I had always assumed that Cinque Terre was one town/city on its own, never was I more surprised than when I was searching for accommodation and found out that it is actually made up of five coastal towns instead.
Of course, we didn’t mind all that much because it meant that instead of just getting to see one town; we got to see all five. Thanks to other bloggers and cost saving websites, I quickly figured out that we couldn’t really afford to stay in one of the five coastal towns of Cinque Terre, but could find reasonable accommodation in La Spezia and use our train passes to do day visits.
This actually ended up working out so well. Not only did I manage to find lovely accommodation at a good price on Airbnb, but it was also right across the road from the train station, which was completely ideal for the many towns we wanted to visit.
You would think that with five unique towns to visit, we would have already had our hands full and not needed to visit anywhere else; but we do so love to travel that we actually added another two towns on to our list. Levanto and Bonassola although not part of the Cinque Terre proved to be way less touristy and also to have some amazing beaches. Not to mention this super cool pedestrian tunnel that we found leading from Levanto to Bonassola. It was the first time that we had ever walked from one town to another and the views that we saw along the way made the 40 minute walk completely worth it. At least we didn’t have our huge suitcases with us for a change. 🙂
So it was that we spent our first day on multiple beaches, walking between towns and just relaxing. It was such a rarity to have a day where we didn’t have to walk to multiple tourist spots, or find a grocery store to buy food, but instead just appreciate the scenery and chill for a change. We enjoyed it more than bunking work when you aren’t sick! 🙂
The next two days were way crazier, as was our norm and we found ourselves trying to get to every town in Cinque Terre before it got dark and we had to head home. We started with Monterosso and the main beach certainly didn’t disappoint. We walked around town with many other tourists on our heels before jumping into the sea to cool off. It wasn’t the smartest thing we’ve ever done, to get soaking wet right before we had to jump back on the train, but luckily it was hot and we managed to dry off a bit beforehand.
Then we headed to Manarola. I have this terrible habit of seeing a picture or scene in a movie that is set somewhere amazing and then when I travel to that city I want to find that exact place. Most of the time, I end up searching for hours or days and never find that exact place (probably because it was actually filmed on a movie set), but not in Cinque Terre. If you Google Cinque Terre, there is usually multiple shots of one town with super colourful houses right on the water. Well, that town just happens to be Manarola. Not only were there colours everywhere, but we found ourselves drawn to the harbour (as there isn’t really a beach) where everyone was laying about on the rocks and diving into the refreshing water. I’m not much of a jumping into the water below without knowing what is down there kind of person, but Luch did it. I was more civilized and took the stairs.
The next day we headed to Vernazza on the early morning train and although it was overcast, it was actually a welcome relief from the day before. We walked to the Santa Margherita Church and the Porto di Vernazza (harbour). We also marvelled at the caves that the sea had carved out in the rocks and wished we were rich enough to eat in one of the restaurants that sat on a cliff overlooking the water. We even found ourselves walking part of the way on hiking trails that led above the town. It was then that we found out that there are actually trails that lead between every town in Cinque Terre and you can buy a hiking pass to walk to them all. If we had had more time, I definitely would have done that, because the views alone would have been incredible.
After that, we headed to Corniglia which is the only Cinque Terre town not on the water, but actually on the cliffs above it. After finding out that we would have to climb 382 stairs to get up to the town, we decided to take the bus up instead and I say bus when I really mean tiny tourist minivan thing. We squished onto the bus once it eventually arrived and had to stand all the way up to the top. At least it was only about a 5 minute journey and decided that we would walk down the stairs on the way out. More colourful houses, narrow passageways and beautiful sea views assaulted our senses.
Last up was Riomaggiore and it’s winding roads that led up into the hills. We took so many panoramic photos here that they have become backgrounds and lock screens on my phone. It actually felt like a town in South America and not a coastal town in Italy. We got ourselves some gelato and took the last of our photos before we headed home for the evening, knowing that the next day we would be leaving Cinque Terre and heading for Lake Como.
Our two month tour might have almost been at an end, but we still had 4 more towns to visit and for that we were grateful!
