Cinque Terre has become a very popular destination in Italy. To make the most of your visit, follow these tips!
The Cinque Terre (“Five Lands”) are located in Liguria, on the West coast of Italy, not far from Genoa and Pisa. You may have seen them on Instagram location tags too: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. In recent years, these five colourful villages have become very popular among European travellers, and the destination is probably at the top of everyone’s travel bucket lists. And for good reason! The Cinque Terre are definitely a must-see. However since they are so popular now, to enjoy what they have to offer you have to plan your trip carefully. It could be easy to be disappointed by the crowds, the prices, or the unpredictable trains, but this is what this post is for! I’ll help you plan a wonderful trip to the Cinque Terre that you will enjoy to the fullest. Without further ado, let’s get planning!
✈️ How to get to the Cinque Terre?
You can get to the Cinque Terre by plane or train from the main city in the area, Genoa. If you arrive from Italy already, you can also travel by train to La Spezia, a city South of the five villages. From La Spezia, you can take a train to any of the villages of the Cinque Terre. If you arrive from Genoa, don’t forget to stop in the city and try some regional, authentic pesto!
🏨 Where to stay in the Cinque Terre
One thing to know is that the five villages are very close together. In fact, you could explore them in a day. However if you want to make the most of each village, of the atmosphere, and explore without having to rush, I suggest having two full days in the area. For accommodation, an easy solution would be to stay in La Spezia, and take the train every day to the villages. The train rides are short and from La Spezia, you are only twenty(ish) minutes away from the northernmost village, Monterosso al Mare.
My friend and I stayed in Vernazza, in the Camere Fontanavecchia, a great B&B close to the train station and good value for money. A lot of B&Bs in the Cinque Terre may be more expensive than in the neighbouring cities because of the exclusivity (there are no hotels in the Cinque Terre), however it may be worth spending a little extra to be in one of the five villages – makes it a little quicker to go around during your stay!
Just a heads up: Corniglia, one of the villages, is located on top of a cliff. Unlike the other villages, it does not have an area at sea level – so when you go to Corniglia, you have to either drive, or walk up a billion stairs from the train station. Thus finding accommodation there means that every day you’d have to walk up and down those stairs – and trust me, it’s a workout!
🚆 Transportation in the Cinque Terre: how to get around
You can drive around the Cinque Terre of course, but I do think that the easiest way to go around is by train. There are regular train services between the five villages and the cities north and south of them, throughout the day and the evening. In 2021, each train ride costs 4€ (one way). To minimise costs, you can get a Cinque Terre Card. We got a two-day pass and paid 29€ for unlimited train rides and the entry to hiking trains in the natural park – more on that below. If you plan on moving around the villages in a day, the train pass is what you should go for. By car, you have to drive on mountain roads and find parking, so it would take you much longer to move between villages. Taking the train, you only have around 4 to 6 minutes between each village!
Sadly, one thing about the train service is that like everywhere in Italy, it can be a little unpredictable: every day, we saw trains delayed by 10 to 20 minutes, and some trains not making the stop in the in-between villages (Vernazza, Corniglia and Manarola), only stopping at the southernmost village (Riomaggiore) and the northernmost village (Monterosso). That being said, if I went back I would still confidently choose train travel over car!
🏊 Here’s what you should not miss in the Cinque Terre:
First, I’d say that each village deserves a visit. They’re all different, despite looking similar at first glance. It’s hard to pick a favourite, even though the picturesque Manarola and the narrow, quiet streets of Corniglia have my preference. When you visit, make sure to do this:
☀️ If you enjoy hiking, go on the Sentiero Azzurro (Blue Trail) paths between Monterosso and Vernazza, and Vernazza-Corniglia. These hiking paths have a fee of 7€50 each, but if you get a Cinque Terre Card for the train rides, entry to those hiking paths are included. We did the hike between Vernazza and Monterosso, and it was awesome! It’s a challenging hike, especially at the beginning and end as there are lots of stairs to go up the moutain, but the views are wonderful and it’s so worth the effort. Even in the summer, I’d say the hike is doable if you wear sunscreen and brings lots of water and a snack. To get from Vernazza to Monterosso, it took us about 1h45, with short breaks to catch out breath and take photos of the landscape.
🌊 Beaches: the beaches in the Cinque Terre are pebble beaches, not sand. Vernazza has a small sand area, but most beaches are only rocks. The beach in Monterosso is long and was my favourite, although one part is private and you probably have to book a sunbed to access it. In some areas, there are no beaches, but you can access the sea through the rocks, like in Riomaggiore. Most swimming areas are pretty safe, there are no waves, and a lot of people go swim in the Cinque Terre waters.
⛪ There are churches to visit in all five villages, but I have to say I wasn’t impressed by any of them! The Cinque Terre are old villages, and hence the church architecture is a little plain for my own taste – nothing like the Baroque beauties of Rome, for example. However, the black and white church in Monterosso deserve a visit!
🏖️ Watching the sunset from Manarola or Riomaggiore is a must. You can grab a takeaway pizza and sit on the rocks in Riomaggiore, waiting for the sun to go down. The Cinque Terre are a typical ‘summer’, leisure destination: you won’t find museums to explore there, but you can spend a couple days enjoying the sunshine, going on boat tours, eating ice cream and going to the beach. Just take it slow and enjoy!
🍽️ Food & drinks in the Cinque Terre
Treating yourself to delicious foods and drinks in the Cinque Terre will make your stay extra special.
For breakfast, I highly recommend Il Pirata delle Cinque Terre. We had breakfast there every day and it was great! The owners and waitresses are really friendly, and the food is delicious. I recommend the scrambled eggs, the pistacchio cornetti (croissants) and their fresh red fruit granita, served with delicious whipped cream!
Another must in the Cinque Terre is the infamous Nessun Dorma, located in Manarola. This restaurant has wonderful views of Manarola from above. As it’s a popular spot, they have a virtual queue service that allows you to queue online. You walk around Manarola and check on your number, and once it’s almost your turn, you can show up at Nessun Dorma and they’ll give you your table! If you’re lucky, you get a table with the view of the village. The food there is simple, but made with high-quality ingredients. You can sip on a delicious cocktail (I recommend the Basilito, a cocktail with fresh basil – probably the best cocktail I’ve ever had!) and eat bruschette, share a burrata, a platter of local deli meats… We spend a few hours there without being disturbed. Despite the place being so popular, the prices are very reasonable. 10/10 would recommend!
I have to note that in Liguria there are a lot of seafood and fish-based dishes. There wasn’t much variety in the pasta options in restaurants – a pasta specialty you should try is the trofie al pesto, sometimes served with green beans and potatoes. As everywhere in Italy, you will find plenty of good pizza options – we had delicious pizza at Emy’s Way, in Monterosso al Mare – Emiliano, the owner, will give you an energetic welcome!
