We haven’t stopped fantasizing about Cinque Terre since we left- it’s heaven on earth. It’s a popular daytrip from Tuscany or Pisa, and cruise ships dock in Livorno or La Spezia, but I’m going to shoot you straight- if you want the full Cinque Terre experience, you have to stay in one of the towns.
During the day, Cinque Terre is everything you’d expect from a seaside Italian vacation destination; Picturesque beaches bustling with tourists, colorful little houses stacked on top of each other, all wrapped in lush steep mountains- it’s pretty dreamy. But once the sun goes down and the day trippers leave, was when it lit up for us. With most of the tourists gone, the town felt like it was ours. The beach was empty, only our feet in the warm water. The town square had been bustling all day, held only a couple of local tweens playing some combination of soccer and tag while their families lingered over drinks. We wandered up and down baroque alleys, basking in the romantic glow .. I could never do it justice. Monterosso Al Mare was more enchanting than I ever I imagined, especially in the moonlight. But enough waxing poetically, here how we did it:
Arrival Evening: the Sherpa and the risotto
Cinque Terre is accessible by ferry and Train but we drove in from Tuscany. The last hour of the drive is a pretty windy descent to the coast, and I can be a bit of a carsick ninny. David can drive like he stole it, though, so I napped while he zipped through all the tight switchbacks with a grin on his face.
Outside of the entrance to Monterosso and one other street, there’s no driving in town (which we love!). So we went straight to the Fegina parking lot, unloaded our car completely and rolled our stuff the fifteen minute walk to our guesthouse. I’d booked carefully- ensuring we didn’t have to hike up a zillion stairs to our lodging, and was relieved when I saw some of the hauling other visitors were doing. Our walk was flat, on concrete not cobblestone, but we arrived late afternoon so had to negotiate around the other tourists hustling to make their train/ferry out of town. For reference, Parking was 25 € daily at the Fegina lot, and I’d read horror stories of car breakins, but we didn’t leave anything in our car overnight and had no issues.
We got to the key to our cozy room at unico cinque terre, showered, changed and headed out for the evening. Our dinner spot was literally a one minute walk from our place, halfway to the shore, so we took the extended scenic route. I got a limonata and a spritz to go, we walked down to the pebble beach, inspected a shop or two. The Oratorio Mortis et Orationis chapel immediately became my North Star for navigation in Monterosso, because look at it- David says I can always find my way back to a Sephora, and he’s not wrong!
We looped back around to claim our table at Ristorante Ciak. This is one of those meals I think I’ll remember the rest of my life. I love a crisp white wine, and a local pour, Macaia Vino Biancowhite, was a stellar find. After taking a sip, David did not order a second beer and joined me drinking wine. (I brought home as many bottles as we could fit in our luggage, and will happily bribe you to do the same… )
We started with the mixed platter of anchovies, and don’t even compare these in your head to grocery store anchovies. The Ligurian coast is known for having incredible fresh fish, and even if you’re nervy, I’d still recommend trying the stuffed and fried, and we merrily scarfed them all. We also devoured the Spaghetti Ciak but the shining star of the meal was the Risotto al nero di seppia, Squid Ink Risotto. The rice was so good, the cold leftovers the next day were still succulent.
After dinner we walked down to the deserted ferry pier, climbed the rocks at the end of it and listened to the sea. Eventually we wandered back over the cobblestones already talking about how we wanted to stay here forever.
Day 1: Quite a Hike
Cinque Terre translated into English is Five Lands, which refers to the five coastal towns of (From north west to the south east) Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. And there is a hiking trail that connects each town to the next. Some people want to do all the hikes, but we are not those people.
My research had people calling these moderate hikes, but we are skeptics with a surgically reconstructed foot each, so decided to pass on the steps of Corniglia and to hike from Vernazza to Monterosso, so our hike would end close to home and not in another town. We took the train to Vernazza at about 830, and the tourists were just starting to get into town. From the station, it’s about a ten minute walk into town and to the hike entrance in Vernazza. If you didn’t already have breakfast or need a snack or water, use this opportunity to grab it. All the hikes are part of a national park and there is an entrance fee of 7.5 euro for the day (15 in July and August). Be warned, the stone stairs in Vernazza that bring you up to the hiking path are easily missed if you’re not looking for them, so look out for this-
The hike starts with an aggressive incline. We got to the stone stairs at 10am and I am genuinely grateful to not have to make that climb in the midday August sun. Once you hit the picturesque overlook of Vernazza the incline mercifully flattens out. (Can you see us sweating in these pisc?)
Though windy, most of the path is flat and wide enough to give other hikers room to pass easily but there are a few quite narrow spots. We had wonderful if warm weather but I could see this hike being slippery/far less enjoyable in the rain. All of the hikers we interacted with were friendly, patient, and helpful to those needing physical assistance. And the man playing the accordion in the middle of the Italian countryside made David feel like he was young Vito Corleone in the Godfather part 2.
We finished the (again) steep stone stairs that descended into Monterosso at 12:30. We definitely stopped a few times to take pictures and canoodle, but it’s still solidly a two hour hike. Even my husband, the spin instructor, was like ‘yeah, moderate hike my asino’ (the Italian word for donkey). And as anticipated, we were grateful to be essentially home for a midday rest.
Our Monterosso moment came right in the middle of our two week central Italian jaunt. So the Wash & Dry Lavarapido Laundry came in so clutch. Before heading out for our afternoon beach and gelato, we dropped off our dirties to be picked up as we headed out of town the next day. I can’t emphasize how much more convenient packing was knowing I’d have a refreshed wardrobe halfway through.
For gelato we kept returning to Gelateria Giuliana– it’s been family owned in that spot since 1962, the staff was delightful, and the gelati were AMAZE. Their specialty is crema limone with local lemons, and it was incredible, along with the passion fruit, pistachio, rice, amerena cherry…. you get the idea.
I loved taking a spritz and snacks to lounge at the seaside. We skipped umbrella/chair rentals (The beach club with the iconic green and orange umbrellas is called Bagni Eden, or Cignoli by the locals) and just found a spot to spread our towels on the public part of the beach east of the Statua di San Francesco d’Assisi. The other beach, Spiaggia del Gigante is at the northernmost end of Monterosso on the Fegina side – look for the statue of the giant carved into the cliffs. These are smooth pebble beaches, not sand but plenty comfy enough to take a nap, just ask David.
For a dreamy evening outing, we hopped on the train to Riomaggiore to watch the sunset over the harbor. We got there about an hour before sunset and I’d recommend getting there at least that early as the harbor was already buzzing with people doing the same.
We headed for the best overlook and found a comfy spot on the rocks. I left David to hold our spot and take a million pictures while I fetched drinks and baskets of fried seafood. Cannot recommend Il pescato Cucinato more, so fresh and delicious. Get the grande fritti misti, but don’t be surprised if you go back for round two- it will be my first stop next time we go to Riomaggiore. It so often feels like we never stop moving… so much of what we loved about the Italian coast is just sitting, enjoying the view and ambiance.
The warm sun, the cool breeze, the colorful coastline, the salt on my lips, the sweetness of everyone living their best lives. It was a dream. Like, la dolce vita makes total sense to me now. But little did was know that Cinque Terre still had a literal show in store for us…
We took the train back to Monterosso in the twilight and decided we’d had enough people for the evening. So we grabbed a takeaway pizza and wine from Lapo’s and went to have a picnic on the ferry pier. Not long after we settled down on the rocks, did a concert band strike up from across the water in the Piazza Marconi. It was pure serendipity, we’d not realized the Italian concert signs were advertising for here, and tonight! You know there’s no shame in my dance party game, and especially when it has private concert vibes- I was in full dancing queen mode. The musicians seemed to be having almost as much fun as I was, and It turned out to be a a concert series that connected local musicians to work with renowned conductors, which made it even cooler.
Day 2: one more for the road
Another gorgeous morning stroll on the Italian Riviera, we walked up to the overlook by the Hotel Porto Roca, enjoyed the views and watched the Riomaggiore cliff diving club practice. We spent one last day basking in the sunshine by the shore, but eventually needed to load up and get on the road to Florence. We did a last lap of that darling seaside town- picking up our clean laundry, grabbing a takeaway pizza and one last gelato for the road. We could have easily stayed another day or three- rented bikes to explore the old train tunnel that used to connect the towns of Levanto, Bonassola and Framura just to the north, taken a pesto making class at NessunDorma on Manarola, gone to taste local wines at Vetua winery, carved out of the cliff… but our reservation in a Florentine convent awaited..
We LOVED our short time here so much that we didn’t joke about just coming back here, but retiring in Cinque Terre. We’ve got a business idea and everything- investors welcome!
The Ligurian region of Italy is known for harsh mountainous terrain, but it should also be known for its kind warm people. All of the locals and shopkeeping were the friendliest of anywhere in Italy. The place and its people are teeming with joy!!… and delicious seafood! Take me baccckkkkkkk.
love, Ravayna
