The Region
Cinque Terre is a land ripe with culture and beauty.
Fun fact: Vernazza, one town over from Monterosso, is the birthplace of pesto!
Here's a taste of what's in store:
Cinque Terre is a string of centuries-old seaside villages on the rugged Italian Riviera coastline. In each of the five towns, colorful houses and vineyards cling to steep terraces, harbors are filled with fishing boats and trattorias turn out seafood specialties along with the Liguria region’s famous sauce, pesto. The cliffside Cinque Terre trail 'Sentiero Azzurro' connects the villages and offers sweeping sea vistas.
UNESCO World Heritage Site inscription: 1997
The NY Times recently had an article outlining the "Must Sees" of the Cinque Terre if you only had 36 hours. If you'd like to read the article click here.
They also had an article outlining a variety of activities you can do in the region on a budget.
If you would like to experience the region by sea, here are a couple of boat tours that are operated locally:
Matilde: Boat Tour owned and operated by Stefano. Based in Monterosso.
Angelo's Boat Tours: Boat Tours based in Monterosso al Mare
Cinque Terre Ferry: A more affordable alternative to private tours.
Adventure Seekers: Rent your own boat and go exploring!
If you prefer to see the land on foot hiking the Cinque Terre trail between towns is a must. You can make this hike as long or as short as you would like. And grab the train back to whatever town you seek. It's really fun to have lunch in one town and sit by the sea in the next. And in-between the villages take in unforgettable cliff views.
For a detailed breakdown of each section of the trail, click here.
If you do decide that you want to hike the trail, or portions of it, please know that sometimes adverse weather can shut down sections. In order to keep up to date on trail conditions stay informed here. Also note that portions of the trail can be challenging and one should wear sturdy shoes, and pack a day pack of water and snacks.
We wanted to share an excerpt from our favorite travel writer Rick Steves to further inspire you:
I'm up early in my favorite village on the Italian Riviera, as the morning sun touches the tip of Vernazza's bell tower and greets a peaceful world. The air is damp, cool, and refreshing as I wander downhill, passing underneath the train tracks. I enjoy the fact that the town is traffic-free, and realize that my favorite Italian towns are all this way.
Fiat-free Italy…just the way I like it.
Along a beautifully isolated six-mile stretch of the most seductive corner of the northern Italian coast lies the Cinque Terre (CHINK-weh TAY-reh) — five (cinque) small towns gently and steadily carving a good life out of difficult terrain. Each village fills a ravine with a lazy hive of human activity — calloused locals and sunburned travelers enjoying the area's unique mix of Italian culture and nature. With a traffic-free charm — a happy result of their natural isolation — these towns are the rugged alternative to the glitzy Riviera resorts nearby. There's not a Fiat or museum in sight — just sun, sea, sand (well, pebbles), wine, and pure, unadulterated Italy.
Enjoy the villages, swimming, hiking, and evening romance of one of God's great gifts to tourism. While the Cinque Terre is now discovered (and can be unpleasantly crowded midday, when tourist boats and cruise-ship excursions drop by), I've never seen happier, more relaxed tourists. Given that the vast majority of the crowds are day-trippers, make a point to get the most out of those cool, relaxed, and quiet hours early in the day and in the evening.
Until the advent of tourism in this generation, the towns were poor and remote. Today, tourism stokes their economies and each is well connected by hourly trains. But traditions are resilient, there's not a chain store anywhere, and each of the five villages comes with a distinct dialect and its own proud heritage.
To preserve the Cinque Terre's natural and cultural wonders, Italy has declared the region a park — towns and all. Visitors buy an inexpensive day pass to hike the scenic trail that laces together the unique communities.
Riomaggiore — the most substantial non-resort of the five towns — is a fascinating tangle of pastel homes that lean on each other like drunken sailors. A cliff-hanging trail leads from the beach to old Nazi bunkers and a hilltop botanical garden.
The next town, tiny Manarola, is a tumble of buildings bunny-hopping down its ravine to the harbor. You can hike up to Punta Bonfiglio — for a bar on a bluff between the cemetery and the sea — or enjoy tasty treats born right here: pesto on your focaccia, washed down by crisp local wine sprinkled with Mediterranean twinkles. Talk about going local.
Corniglia, with its mellow main square, is the quiet town — the only one of the five not on the water. From the train station, a footpath zigzags up nearly 400 stairs to the hilltop town. According to legend, a Roman farmer originally settled Corniglia, naming it for his mother, Cornelia (which is how Corniglia is pronounced in Italian). Residents claim Cornelia's son produced a wine so famous that vases found at Pompeii touted its virtues. Still, today, wine remains the town's lifeblood. Following the pungent smell of ripe grapes into an alley cellar, I find a local who lets me dip a straw into her keg.
Monterosso, the Cinque Terre's only resort town, comes with cars, hotels, rentable beach umbrellas, crowds, and a thriving late-night scene. Its historic center cradles Old World charm within crooked lanes and hole-in-the-wall shops. With the closest thing to a natural harbor — overseen by a ruined castle and an old church — Vernazza is the jewel of the Cinque Terre. Its action is at the harbor, where you'll find restaurants, a bar hanging off the edge of the castle, a breakwater with a promenade, and a tailgate-party street market every Tuesday morning. While the old men putter with their tough little boats, the day's last bit of sunshine seems to sweep the old women and children into a warm corner in front of the church.
Leisure time is devoted to the passeggiata (evening stroll), as locals do their vasche (laps), wandering lazily together up and down the main street. After three days in town — sitting on a bench, gelato in hand, enjoying the endless "ciaos" and parade of neighbors — I feel a part of the scene.
I cap my Cinque Terre days on the breakwater with a glass of Sciacchetrà dessert wine. At midnight, the Mediterranean is darker than the sky — except for bobbing lanterns on the horizon. By night, old-school fishermen are seducing anchovies into their nets. By day, the same guys are seducing me with a way of life that refuses to give in to the modern world.
Want more? Click here.