CINQUE TERRE – La dolce vita in Italy Added: July 2008
Five villages, five stars. Strangely unknown, gorgeously attractive. Cinque Terre is all about magnificient scenery, Ligurian delicacies and the clear blue Mediterranean Sea. La dolce vita for sure.
We spent a week travelling around the Italian coast just an hours train journey from Pisa (Ryan Air connected). The national park Cinque Terre consists of five villages clinging to the steep coastline of Liguria in northwestern Italy, all within some 15 kilometers distance.
We arrived in Rio Maggiore, the first village from Pisa (if you come from Genua you will come to Monterossa first). We were lucky to get a very nice designed room even though it was high season (booking is for whimps, right?). The thing with Rio Maggiore is that you cannot do much except swim, have some awesome ice cream and just relax. And sometimes this is just what you want to do. Expect no partying here!
Travelling between the villages is easy regardless if you hike, go by train or take the local boat. Cars are banned!
The hiking trails between the villages offer spectacular scenery. The Via dell’Amore trail took us to the next village, Manarola, in just 30 minutes (with quite a big backpack).
In Manarola the fishermen pull their fishing boats into the village since the harbor is too small.
Manarola was even better than Rio Maggiore and we decided to stay there for the rest of our trip. Instead we made day tours to the other villages.
We took a walk to Corniglia which is probably the smallest village. It is plonked on top a high cliff, something we became painfully aware of after a steep climb of 382 steps. A seriously rough experience, especially if you’ve had a few drinks :-) Corniglia is not connected to the sea, but there is a nudist beach for those interested in nudity (who isn’t?).
The next village is Vernazza, which is quite nice. There was a beach party going on when we arrived there but we climbed up to a sea-side restaurant for a fabulous dinner instead.
The last village is Monterossa which is larger but more snobby. Getting a table at a popluar restaurant was difficult as well as finding a hotel room. There were mainly private beaches and you had to pay 18-22€ to get a sun chair (the public beach is just a small overcrowded strip).
If you have time you can also take a trip to a sixth village, Portovenere, which has an interesting castle offering great views of the surroundings. The place is a little bit touristy but nevertheless very charming. Watch out for jellyfish if you take a swim!
All in all, Cinque Terre is strongly recommended by us. A common backpacker reflection is: ”I’ve seen a lot, but not much more beautiful than this.” We can just agree!
