Cinque Terra

Cinque Terra (the "five lands") - Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore

We have wanted to go to Cinque Terra since our honeymoon 6 years ago. There’s a funny story (ok maybe at that time, it wasn’t so funny to my poor then-new husband) of how we had scheduled a 3-week long holiday where the 1st week was spent at the Amalfi Coast, Sorrento and Capri, the 2nd in Cinque Terra and Florence and the last week in Tuscany and Rome. Friends who knew us then would know that we ended up in Disney World in Orlando in the 2nd week trying to escape the heat wave in Italy (at least that was my excuse)! And so, we had to go back to see Cinque Terra at some point and there was no better time than Easter!

We flew into Pisa from London Gatwick on Easter on British Airways for 130 pounds return each. Budget airlines like Ryanair also fly to Pisa but prices were equally expensive for the Easter period so we opted for BA instead.

Cinque Terra, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is in the Liguria region of Italy. It comprises five (i.e. "cinque") little villages along the sea surrounded by hillsides and on the drive down to Monterosso (the largest of the 5 villages), the village are almost not visible from the roads.

A local train from La Spezia to Genoa connects the five lands or you can take a passenger ferry between the lands although you should note the timing of the ferry as it may determine how long you can stop at each village.

On the first evening, the weather was perfect – it was sunny but not too hot, wind blowing in our faces, so we took a boat from the 1st village where we lived, Monterosso, to the furthest, Riomaggiore. (On hindsight, I thought the 5 villages were best viewed from the boat. I loved how you could see at one glance how far apart the villages were and how they randomly appeared in the middle of cliffs.)

Each town was similar in terms of what you would be looking for or looking to do –
(1) Gelato (2) Gelato (3) Gelato.
Heh. Ok ok. I’ll be serious. Here’s what we did in each village:
(1) Find a gelato stop (2) Walk down quaint streets (3) Find a beachfront café to sit and watch the world go by (until the next boat or train).

It was as easy as that. Because it was April, we hadn’t anticipated great weather for swimming or hanging out by the beach so we didn’t bring swimsuits. It turned out to be great weather for sunbathing though! Such a pity!

If you have sufficient time, you must walk one of the trails. Route 1 which goes high above the towns and route 2 which goes between the towns closer to the sea. Route 1 also connect Portovenere on the south and Levanto on the north to the Cinque Terre. You can easily walk between the Cinque Terre towns on the lower route in one day. It takes about 5 - 6 hours. If you don't fancy doing the full trail in one day, you can break them up.

I guess the pictures speak for themselves.....

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Vernazza



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Riomaggiore

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Corniglia

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Monterosso al Mare

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Manarola




WHERE TO STAY

We opted to stay in Monterosso even though it was the largest and least quaint of the 5 towns. Folks who enjoy a quieter stay usually opt to stay in Vernazza. We weren't sure what shops were open on Easter Sunday and Monday (both being public holidays) and thought we would have more options in the largest village. We also wanted a hotel with a view without having to walk up steep stairs - when you book your hotel, do check this as you might not want to carry luggage up and down many stairs. We chose Hotel Pasquale for that and the location couldn't be beat. The price was on the steep side, at 145 Euros a night. If you do stay there, you must ask for a room on a high floor. Our room was on the first floor and there was a path sloping down that went right past our room. The train running past regularly didn't bother us as much as the partying and laughing folks walking past our room late into the night.

Our hotel - Albergo Pasquale (the peach building with green windows)

View from our room

FOOD

Lunch at Ciak



This was THE place to eat. We peeped into their kitchen and it was filled with the yummiest looking shell fish. The pot on the right is the spaghetti marinara. 14 Euros for 1 portion. That picture shows you what one portion is!!! 3 of us could eat it. We had the fish soup - the left pot was a portion for 2. The meal was SO GOOD and fresh and SO GOOD (have i said that already?). Remember to go early, or make a reservation, as we saw queues outside during every meal time.

Gelato + marinara = always the best part of our Italian holidays.... :)