Cinque Terre

Translating to ‘five lands’, Cinque Terre is a group of 5 quaint villages on the Ligurian coast — Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, Monterosso (with tourists thronging in millions now, they might not be as quaint depending on the time of the year). Each village is nestled into crevices along the rocky Mediterranean coast. Pastel coloured houses top the rocky sea cliffs, giving it the quintessential ‘Old Italy’ charm. The five villages are now a National Park and a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Pisa and Genoa are the two big cities on either side of them. They are so close, it takes barely 10–15 minutes by train between consecutive villages. Coming from Pisa, the best way to visit is the train from La Spezia to Levanto. Most of the villages are small and can be easily explored on foot.

The train stations can get REALLY crowded in peak hours, with lots of day-trippers.

RIOMAGGIORE

Riomaggiore is the first village travelling North from Spezia. The origins of Riomaggiore date back to the 8th Century, when the inhabitants of the Vara valley moved towards the coast searching a milder climate to raise grapes and olives, without the fear of pirate raids. Starting from Rio Maggiore, the Via dell’Amore (Lover’s Lane), a path with wonderful views of the rugged terrain leads to Manarola (about 20 minutes walk).

Riomaggiore is a cascade of multi-coloured houses in the typical Ligurian style, clustered around a natural harbour carved out in between the rocks.

Random artsy stuff near Rio Maggiore train station

In the early 1800s, Florentine painter Telemaco Signorini found Riomaggiore to be of great inspiration.

MANAROLA

The village is all ups and downs, much steeper than Riomaggiore, with steep narrow alleys leading to the sea. The top of Manarola houses the Church of San Lorenzo built around the 1340s in Gothic Ligurian style and a defence tower used to keep a watch on pirates. From December 8th till the end of January the hills are illuminated with more than 200 figures and 12000 lamps for the biggest lighted nativity in the world.

The pastel-hued houses are a constant

VERNAZZA

Vernazza settlement dates back to 2nd century when it was ruled by the Republic of Genoa. The medieval castle Belforte was built in the mid-1500s to protect the village from pirates. Pirates have historically been a big issue to these otherwise peaceful villages, who just want to grow their olives, make their wine and chill by stunning seascapes.
There is a tiny port surrounded by the usual pastel coloured settlements and a piazza brimming with restaurants and bars. The steeply terraced olive gardens produce some of the finest olive oil in the world. The village is surrounded by very steeply-terraced olive groves which are said to produce among the finest olive oil in the country. The Church of Santa Margherita di Antiochia, on the rocks overlooking the sea and the Tower of the Doria Castle (again to watch out for pirates!), are important landmarks in Vernazza.

Docks at Vernazza. One can arrive at Vernazza by boat as well (just like for all the other Cinque Terre villages)

Busy streets en route the port

MONTEROSSO

Monterosso is the largest of the five and is surrounded by hills cultivated with lemons, grapes, olives and almonds. It is also the only one with a proper beach. That makes it the most popular among tourists as well. Most tourists visiting Cinque Terre for longer choose Monterosso as their base, with its range of options in food and accommodation.

We visited the beach in bad weather, but at least there weren’t many tourists!

These paintings do much justice to the Cinque Terre ‘vibe’.

Buy your fridge magnets from souvenir shops. And while you are at it, pet the grumpy cat.

Most of Italy can bog you down with a lot of history and legacies of stalwarts. Cinque Terre is not a typical Italian destination in that regard. There isn’t much to see in terms of specific sights or monuments — a few churches, but it is mostly about the outdoors. There are, however, stunning hiking trails, and amazing beaches to breathe in the Mediterranean air while treating yourself to seafood, gelato and wine (much of which we couldn’t do as perpetually broke graduate students).