Cinque Terre

The Italian Riviera is not short of rugged coastline or romantic towns and villages, but the five fishing communities of the Cinque Terre are its most iconic highlight. The five villages are no longer the isolated hamlets they once were, but there’s still a feeling of remote authenticity, with few roads, perfectly preserved architecture and a network of stunning coastal and mountain trails.

You can explore these villages by train, on foot or by bus but I would truly recommend the rigid coastal path that connects them.

To start our journey we will take a bus to La Spezia then we will sail over to Portovenere by ferry.

After we finished admiring this nearly 2000 years old village we will continue to Riomaggiore which is the easternmost and largest of all five villages and acts as the Cinque Terre’s unofficial capital. Peeling buildings line up down a steep ravine to a tiny harbour. Their pastel glow at sunset, best appreciated from the sea, is one of the Cinque Terre’s most romantic sights. A botanical garden and bird watching centre sits on a rocky promontory up the hill from its pebbly beach.

We then walk on among the grapevines that surround Manarola produce the Cinque Terre wine, Sciacchetrà. The bustling main street and waterfront promenade are still lined with fishing boats and other such reminders of everyday village life. Punta Bonfiglio has fabulous views and a playground with a bar (or a bar with a playground, depending on your priorities).

Our journey continues to Vernazza. Vernazza’s small harbour – the Cinque Terre’s only securing landing place, its sea-facing amphitheatre of pastel houses that brings on the sighs. The village trademark caruggi (narrow lanes) rise almost vertically from here, a maze of stairs and tiny terraces, with big blue sea views popping at every turn.

Monterosso only rates as ‘swoon-worthy’ until you catch sight of the competition around the corner, but it’s the only village that has a proper strip of beach. Known for its lemon trees and plump anchovies served right off the local fishing boats, it’s the furthest west of the villages and the most easily accessible by car.

Corniglia, sitting on the top of a 100m-high rocky promontory surrounded by vineyards.  Corniglia is the only village that lacks direct access to the sea, although steep steps wind from a rocky cove and its waterfront train station far below. Its tranquil, tangled streets lead to a broad and breezy sea-facing terrace, the only vantage point from where you can clock (and photograph) all five villages at once.

After any free time to spare which we can spend at the local shops or down at the beach, shortly we make our way back to La Spezia and hop on our bus.

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