Camogli

We loved this holiday - one of the best we have had with Inntravel.  The scenery is spectacular and the villages, although touristy and crowded, are pure picture-book material.  We were pleased we chose to do the add-on in Camogli, from which we had a lovely walk over to Portofino.  The various options of walking or using trains or ferries to get back to base offered a nice variety - you can get great photos from the ferries.

In Levanto we can confirm that La Loggia is extremely good, and would advise getting there early if you want a table outside.

For really good aperitivi, we can recommend Controventro in Levanto.

In Monterosso, L'Ancora della Tortuga is excellent, but you must book ahead, probably before you arrive in the town.

In Portovenere, we would recommend La Marina, and also Trattoria Tre Torre which is excellent and where we enjoyed the best meal of the holiday.

In contrast, Pizzeria Il Timone in Portovenere was very disappointing, but this was the exception - generally the food throughout the week was really good.

This was our first time with Inntravel and to the Italian Cinque Terre. We are experienced walkers (and leaders) in our mid-70s and fit for our age.

Pluses:
In early October we were blessed with gorgeous weather. The scenery is amazing; the towns and villages – and the food! - are delightful. We met many lovely people, locals and visitors alike. Camogli and Hotel Cenobio dei Dogi were perfect for rounding off a great holiday.

Comments/ tips for others:
Being self-led, at first there is quite a bit to familiarise with on this type of holiday (eg buying railway tickets from a slow machine, with people queuing behind and time running out!). But we quickly gained confidence: we didn't get lost, people were very helpful and we found the walking instructions clear and reliable.

The map you provide (Geo4, scale 1:25,000) is good, but some features mentioned in our early walks descriptions don't appear. (Our Day 1 walk is lovely but Salto della Lepre and Carpeneggio are not shown: didn't help our confidence). We also used the free map app, OsmAnd, which does show these places as well as one's location; the detailed OsmAnd maps can be downloaded in advance for use outdoors without a data signal: strongly recommended. Also, the freely available Trekking Nelle Cinque Terre diagrammatic map (in TICS and to download) is worth including in the pack as a good reference.

Minuses:
We read your brochure carefully, but were still surprised by the roughness of the terrain underfoot, the steepness of the paths and the length of ascents. These walks are definitely at the high end of your rating.

Within the Cinque Terre itself, even in October, some of the paths and towns were very busy and overcrowded with large groups: but just outside the Cinque Terre, paths and places of equal attractiveness were deserted.

Over £300/night for B&B for a couple sharing feels expensive (including local travel and baggage transfers, excluding flights & insurance). The premium for the Porta Roca Hotel, Monterosso is excessive – and it is separated from the attractions of the town itself.

Details:
In our itinerary it would be appropriate to note that we needed to start the transfer from Monterosso to Portovenere by rail.

Reading our Day 1 Route Description (p19, Levanto/Bonassola) in advance, 'X-railway line' had us puzzled. Your list of abbreviations gives 'X-' as 'cross'; 'ex-railway line' is what you mean here and much clearer! Also Day 1 description at 6 km (p21), second bullet point needs updating for a new vineyard.

Minimising baggage weight is important: we would have appreciated the offer of an e-copy of the information pack as well as the hard copy.

The whole holiday was wonderful.  We were so glad we were travelling with Inntravel so that we had the chance to see the five villages early in the morning before our walk before they became too crowded or later in the day.  It was good walking up into the terraces and woods.  Some days we met quite a lot of other walkers, some we hardly saw a soul. 

The views were especially astounding on the walk from Manarola to Corniglia via Volastra with lots of contrast on the walk.  On this walk we would thoroughly recommend a coffee stop in Volastra. On entering the village at the T-Junction where you turn left, if you go right for about 20 yards there is a small taverna with a perfect 'table for two' inside (they have a proper restaurant as well) where they very obligingly served us coffee, cake and water.

We visited Portofino by boat and, the next day, the Inntravel walk. We thoroughly agree with your recommendation to visit Castello Brown. We were up there at lunchtime and had it more or less to ourselves (NB: no cafe). The first walk Levanto to Bonassola:  just after reaching Bonassola and shortly after passing Tourist Information (50 yards past and on the right) we would thoroughly recommend Cafe Delle Rose - cool, vine covered and excellent food and service.

Eating out in Portovenere.  We would recommend 3 Torre (Three Towers Restaurant).  This is situated in the main square (to the left of the steps where the walk to Portovenere finishes).   The service and the food were excellent.