Cinque Terre, Italian for ‘The Five Lands’, is an amazingly beautiful string of centuries old, quaint towns spanning a small region of the Italian Riviera. It is made up of 5 small fishing villages, each consisting of 1 tiny road lined with small family owned shops and restaurants all in stunning, rustic colorful houses standing out amongst a back drop of vineyards clinging to steep terraced cliffs. The port areas are filled with fishing boats and dotted with a number of small Michelin Star restaurants and local trattorias serving up freshly caught seafood specialties over the most delicious Italian pastas and featuring the Liguria region’s famous pesto sauce. Finally, the views of each unique port are one more beautiful and stunning than the next.
The entirety of the 5 small towns can easily be explored in a couple of days. As mentioned above, most of the towns consist of a single road, so you can easily visit more than one fishing village per day. The 5 towns are situated very close to one another and are all connected by the same train. You can purchase a multi-day pass at any of the train stations that exist at the center of each small fishing village in the Cinque Terre region and ride the train unlimited times between the towns. Each stop at the different towns varies from 1-5 min apart from the other. You can also hike between many of the towns which is one of the best known things to do while visiting Cinque Terre.
To get to Cinque Terre you can easily fly into one of the major international airports in Genoa, Pisa or Florence that are all within a relatively short train ride to Cinque Terre. As always, we recommend downloading the Omio phone app and booking train tickets in Europe using that. DO NOT plan on renting a car and driving it to Cinque Terre. For starters the Italians drive like absolute maniacs around the multitude of tight cliff hugging hairpin turns that you must traverse while driving to Cinque Terre and once you get there, no cars are allowed in the towns so you will have to pay to park it at a neighboring train station and take the train into Cinque Terre anyhow. We highly recommend you skip taking your life into your hands, playing chicken with aggressive locals who would rather use their horns than their breaks going around blind cliffside turns with no barriers and save your money by not having to pay to park your rental car at a neighboring town 15 min away.
The best time of year to visit is in the saddle season, just outside the main tourist months of June, July and August. Book your trip in April/May or September/October as the weather will be sunny, but milder than the heat waves of mid summer and there will be less tourists crowding the streets. Ideally, we recommend a 3 night stay in one of the 5 towns. Do not book hotels or airbnbs in multiple different towns in Cinque Terre. Pick one town that suits your needs best and then simply use the train system to go between the towns during the day. Below are the five towns listed in order from North to South followed by a quick blurb to help you narrow down which town to stay at. You can find more detail for each individual town if you click on the photos below.
Monterosso al Mare
The largest of the 5 towns, with the most hotels and restaurants. Also, the only town with a proper beach. Great for families and large groups. Definitely the most touristy, modern and comfortable of the towns. However, it lacks the rustic, remoteness and authenticity of the other towns.
Vernazza
Beautiful open amphitheater style harbor with a couple very nice restaurants. A maze of tiny, narrow streets outside the main harbor. Can get crowded, especially when large groups from cruises and other tours drop off more tourists than the small alleys can absorb.
Corniglia
Small, quiant and up on top of the hill above all the other towns. The least number of tourists. The only one of the 5 towns that does not have access to the sea. Wonderful for a day trip, but limited in accessibility as it requires 250 steps of stairs to get from the train stop to the town above.
Manarola
The prettiest of the towns. A handful of cool restaurants and wine bars and probably the most stunning view from above at the legendary Nessun Dorma Restaurant.
Riomaggiore
Iconic and secluded inner harbor, with the most romantic accommodations. The most rustic, authentic and least touristy of the 5 towns with less tourists than all but Corniglia.
