We stayed outside the Cinque Terra in Santa Margherita at the Grand Hotel Miramare.
This is a 5 star hotel. It had a beautiful room with a balcony overlooking the bay.
The day after our arrival we had a 6 hour guided tour of the Cinque Terra. The cliffside villages were settled by the vintners of the high plains. They needed access to the Mediterranean in order to sell their wine and grains.
With port development came the pirates which then drove the need for fortifications. By this time the vintners became fishermen given the abundance of food in the sea.
Then disaster struck so we had to cut the tour short.
Sue caught a 48 hour stomach flu. She said if she had to get sick this was the place to do it. The bed was warm and comfy with warm blankets. Eric went to the local market for some meds for Sue and some simple food for dinner in the hotel room.
The next day Sue stayed in bed and laid outside on the terrace overlooking the sea to recover and Sue insisted Eric go exploring.
Eric explored north of Santa Margherita along a brick trail to Portofino.
The trail went along the coast going near a couple of tiny picturesque resorts and villas.
On the day we left to go to Florence Sue felt much better even though we had to walk 3/4 of a mile and then up a hill to get to the train station.