Exploring Cinque Terre, Italy
There is so much beautiful coast in Italy to see, it’s hard to decide where to visit. While the coasts in Southern Italy like Positano and Sorrento have long lovely stretches of beaches, some of the more Northern coastline is much more rugged. We visited Cinque Terre for a day many years ago. Ever since then I wanted to go back and spend some time in this charming Italian coastal area.
The name Cinque Terre literally means Five Towns. From south to north they are Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso. We stayed in the first town, pictured below, Riomaggiore.
We arrived via train from Florence to the town of La Spezia. From La Spezia, you can take a local train that stops at all 5 towns that make up Cinque Terre. On this day it was lightly raining and we had too much luggage so we hailed a cab. The train is far less expensive, but we had a beautiful coastal view along the roads in a cab.
When we arrived, it was lunchtime. We went to the same restaurant we’d been to 11 years prior. It was good to see it still there. We sat in the outdoor cafe so grateful to be back to this part of Italy and ready for our adventure.
A view looking up the street with our little cafe Bar Centrale on the left. This was early June before the tourist season really got rolling.
Since we were in an Airbnb we had a small kitchen. So we stopped at the most adorable Wine Shop to pick up some wine and some snacks to have in our apartment.
“Home sweet home.” After many weeks of traveling we took advantage of the washing machine and then hung our clothes to dry on the line. Look who’s doing the laundry!
Now it was time to go exploring the other towns. There are very few places in the world where the train station hangs on the edge of the beautiful sea.
The Five Towns
The train will take you to all 5 towns, which is the easiest way to get around. There are also hiking trails for the brave. We have another post with our Cinque Terre hiking adventures.
(Map credit: Cinque Terre EU.com)
We bought the Cinque Terre Pass for 2 days. It covers unlimited train rides, admission to the hiking trails (and they do have checkpoints!) and the local busses. It’s a very good value for the money. We also noticed that all of the trains were brand new and very modern, making the quick ride between towns very smooth.
The second town going north is Manarola. It is the second smallest town. It is also noted to be the oldest. With the small church in town having roots back to the 14th century. On this day we just made a quick stop here as we were anxious to see the other towns.
The pastel houses seemingly hang tight to the cliffs they have sat on for many years.
Like all of the villages of Cinque Terre, the only way to explore is to get out and walk. No taxi traffic through here!
Find any open spot to enjoy the beach!
In all of the towns, like Manarola, beach goers, simply laid their towels out near the water. It looked like a good way to cool off on a hot summer day. Since we didn’t have our swimsuits, we hopped the train for the next town.
Corniglia is the third town heading north. It is the only one of the 5 towns that does not have beach access from the town.
This is how you get from the train station into town. You hike up the switchback of stairs! It is said to be the equivalent of 33 flights.
The very narrow streets wind all around the town. Inside the little doorways are restaurants, hotels and cute little shops.
The narrow streets open to a very small piazza with a little church called Oratorio dei Disciplinati di Santa Caterina. Compared to the ornate churches that dominate Italy this one was a bit plain. It also was not as ancient as so many, having been built in the 18th century.
Next was a stop for lunch in a small cafe. One of the most famous foods of this region is anchovies. Don’t think of the US version of anchovies in a can. The fisherman of this area are experts in catching this small fish and the restaurants know how to serve them. We chose one of the traditional ways to eat anchovies, simply marinated in olive oil and lemon. They were so fresh and so delicious. Of course we had to then to have a margarita pizza. It was delicious as well.
The last stop on this day was the fourth town heading north called Vernazza. Like the other towns there is no car or bus traffic inside the town. The Disney movie Luca was inspired by the Cinque Terre region. The photo below really reminds me of the made up town of “Portorosso” featured in the movie.
Unlike Corniglia, Vernazza sits right on the water. There are a lot of picturesque cafes right along the sea and people were definitely out enjoying.
We hiked up to get a view of the church named, Church of St. Margaret of Antioch. The church itself is very small, with the octagon tower overlooking the chapel.
This church was built sometime between the 11th and 13th century. Researching shows conflicting dates. It was expanded at least once after that. On this very warm day, the church was cool inside the thick ancient stone walls.
After exploring the town some more it was time to head back to our “home” in Riomaggiore. Using the Trainline app on our phones we were able to see the train schedule, to reduce our wait time at the station. The ride through the three towns takes a total of 10 minutes, back along the beautiful coast and weaving through tunnels.
But wait, why didn’t we go to the fifth town, Monterosso? The town of Monterosso is famous for its sandy beaches. We spent the next day there lounging at the beautiful beach. See our post where we hiked the towns and then spent a day at the beach HERE
Back to Riomaggiore. It was a great day exploring four of the five towns in Cinque Terre. We were glad to have this time here, as the little towns become very quiet in the evening, after all the day-trippers head back into the cities. I would highly recommend a few nights stay in any of the five towns in Cinque Terre!
