this is not a typical part of Italy. It is a tourist attraction, a national park for millions of tourists open between May and October. When the tourists leave, there are only a few thousand locals left who actually live there, and they go on vacation. By staggering their vacations each town makes sure that at least one restaurant, bar, drug store remains open.
But in mid-October you should be OK, with the following considerations.
Since Monterosso is connected to streets and highways, it is not picturesque like other Cinque Terre towns, and it will be too cold for the beach I wouldn't stay there.
Corniglia is tiny and the least accessible, furthest away from the waters, so it is the one that is going have the most closures by mid-October, and it might be difficult to find places to eat or stay there, so I would scratch that one off, along with Monterosso.
Other than the beach in Monterosso, hiking or walking the trails is the main thing to do in the CT, other than some water sports like kayaking, snorkeling, but only in the summer. Mid-October is a very rainy part of the year. It rains a whole lot, which often makes them close the hiking trails. Even when the rain stops the trails often remain closed because they are unsafe, wet mudslides, so there won't be much to do. Remember, the devastating mudslides that wiped out Vernazza and and Monterosso in 2012 were in mid-October, because it rains so much. But if you happen to get good weather, you will be able to enjoy very nice hiking trails from place to place.
That leaves Manarola, Vernazza, and Riomaggiore. Keep in mind, you can still see all five towns, but you are going to have to do it by train. They are close together, so you can get from one end of the CT to the other in maybe 15 minutes. The good thing about October, is that these trains won't be so crowded. You can also go from town to town by ferry boat, but I suspect the water will be too rough by then, and boat transportation will often be canceled and unreliable.
I would suggest Vernazza, probably the prettiest of the five. Second choice, Manarola. Third, Riomaggiore, because it is just at the beginning of the Cinque Terre, so you would have to do the most travel to get to the other towns from there.
One other thing to keep in mind, although Monterosso is not pretty or photogenic, and even has cars driving through the streets, and it's main attraction is just the beach, it is the largest of the five towns, so if you find a lot of the towns starting to close down, because of its size Monterosso will have the most places that are open. But I don't think you'll have that much trouble with closures in mid-October, except perhaps in Corniglio, because you will still be on the end of the peak season.
By November the trinket stores and tourist restaurants and trails will be closed, and there is practically nobody in the Cinque Terre anymore because there are few locals who actually live there. There are enough to do some nice things around Christmas time and to have a few festivals once the tourists clear out, but not too many people actually live there anymore. in Corniglia, the smallest town, only about 150 locals remain. In Monterosso, the largest town, only about 1,400 locals remain.
So; Vernazza; Manarola; Riomaggiore, in that order, in my opinion.
During the middle of October the Cinque Terre starts to wind down. Remember, this is not a typical part of Italy. It is a tourist attraction, a national park for millions of tourists open between May and October. When the tourists leave, there are only a few thousand locals left who actually live there, and they go on vacation. By staggering their vacations each town makes sure that at least one restaurant, bar, drug store remains open.
But in mid-October you should be OK, with the following considerations.
Since Monterosso is connected to streets and highways, it is not picturesque like other Cinque Terre towns, and it will be too cold for the beach I wouldn't stay there.
Corniglia is tiny and the least accessible, furthest away from the waters, so it is the one that is going have the most closures by mid-October, and it might be difficult to find places to eat or stay there, so I would scratch that one off, along with Monterosso.
Other than the beach in Monterosso, hiking or walking the trails is the main thing to do in the CT, other than some water sports like kayaking, snorkeling, but only in the summer. Mid-October is a very rainy part of the year. It rains a whole lot, which often makes them close the hiking trails. Even when the rain stops the trails often remain closed because they are unsafe, wet mudslides, so there won't be much to do. Remember, the devastating mudslides that wiped out Vernazza and and Monterosso in 2012 were in mid-October, because it rains so much. But if you happen to get good weather, you will be able to enjoy very nice hiking trails from place to place.
That leaves Manarola, Vernazza, and Riomaggiore. Keep in mind, you can still see all five towns, but you are going to have to do it by train. They are close together, so you can get from one end of the CT to the other in maybe 15 minutes. The good thing about October, is that these trains won't be so crowded. You can also go from town to town by ferry boat, but I suspect the water will be too rough by then, and boat transportation will often be canceled and unreliable.
I would suggest Vernazza, probably the prettiest of the five. Second choice, Manarola. Third, Riomaggiore, because it is just at the beginning of the Cinque Terre, so you would have to do the most travel to get to the other towns from there.
One other thing to keep in mind, although Monterosso is not pretty or photogenic, and even has cars driving through the streets, and it's main attraction is just the beach, it is the largest of the five towns, so if you find a lot of the towns starting to close down, because of its size Monterosso will have the most places that are open. But I don't think you'll have that much trouble with closures in mid-October, except perhaps in Corniglio, because you will still be on the end of the peak season.
By November the trinket stores and tourist restaurants and trails will be closed, and there is practically nobody in the Cinque Terre anymore because there are few locals who actually live there. There are enough to do some nice things around Christmas time and to have a few festivals once the tourists clear out, but not too many people actually live there anymore. in Corniglia, the smallest town, only about 150 locals remain. In Monterosso, the largest town, only about 1,400 locals remain.
So; Vernazza; Manarola; Riomaggiore, in that order, in my opinion.
Last edited by Perche; Sep 28, 2017 at 5:05 pm
Oct 6, 2017, 9:21 am
#7
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 13
I stayed in Manarola in 2015 and Vernazza 2016. I'd look at these three towns and check Air BNB for places to stay. I'd choose a CT village based on lodging options since I'd be happy to stay in any of the villages. I wanted a balcony right over the water so I stayed in Vernazza last time. If that apartment was in any of the other villages I would have chose it.