Day Five: Cinque Terre – Ten years, five towns, & SO MANY STEPS
Travel Tip: As soon as you get off the train in La Spezia or Levanto, pick up a Cinque Terre pass. It gives you unlimited hop ons/offs for the local train and if you plan on doing ANY hiking on the coastal trails, you must have this pass or suffer a HEFTY fine.
Folks, let me be very clear. Cinque Terre was every bit as picturesque, charming, and breathtaking as you have seen in pictures. It is without a doubt, one of the coolest places I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting. I would go back in a heartbeat. So….welcome to the Five Lands:
We met our very friendly AirBnB host in the square of Vernazza and she led us up what was in her words “many steps” to her place.
She was NOT lying about the many steps.
Since everything is built kinda…into the cliff sides in this area, it makes for some extremely one-of-a-kind architecture. Our AirBnB was “spread out” or, rather, spread up over 4 levels. You walk in the front door into what is considered the bedroom.
Downstairs is a bathroom that is literally carved into the cliffside since the walls are exposed rock.
Walk upstairs to the living area (where we barely spent ANY time) to find plenty of room for lounging, and a small kitchenette.
In the living room you’ll find a very steep ladder that heads up and out onto….
….the rooftop terrace where we could soak in ALL of Vernazza. Simply amazing. Just…simply…amazing.
Would you just look at that? A killer rooftop view right above the town square? Pictures do not do this place justice. It was such a unique space.
We were SO excited to start exploring the area, that we did just that. Feeling a bit peckish, we grabbed some local fare, aka, Focaccia and munched on it on the way to the train. A regional specialty, it’s sold by the slice nearly everywhere, and everyone has their own spin on the local favs. It’s made daily, so pick your piece and they’ll warm it back up for you and toss it on a piece of parchment to go. We picked these up at Batti Batti’ Focacceria and they were some of the best slices of bread heaven. Made for a great mid-morning snack.
We decided to head north and work our way back south. So we started with Monterosso.
Sidenote: The trains run constantly, all day long. So you can train hop one village to the next very easily. It is literally just a few minutes from one to the next.
We basically followed Rick Steves’ walking tours around the villages which was good enough for soaking in the main sights. Monterosso is actually sort of divided into two parts. Old-town and new-town. Old town is where you’ll want to do most of your historic sight-seeing, and gander at Cinque Terre’s only “beachfront” village.
It was obviously a bit overcast during our morning. Don’t worry, it cleared up for us later in the day.
The farmer’s market was going on the day we were there. So we browsed around a bit but didn’t see anything we couldn’t live without.
As had become custom in our journey so far….checking out churches is a must. They are all so beautiful. Churches are like art pieces, each lovingly crafted with a particular vision to honor God.
The black and white stripes of this church were designed to create the illusion its much taller than it is. I think it works.
Dividing old-town and new-town, you’ll find a remarkable mini-hike to the monastery & cemetery high up on the cliff.
That’s me, studying Rick Steves’ guide for this walk while Kara snaps a couple pics (below) from this vantage point.
The steps leading up are impossible to miss. Consider them the yellow red brick road. So…start heading up.
And find yourself at the monastery.
You are welcome to go inside, but do be respectful. Heading back out, continue up a little bit more and find the cemetery.
The above picture is where the Capuchin friars are buried. This is the highest point of the town (so they can “watch over” the village) and all their feet are pointed back towards the church.
Exiting the cemetery, we went back down the north side of the monastery. Since it had rained recently, the way down was slick. So, watch your step. But definitely admire the views back towards “New-town”.
We did check out the beach, and climbed up the rocky outcropping as all the other tourists were doing. Hey, gotta live a little!
Bye bye for now Monterosso!
We hopped back on the train and by-passed Vernazza, figuring since that’s where we were staying, we’d have plenty of time to check it out later. That made Corniglia our next stop and good LORD the stairs….there are 385 steps (and a long walk) from the train to the town. There is a mini bus that runs every 15 minutes up and down the hill. So you could wait right near the train station for the bus, but we actually beat it up the hill.
Corniglia sits high up on the cliff, the only one of the five villages not directly on the water.
It’s small, and not as bustling as the others since many folks don’t make the trek up here. We stopped at a little bottega recommended in the guide book for what turned out to be some of the best food of the trip. Fresh, seasonal vegetables, diced up and sautéed together and bursting with summer flavor. Some fuiti di mare (fruits of the sea) freshly prepared with some olive oil and lemon juice, and a slice of focaccia of course. We took our food score up to the top of the town, snagged a spot on the wall to watch the waves crash into the shore while we chowed down.
Truly remarkable scenery and food. Every vacation will have a few unforgettable moments, this was one of them.
After lunch, we strolled through the narrow alleys to explore more where Kara would stop every two feet for another picture and I’d take the opportunity to read through restaurant recommendations or other tips from Rick Steves. Never want to miss a thing. We lugged his guide book all across Italy with us.
And since it had become our custom to eat gelato ALL THE TIME, we stopped by Alberto’s. Currently the highest rated Gelato spot in town.
Kara got 3 scoops (girl has serious gelato FOMO), but I opted for their famous lemon slushy. It made my lips pucker but was so refreshing to prepare me for the long descent to the train station. The flavors she tried included fresh basil and local honey, two wildly popular options. Considering Corniglia is known for having gelato wars between the three spots in this alley and Alberto’s is the tops, she was disappointed by comparison to some of the gelato we had already tried elsewhere in Italy.
Next up was Manarola. It has a small harbor, a winding main road up to the hills, and lots of charm. The train dumps you well past the village, and you have a long walk through a tunnel to get to town. It spills out right at the elevated “square”.
If you head left, up and over the square, it will take you to Manarola’s “harbor”. Their harbor is very rocky and steep, with no room for hanging by the shore.
If you head right out of the tunnel, then you’ll get to enjoy a very steep & winding walk UPHILL to the 2nd town square.
Where you’ll find….you guessed it! Another church!
Also in this square, is a great photo op looking back towards town. But this? This is nothing compared to what’s coming.
Walking back downhill just a few feet, you’ll find a trail through the vineyards inviting you in for a stroll. Per Rick Steves’ recommendation, we did just that.
This short walk through the vineyards offers stunning views of the village and spits you out next to the cemetery.
This is also the vantage point where you can look back towards the village where you’ve no doubt seen this iconic picture a few times in your Instagram feed.
Yeah…that’s the good stuff.
A very popular foodie joint is up here as well, Nessun Dorma. They have a very large patio that offers great sea views back towards Corniglia. We didn’t get to eat there, but heard the food is amazing despite no oven – they basically do things like cheese platters, salads, and fresh bruschetta.
Manarola has lots of charm. Look at that adorable little waterfall below a charming bridge. Did you know that Cinque Terre is actually built on a system of water? There used to be these charming bridges and waterfalls throughout the towns until the Nazis paved over them all during the war.
Last up was Riomaggiore. Rather than taking a right off the train and heading straight through the tunnel like everyone else does, head to the left and up the hill per Rick Steves’ recommendation. This is the “slow” way into town. Riomaggiore is the most vertical of all the five villages meaning you pretty much go up and down all the time.
Smiling, but my legs are dying!
Just pause for a breather, we’re headed downhill in a minute.
Riomaggiore’s harbor is rather picturesque and colorful. I’d say it was easily the brightest and best maintained.
By this point we were rather tired, and needed to rest up for our late dinner. So, we hopped on the train back to Vernazza for a brief spell, snagging a few photos of our own sleepy little village.
Vernazza is very pretty, a lot less busy than Monterosso, Manarola, or Riomaggiore. It has the largest square ON the water, and the waves offer a soothing soundtrack for the popular hangout.
Given this was our actual anniversary (Happy 10 years to us!), I had made us reservations at a nicer restaurant, Ristorante Belforte. It’s built into the old fort right on the harbor and offers a truly unique dining experience. If you get lucky, you’ll snag a table al fresca on one of their patios overlooking the ocean like us. It had an enticing menu & consistently high reviews. I made our reservation online several weeks in advance without any issue.
We had the most wonderful time here thanks in large part to our server, Andre. He was very animated, congenial, & exceptionally friendly. He let us enjoy plenty of alone time, but also hung around quite a bit, ready with conversation & questions. We had a great time talking with him and he made us feel very warm and welcome in Vernazza due to his genuine personality. He really helped us enjoy the slow pace of a meal like the Italians do. He even took our picture for us, several times actually.
Oh, but what about the food? Well, my friends…it was nothing short of wonderful. BY this point we had learned to share all our dishes. We had been pouring over the menu and reviews before we came and knew we wanted to try certain things. We started with the “Fruiti di Mare” (pronounced Frooty dee mar-eh) which means fruits of the sea. AKA, seafood. Molto bene! The dished vary daily based on what seafood is caught that day. We were served an abundance of anchovies. Let me tell you right now, I’ve never been a fan of them, but they are a local specialty and Monterosso is famous for them. So, when in Rome Cinque Terre, you eat the anchovies. I was so pleasantly surprised at how delicate they were. Not fishy, not salty. Prepared several different ways, I enjoyed all of them.
They brought out a total of 5 plates, all chock full of fresh fish. Lightly fried anchovies drizzled with lemon, fresh anchovies with caper berries & olive oil, salt cod puree with endives, octopus with potatoes….we were almost full from this stuff alone.
Sidenote: It’s a great idea to order the house wine wherever you go in Italy. And most of the time, you’ll want to order red wine. Italy is renowned for some of the boldest, fruitiest, most deliciously complex red wines in the world. HOWEVER, Cinque Terre is reputed for their white wine. So, order yourself up some crisp house white when in Cinque Terre.
Oh, and feel free to watch the sunset as you chow down on fresh seafood…
The real star of the show though, was the squid ink tagliatelle that all the reviews raved about.
This was SO good. Without a doubt, one of the best pasta dishes we’ve ever had. Just all around fresh flavor, delicate pasta, and the squid ink adds a tasty richness.
We saved room for dessert, and tried the local specialty. Buccellato (basically a vanilla cake) served with a regional dessert wine, sciacchetrà. Certainly not the best dessert we had, but still delicious. The dessert wine packed a serious wallop. Meant to be sipped and savored.
Andre made sure to bring us out some limoncello (another local specialty) to cap off our evening. We bid him good evening and climbed the many, many steps back to our room and crashed.
Up next: Cinque Terre part 2: Hiking
We’ll have the link round-ups for everything we ate/did at the end of day 2! So stay tuned…
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