Our first (planned) stop on our trip was Cinque Terre, meaning five lands, along the rugged coast of the Italian Riviera. From north to south, the towns are: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. These small fishing villages are part of Cinque Terre National Park, or Parco Nazionale delle Cinque Terre, Italy’s smallest national park. With the exception of Corniglia, all of the towns have direct access to the Ligurian Sea and they each have their own personality.
Tip: There are limited driving options in Cinque Terre, so do not plan on driving to any town. If you do, you usually have to pay to park (if you can find a spot) in a small lot on the outskirts of the town and walk/drag your luggage into town, as we did (some towns have a little shuttle service as well). Your best bet is to take the local train that can be picked up in La Spezia, the closest “big” city – either take a regional train to La Spezia or drive and park there.
We chose to stay in Manarola in an Airbnb (highly recommend this route in Cinque Terre as traditional hotel space is limited). It was exactly as we heard from many others, lively enough but still laid-back and not as crowded and touristy as Vernazza or Monterosso.
Tip: If you’re looking for a traditional beach experience, choose Monterosso as it has the only true sandy beach in Cinque Terre (there’s a tiny sandy area in Vernazza, but Monterosso has beach loungers and umbrellas laid out, etc.). However you don’t have to be in Monterosso to swim in the Ligurian Sea; we just jumped in from the rocks in Manarola.
Based on many others’ recommendations, we only stayed two nights and in fact that was just the right amount of time. I’m sure you could stay longer and keep yourself entertained, but for us it gave us enough time to hop around to most of the towns and get a good feel for the region. We were ready to move on when our time was over.
Tip: The Italian Riviera region is the home of pesto (my favorite); you’ll find slight variations on the basil classic throughout the region and I highly recommend you order it more than once to compare. Definitely get it over trofie, a small twisted pasta made with flour and/or potato, another Ligurian region staple. And order something with fresh tomatoes! I regret not having a caprese salad after my sister-in-law categorically said the one she had in Manarola was the best of the trip (and she ordered it every single day, so I’ll trust her opinion). Interestingly, I read in Plenty that Yotam Ottolenghi (a favorite plant-focused chef of mine) said the best tomato he ever had was in Cinque Terre.
My favorite part of the trip was the hike from Corniglia to Vernazza. There are several hiking trails in Cinque Terre National Park, but the most famous is Trail #2 (a.k.a. Sentiero Azzurro or blue trail) that connects the five towns along the coastline, more or less. Depending on how ambitious you are, you can trek all four paths from Monterosso to Riomaggiore (or vice versa) during a long afternoon/day.
Tip: Some of the hiking paths are closed due to damage from a 2011 flash flood and landslide that caused a lot of devastation to the region. Definitely research which paths are open before you have your heart set on anything.
We knew about the flooding and that the beloved Via dell’Amore, a relatively flat and easy stroll from Riomaggiore to Manarola, was closed for a long time, but incorrectly thought it had re-opened. The other easy section is from Manarola to Corniglia, but that too was closed during our trip. The two remaining paths, Corniglia to Vernazza and Vernazza to Monterosso (a.k.a. the “Death March”), were more challenging, so in the end only my husband and I hiked from Corniglia to Vernazza.
Tip: You do need to pay a small entrance fee to hike the trails (it is a national park) and it can be combined with museum and train access on a Cinque Terre Card that can be purchased at a train station, bus driver, tourist information center, or along the trailheads (bring cash in this case).
We took the train to Corniglia and climbed the 300+ steps to reach the town, a quaint and quiet village. The colorful pastel houses added more beauty to an already stunning landscape.
Pictures don’t do it justice (and certainly not ours), but the crashing waves against the rocks, the rugged terrain, and the bright blue water becoming more turquoise as it reached the coast was more exotic looking than I expected to see in Italy.
Tip: Bring water, especially in the summer! And there was a cute little café/shop along the trail, closer to Vernazza, where you can get a refreshing lemonade made from real lemons.
Perhaps my favorite view was looking down at Vernazza. It’s partially perched on a hilly peninsula jutting out into the water and continues along the eastern side of the peninsula down to sea level and curving inland to a small harbor. The western side of the peninsula is undeveloped and rocky which is in contrast to the clustered pastel colored buildings saturating the developed side with an old stone tower at the tip and top of the peninsula. And if you squint you can see a small town in the distance, which is Monterosso.
After we got to Vernazza we and met up with his family (who arrived via train) and spent a lazy afternoon eating lunch, drinking, and people watching before taking the train over to Monterosso for an espresso and gelato.
The backdrop of the towns along the rocky coastline added a charm akin to the Amalfi Coast. The hike from Corniglia to Vernazza was moderately challenging, especially in the middle of summer with the sun beating down on you, but it wasn’t too hard and it was absolutely every step for the views. When hiking, I usually like to keep going at a good pace to ensure I’m getting a decent workout in, but this was one hike where I slowed down a lot to pause and look at the scenery…and take a lot of pictures. I do wish we did the “Death March,” but we ran out of time. Maybe if we return one day.