Allow between nine and 12 hours to complete the mile 35km route, which runs from Porto Venere to Levanto, forming an arc high above the Cinque Terre villages. Accommodations in the Cinque Terre are expensive, oversubscribed and often unremarkable, so it pays to seek out something special and book well in advance. Hotels can book out for the entire April to October season as the locals laughingly say, there is no shoulder season and are almost all closed outside of that.
Alternatives are apartment rental or making your base in La Spezia or Levanto. Great accommodation options include ultra-stylish but authentic La Mala in Vernazza, charming beachfront Hotel La Spiaggia in Monterosso, cool and contemporary Hotel Marina Piccola in Manarola or the budget Ostello di Corniglia , one of only two hostels in the Cinque Terre.
If you do decide to day-trip, the big but easygoing town of La Spezia is far closer than Genoa or Pisa, with just a seven-minute "commute" to the closest Cinque Terre village, Riomaggiore, and around 15 to 25 minutes to the farthest village, Monterosso.
Spring in the Cinque Terre means cooler weather for hiking and slightly thinner crowds. In the summer months, this region is a haven for swimming and boating, but it's super hot and super crowded. Winter sees things wind down in the Cinque Terre. Hotels and many restaurants close, but there are apartment rentals for the adventurous and romantic. When is the best time to go to Italy? Allowing three to four days will give you enough time to visit all five Cinque Terre villages, get to know the intricate twists and turns of at least one village center, and enjoy a couple of half-day hikes.
The easiest way to reach the Cinque Terre and to travel between the villages is by train. The closest airports are in Genoa and Pisa. A train line that runs along Italy's west coast connects all five villages with Genoa, Pisa and Rome. Between am and 10pm, one to three trains an hour trundle along the coast between Genoa and La Spezia, stopping at each of Cinque Terre's villages. Private vehicles are not allowed beyond village entrances and on high-traffic days, roads between villages can be closed.
In some villages, minibus shuttles depart from the parking lots. Check the park offices for seasonal schedules. There are secure parking facilities at the train station.
Arriving to Cinque Terre by sea is also an option. If you want to make a glamorous entrance, you can even rent a yacht from one of those ports. You might also like: You could get a huge fine if you don't wear the right shoes to Italy's Cinque Terre 9 stunning images of Cinque Terre that will have you booking your next trip Alternative Cinque Terre: five beautiful and unspoiled Italian Riviera villages.
If you are not too fussed about sunbathing or sea-swimming, visit in early spring April or early May or push it back until October - perfect times for those who want to avoid crowds, hike more and not sweat buckets, though leaving it late in autumn does increase the risks of rain, mudslides, and trail closures.
We unfortunately can't tell you what it's like in the Cinque Terre in the winter months, but if it's like other coastal towns we've visited in Italy then expect a number of businesses to be closed for the season. A dusty sliver which entwines and entangles between ripening terraced vineyards scattered on steep hillsides, the Cinque Terre's most famous coastal trail deserves a day of your time.
Used for centuries, the Sentiero Azzuro Blue Trail links together all five coastal villages, but erosions and landslides - a real problem here - have cut it short the last few years.
This meant our only stops were the roll-off-the-tongue triumvirate of Monterosso, Vernazza, and Corniglia. The plan was to hike all the way to Corniglia 7. Alas, an overly long lunch, a spontaneous swim, and an all too swift sunbathing session on warm concrete, got in the way. Soaked in sweat and the salty sea, we ran to take a two-minute train back to Vernazza to save a bit of time and allow us to walk the last leg back in a golden hour glow.
However, we adore hiking when we travel , and walking the steep ups and downs of the Blue Trail not only delivered an appreciation of the unforgiving terrain upon which these beautiful villages and vineyards were created, but unrivalled views over the sea and the colourful clusters built into the cliffside. Note that the the 1km Via Dell'Amore Lovers' Lane path connecting Riomaggiore and Manarola, so called as it was a meeting place for romantic get-togethers of locals, was formerly a very easy, popular part of Blue Trail.
It has been closed off for over a decade due to those landslides rendering it inaccessible and unsafe. It's slated to reopen in at great expense, but we wouldn't hold our breath on that Travel Tip We had no idea before we visited that the Cinque Terre, beyond the Blue Trail, was such a popular destination for proper walkers and hikers. Indeed, there are over kms of trails along its coast line, with about 48 official trail routes. You can find much more information and resources about these trails, and safe, responsible hiking tips for the national park, in our Hiking in Cinque Terre post.
Do you need a permit for Cinque Terre? It took us a wee bit of research before we fully understood the features and benefits of the Cinque Terre card, and whether it was actually required to have one. So, to save you a lot of time, here's the lowdown:. You can also buy the Cinque Terre Card at the rail ticket desk inside the stations, but only the 'treno' version. Write your name on it once purchased as you may be asked to show it with a valid ID if there's a ticket inspector.
As we only took one train journey Corniglia - Vernazza on our day on the Blue Trail, it wasn't cost effective to buy the 'treno' version and we went for the cheaper 'trekking card'. However, the Cinque Terre Card will save you money overall if you plan on doing that hike one-way and taking three or more trains on the same day. Away from hiking concerns, the Cinque Terre Card will always save you money overall if you plan on taking more than four train journeys in a single day, and is therefore a sensible purchase you're only going to be in the area for days and want to visit all the villages.
There are certain rules and responsibilities for any traveller taking on the Blue Trail, but it's also worth reiterating at this stage just how important it is for all visitors to the Cinque Terre to respect the fragility of this destination and the pressures it's under due to a rapid, significant increase in visitor numbers.
With the total permanent population numbering less than couple thousand, the ratio of locals to visitors is quite frankly insane. Here are some of the positive things you can do to reduce your impact, leave no trace, and help the Cinque Terre maintain a sustainable balance as a destination and a home:. Flip-flops or open-toed sandals are specifically banned after so many silly people who shouldn't have been on the trail had to be rescued at great cost.
There are lots of signs up about this dude, don't be a dick and flout them also, if you see someone hiding behind a rock breaking the clear 'no drone' rules, then feel free to give them a polite, then a stern ticking off like we had to several times. An official permit is required if you do wish to fly yours. With thousands of visitors each day, if everyone thinks it's acceptable to pick a grape or two from the vineyards, you can imagine just how quickly that could really affect the winemakers and their production here.
Same goes for citrus fruit. Monterosso also has a paid for refill station. The more of us who follow these simple rules or responsible travel approaches, the greater the impact. One half of Along Dusty Roads always associated anchovies with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, specifically his incredulity that they would order them as a pizza topping. After our week in Cinque Terre, he has finally come round to the idea. There is, understandably, a lot fresh seafood on every menu in the Ligurian Coast, but it's the anchovy alici or acciughe in Italian which became a staple of our lunches or for a quick snack on the rocks.
Monterosso al Mare , the largest of the five villages, is renowned across Italy for its anchovies - there's even an annual Anchovies Festival here in June. You'll see them, as well as other locally caught seafood, on most menus as well as served up freshly fried or in several pasta dishes - we recommend you all to go for the fried ones, heavy on the salt and local lemon, and pair them with a nice local white wine.
In terms of eating out in high season, expect a wait for a table outside at a popular restaurant for lunch or dinner. If you have your heart set on a particular restaurant in particular in the evening, then try to reserve in advance.
Food options within the park revolve largely around regional staples, including seafood and pesto dishes, but veggies and vegans will always be able to find a simple pasta dish available on every menu. Although proximity to the sea may make one assume that fishing was always the go-to industry here before tourism arrived , agriculture has arguably played a more important role in shaping the region.
Those terraced vineyards which form such a fundamental part of the Cinque Terre landscape are not just for show - they are productive and integral to the integrity and preservation of the villages. Used to seeing highly cultivated vineyards elsewhere in the world, to us, the sea-facing vineyards of Cinque Terre have a much more organic, rustic feel. Indeed, winemaking here is defined as a somewhat heroic viticulture because of how difficult it is to work with the improbably steep and awkward rocky terrain, meaning that everything from general maintenance to harvesting needs to be done by hand and some basic monorail machinery.
Most winemakers here do it on a very small scale, with grapes stored and wine fermented in hidden away cellars on the backstreets. Travel Tip The wine terraces and the old handbuilt dry stone walls which are essential the fabric of Cinque Terre are under threat from various influences: tourism, money, lack of interest, landslides, and a younger generation seeking work in more profitable, less physically demanding trades.
Due to this, we were fortunate enough to meet Riccardo, a local vintner during our week, to visit his vineyards high in the hills and sample his wines back at his cellar in on a backstreet in Riomaggiore. The brand is I Magnati, and you can find it available to order at several places we feature in our Riomaggiore guide.
It's incredibly important to appreciate and anticipate that a visit to Cinque Terre means you're going to one of the most popular summertime destinations in Italy - and the cruise ships know about it. Our pictures in this post are intentionally curated to showcase the idealistic beauty of Cinque Terre, and we were fortunate to visit during the lowest period of tourism it has seen in decades this summer, but it was still pretty busy at a pleasant level, we must add.
The simple truth is that these historically rural villages, their narrow streets and the dusty trails which link them were built for hundreds of people, not thousands upon thousands. However, there were around two and a half million visitors here a couple of years ago and, if it weren't for the shutdown of global travel last year, this would have continued to rise inexorably. Crucially, Cinque Terre needs its residents to thrive and remain, not just for the sake of making these villages viable but to preserve the fragile coastline and agricultural traditions of the hills.
For the avoidance of doubt though, there are presently no restrictions or daily limits on visitors to the Cinque Terre; the Cinque Terre card system only relates to regulating access to the one hiking trail. We are not writing this point to make you despondent for your trip, simply to prepare you for the reality which you'll potentially encounter.
Here are a few tips you can use to avoid crowds and lessen strain on the destination:. The atmosphere really does change quite a bit between the peak afternoon and evening once day-trippers leave, so it allows you to appreciate the village in a much better light. Whether it's from the rocks of Riomaggiore , the viewpoint facing Manarola , or from the dusty trail overlooking Vernazza , sunsets in the Cinque Terre are made to be savoured. Do your best to enjoy at least one during your stay with friends, a lover, or a solitary beer.
An alternative way to a fresh perspective of the villages and excellent views of the Ligurian coastline is to head out on a boat trip. Each one of the five is a beauty, with pastel buildings and sparkling sea views, but each has its own different character. The Cinque Terre is located just south of Genoa in north-west Italy. Between 10am and 4pm the villages are rammed with day-trippers — the train platform in Monterosso at 4pm took me right back to commuting on the London Tube in rush hour.
The villages have a different atmosphere at different times of day, so staying for a few days would give you time to decide on your favourite and go back for sunset or dinner. But to avoid the worst of the crowds, steer clear of July and August. Shoulder season — May and September — is a good time for visiting the Cinque Terre, with warm days and less people than in peak season. Or if you want to risk the off-season you can get a bargain and have the paths to yourself, but it can be wet, especially around November.
Monterosso is the furthest north and the largest of the villages. At the other end of the Cinque Terre is Riomaggiore, another of the larger villages with a gorgeous setting and brightly coloured houses set around the harbour. Vernazza and Manarola are both smaller and are arguably the most beautiful of the Cinque Terre villages.
Manarola is surrounded by vineyards and Vernazza has a tiny beach. Both have mostly self-catering accommodation. As does Corniglia, the central village of the five. This makes it the quietest — especially in the evenings — and its position high up on the rocks means you get great views I stayed here and loved it. The one flat stretch of coast path from Corniglia to Riomaggiore is closed for the foreseeable future after it was damaged in landslips back in The rest of the paths involve lots of ups and downs with some rocky ground with a few big drops and steps to clamber up.
Plus you often end up waiting for people to pass on narrow stretches which slows things down. So start early or late if you can to miss the peak of walkers. The Sentiero Azzurro or Blue Trail starts from Monterosso and takes around two hours to reach Vernazza and another two to carry on to Corniglia. From Corniglia to Manarola you have to take the high route via Volastra — it takes around three hours and involves some serious climbs but the views at the top through the vineyards are well worth it.
As well as the main walks there are quieter hill paths, like the Sentiero Rosso or Red Trail from Portvenere to Levanto. There are also shorter sanctuary walks run steeply uphill from the villages. You can get them in villages and from huts at the start of each section of the path. If you are driving around, you can park in La Spezia or Levanto then catch the train into the Cinque Terre.
0コメント