61. Cinque Terre, Italy. Travel to the five villages of Cinque Terre, Italy.
In today’s instalment of our Italian series - We are talking all about the popular and beautiful part of Italy called Cinque Terre, which means 5 lands.
Cinque Terre is on the Mediterranean Sea and includes the five villages of Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore.
We knew that you could walk between the villages or take the train, but we really didn’t understand how that all worked – so we were determined to find out all the information and share it with you.
We stayed in the biggest and most northern village of Monterosso, and we share why you should too. We visit all the other villages and tell you about each one, what to see and how they are different.
We use the train to explore some of the villages and we also hike between two of them. We are blown away with the views – I mean, we knew they would be incredible, but nothing can prepare you for what you will see, or how tired your legs will be after your hike!
Lastly, we take a ferry ride to see all the villages from the ocean – and wow, what incredible views you have. The ferry is another way to visit each village and takes you to a town south of Cinque Terre called Porto Venere.
Stay listening to the end to find out some of the surprising things about the beaches in Cinque Terre and of course our favourite place to have a wine – or in Lyle’s case – a watermelon slushie. – now that’s a turn up for the books. Haha
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We hope you enjoy episode 61 all about Cinque Terre.
SHOW NOTES AND PICTURES BELOW
Cinque Terre is an area in north western Italy on the Ligurian Sea which is part of the Mediterranean. It is surrounded by a world heritage national park.
It wasn’t a tourist area until the 1970’s. Before that it was a fishing and agricultural area.
Today it is one of Italy’s most popular tourist destinations. We visited all five villages by train, hiking and ferry. The villages in order from north to south are Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore.
We stayed in the village of Monterosso. Our apartment was in the perfect location with easy 2 minute stroll to beach and restaurants. The apartment was roomy, comfortable and had everything we needed. Our host helped us with suggestions and also with some train travel problems we had. Would certainly recommend staying here. Apartment in Monterosso click here
This village is the largest of the five and also the easiest to walk around as it isn’t as hilly as they other villages. Monterosso is also has the best beaches and has many areas to hire the well-known orange and green umbrellas. The beaches are pebbles and rocks, so hiring a chair is a good solution. There is one small public beach at the northern end of the beach. You can choose from many cafes and restaurants along the beach front with fabulous views.
Monterosso also has a lovely old town area just off the beach. You can walk through the traffic tunnel or walk around the headland to reach it. There are many choices of restaurants and cafes and gorgeous shops to explore. The buildings are all painted pastel colours and there are many gardens and flowers all around the cobblestone streets.
Our first day exploring we caught the train from Monterosso to the furtherest village of Riomaggiore. The train stops at each station along the way, but only takes about 5 minutes between each village. The train is fast, reliable and airconditioned.
Riomaggiore is known for it’s brighter coloured houses. The fishermen paint them the bright colours so they can easily see them when returning from their fishing expeditions. The houses are all terraced on the hills, which seem to run down into the ocean. When you leave the train station you can walk a loop which takes you through the residential area to the top of town to the church and then down through the cobblestone streets to the main area full of adorable shops and restaurants. There are stunning views the whole way. Take the time to enjoy the views at one of the cafes near the cathedral on the top of the hill.
Next we hopped back on the train and went to the next village, Manarola. This is the most photographed village in Cinque Terre. It’s the one I call the “money shot”. See pictures 2 and 4 above. There is a walkway from the port area where you get off the train around the headland. There are many spots along the way to enjoy the views and see people jumping off the rocks. There is only a small dock area at Manarola, so the fishermen have to pull their boats out of the water everyday. They line them up in the main street.
Once again, the main street area is gorgeous with the pretty shops, restaurants, plazas and fishing boats.
We decided to explore the next two villages by hiking between the two. There are hiking tracks between each village are from 3.5km to 5km. It can take from one and a half hours to much longer to complete each part of the hike, depending on how many breaks you need or want to take. The elevation varies between 500m between the 5 villages - so lots of stairs to walk up and down. Make sure you wear appropriate clothing and carry water, especially in summer.
The track we did was from Corniglia to Vernazza. We caught the train to Corniglia and took a shuttle bus to the starting point. Corniglia is on the side of a hill, so you need to reach it before starting your hike. We just followed the signs. We had pre-purchased our train and park pass at the train station at Monterosso. You will need to pay for a pass to enter the parks in the summer months. There are booths at the beginning of the tracks that open at 9am.
As you can imagine, on the way, you will see spectacular views. You are walking through olive groves and lemon orchards as well as vineyards. The tracks are reasonably maintained, but are rough and quite steep in some areas. The track we did was apparently the easiest one, and it was sufficiently challenging for us. Luckily along the way there is a cafe/bar that sells refreshing drinks. The little cafe area has one of the best views along the track. Once you reach Vernazza, it’s a steady descent down to the main square
Vernazza has the only natural port of Cinque Terre. It is famous for its elegant houses. It is dominated by the fortress of Belforte and its two towers on the peninsula and the Santa Margherita Di Antiochia church in the seaside plaza. There are many restaurants in the plaza that over looks the port area. A nice spot for an icy cold drink after hiking the trail.
Another way to see all the villages is by taking the ferry along the shore. The ferry starts in Levanto, north of Monterosso and finishes in Porto Venere, south of Riomaggiore. It stops to let people on and off at all the villages, except Corniglia, which doesn’t have a port area.
Porto Venere is another pretty village, that is definitely worth a visit. You can take another boat around three national park islands from the port area or just walk around the water on the promenade. There are many boats that use this harbour, including cruise ships. There is a gothic style church, St Peter’s, that sits atop a rocky headland and is the first thing you see when you arrive at Porto Venere.
After exploring the village, you can hop on the next ferry which will take you back to where you started, or you can hop off and explore one of the other villages.
As you can imagine the views along the coastline from the ferry are stunning and we enjoyed the beautiful ferry ride immensely.
If you would like to know more details about our stay in Cinque Terre, then click the podcast player above where we tell you everything you need to know, and share some funny stories about our week in this unique part of Italy.
You can see all the podcasts, the photos and information from our Italian series by clicking the button below. If you know anyone planning a trip to Italy then please share the link by clicking the button and sharing the URL directly with them. It is a great resource full of where to stay, links to tours, maps and lots of photos for context and inspiration.