About two hours after leaving Lucca, we arrive at La Spezia, a quintessential port city. As night falls, we’re exhausted. We’d like to tour the city, but being so close to Cinque Terre excites us; we can’t wait to see those colorful houses and the beautiful sea.
Cinque Terre, meaning ‘five hills’ in Italian, is located on the enchanting Italian Riviera, in the Liguria Region, also close to major cities like Genoa, Pisa, Milan, and Florence. Protected as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the region’s five towns are, from north to south, Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. Coming from La Spezia, i.e., from the south, we visited them in reverse order. The area is also within a national park and remains almost untouched, although there’s concern it might change due to attracting more tourists than it can handle in recent years.
Cinque Terre promises a breathtaking route with panoramic views of picturesque bays, winding cliffside paths, houses painted in lovely pastel tones, and terraced vineyards. We dedicated a full day, and if you wonder whether it can be a day trip, I’d say yes, with the right timing since sometimes the trains are hourly. I really like trains in Italy; the Trenitalia website is not complicated, and buying tickets is easy. Cinque Terre tickets are divided into three categories, A-B-C, varying by season, affecting ticket prices. As of 2024, the lowest ticket is €5, and the highest is €10 for 75 minutes validity. Another transportation option is the Cinque Terre Ferry, which connects La Spezia to Levanto, stopping at Portovenere, Riomaggiore, Manarola, Vernazza, and Monterosso along the way. Just remember, there’s no boat access to Corniglia. An unlimited use ferry ticket costs €41 for the day, or €28 if purchased after 2:00 PM, and €15 for children. You can check the details here.
Day 1
Riomaggiore
Riomaggiore might be the most romantic place I’ve seen so far. We park our car at the upper parking lot and start walking down. As usual in Italy, you can’t just park your car anywhere. We plan to spend the night here.
It’s beautiful. Even more so than in the photos! The colorful houses perched on steep cliffs look magical in the dim streetlight. Everything is lovely, and we know it’ll be even more beautiful in the morning.
The weather is overcast and rainy. Our only wish is to wake up to a sunny sky. Now we should sleep, but, unfortunately, we can’t find a hotel. It’s not just that there are no rooms available; the ones we see are pretty bad. Worse, everyone we ask says it’s impossible to drive to the other towns at this hour because the road is under repair. So, with only 3-5 hours till morning, we drive to a place we saw from the top near Riomaggiore. The room looks nice at first glance. When we open the big windows, the sea is supposedly in front of us, but it’s so dark we can’t be sure. Taking our things from the car and going back, the 35,000 steps to get to the room and the dampness inside bother us. But we’re so tired we manage to sleep right away, and as soon as we wake up, we rush outside.
We grab fresh focaccia and espresso from a local bakery and watch the village wake up by the marina. Then, we take a leisurely stroll through the village, soaking in the vibrant atmosphere and picturesque views. The bright morning sun warms us as we marvel at Cinque Terre’s colorful houses, stunning nature, vineyards, and the azure sea.
Before continuing, let me add a note: I think Riomaggiore is a great base location for Cinque Terre. If we had found a nice place, we would have stayed here for two nights. For our next visit, note this beautiful Airbnb, Marina’s House.
Manarola
The parking attendant in Riomaggiore tells us the most sensible way to explore the area is to park our car in Manarola and take the train from there to visit the other villages. This is because Manarola has the cheapest parking. If you don’t have a car, even better, you can enjoy the scenery and vineyards on the walking path. It’s more sensible to buy the daily Cinque Terre Card, as even the walking paths have a fee. With this card, you can enjoy the trails all day and take the train. In my opinion, the best part is walking from Riomaggiore to Manarola via the Via Dell’Amore, or “Path of Love,” which takes about 20-25 minutes by foot, compared to 3 minutes by train. The famous Blue Path, which is the most well-known and popular trail in Cinque Terre, divides into four parts and connects the five villages. The easiest part of this walking path is the Via Dell’Amore.
Manarola, famous for its dramatic cliffs, feels even more beautiful and charming than Riomaggiore to me. We walk through the colorful houses, past the tiny boats parked in narrow streets, towards the sea. There’s no beach in Manarola; people swim off the rocks. The turquoise sea beckons us, but first, we have to eat.
After lunch, when the sun shines beautifully, we throw ourselves into the sea, which is delightful. While wondering how the boats get down to the sea from the rocks, I notice they’ve built an elevator; boats and yachts are lowered down with ropes from meters above. Although the villages are small, I recommend taking your time to explore the streets and hidden corners. Visit the Church of San Lorenzo and climb Punta Bonfiglio for breathtaking views of Manarola and the Mediterranean.
Cinque Terre is known for its white wines produced from grapes grown on terraced slopes. There are two main local wines: Cinque Terre DOC (a white wine made from the local Bosco grape along with Albarola and Vermentino) and Sciacchetrà DOC (a sweet wine), both of which I recommend trying. Our day in Manarola ends with a light dinner and white wine tasting at a restaurant with a stunning view of the village and the sea. It’s time to continue; just a few minutes later, we’re in Corniglia.
Corniglia is so easy to reach by train, getting off and on takes just a couple of minutes. Built on a hill, you have to climb about 400 steps from the train station. We didn’t mind at all; in fact, the view was so beautiful that it was quite enjoyable. If you don’t want to climb the steps, there’s a shuttle from the station to the center.
In Corniglia, we rented a very cute room incredibly easily, without even looking. While searching for a place to stay, Emrah asked a group of old men sitting in front of a market, and one of them happened to rent out his room. It was clean, adorable, and only 60 euros. However, they don’t regularly rent it out; it seemed rather random.
Important note: The towns mentioned are really small, and accommodation options are limited. If you’re planning to visit, make arranging your stay your first priority.
Day 2
Corniglia
Again, we let our feet lead us to the scent of fresh dough in the morning. You’re in a region incredibly rich in Italian flavors. The culinary experience here, filled with various focaccias, trofie al pesto, and sage butter gnocchi, brings you closer to Northwestern Italy’s rich cultural and culinary fabric.
Colorful houses, narrow streets. With the upcoming basil festival, basil was everywhere. In front of shops, cafés were decorated with basil; stores sold fragrant lemon soaps, various pastas, and pasta sauces. On our way back to the station, we bought basil plants from a florist’s cart, meant for planting, which we carefully carried everywhere for the next eight days. Now they’re big and in front of our kitchen window 🙂
Corniglia is the only one of the five towns not located by the sea, with no boat access, possibly making it the least visited. You feel much more local here.
After a long walk, we decide to continue our journey after sharing a lasagna at Caffe Matteo. I marked this place on my map. Honestly, the stairs you have to go up and down didn’t appeal to me, but if you want to go to the sea, follow the ‘Al Mare’ or ‘Via all Marina’ signs.
Vernazza
Our next stop is Vernazza, where you don’t need to climb stairs from the station to reach the center, which is nice. Right in the center is the station. It’s worth mentioning that if you want to explore these places by car, you can’t drive to the center. Parking is quite far out, so you have to park your car and walk. Moreover, there’s separate parking for tourists and locals, with the latter being closer to the center.
Vernazza, one of the towns with the most beautiful views in the region, has a unique feature: a charming bell tower overlooking its small harbor filled with colorful wooden boats. There are rows of restaurants along the shore; sit down, eat something, drink your white wine while watching the surroundings, and think about how lucky you are.
You can climb to the Doria Castle in Vernazza and be mesmerized by the view. Our last stop is Monterosso Al Mare.
Monterosso Al Mare
The atmosphere here is somewhat different from the others. Brightly colored houses, winding streets, and steep stone stairs are present here too, but there’s also a magnificent beach. At first glance, we thought, “Wow, it looks so much like Palamutbükü.” The sea is crystal clear, wonderful, and the beach is crowded. But, to our surprise, very few people are swimming. Our dream of swimming comes to an end when we find the sea teeming with jellyfish.
Unlike the other four Cinque Terre towns, Monterosso has a distinct ‘old’ and ‘new’ section. The old part contains the old castle walls, the Aurora Tower, and the remains of the Fieschi Castle, with the Church of Saint John the Baptist and the Capuchin Monastery also on this side. The new part, also known as Fegina, covers the coastal area from San Cristoforo Point to Punta Mesco, with the beach located on this side.
After our jellyfish disappointment, we explored the mentioned places above, wander the streets. Now We returned to Manarola to pick up our car and continued on to Portofino.
