Cinque Terre Italy Trip
Cinque Terre, which is on the UNESCO world heritage list, is in the Liguria region of Italy, between Genoa and La Spezia located in
Monterosso Al Mare is a settlement consisting of 5 small villages named Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, Riomaggiore, and “Cinque Terre” means “5 lands” in Italian.. Cinque Terre should definitely be on your list as a small but must-see village community to be planned for your trip to Italy. Location. This untouched beauty, which has been hidden for many years along the coastline, continues to rise to the top of the list of touristic places day by day.. Especially in the spring and summer periods, with the increase of the intense interest of the tourists, the accommodation prices increase, and the possibility of finding a hotel to stay overnight decreases to almost zero. However, we recommend you to visit these five lands, especially in the spring months, to enjoy the region by walking a lot, visiting the squares, eating and drinking in its cafes and restaurants.. For this reason, you should hurry up and make a reservation in advance out of season.
Cinque Terre is not a region to go directly and for a single holiday, so it is definitely a point we can recommend you include in your Italy trip.. We; We made Rome, Pisa, Venice and many cities as a “road trip” and when we arrived in La Spezia, we stopped by Cinque Terre.. We recommend you to plan such a route.
With a trip from Basel Airport, you can visit many cities in Switzerland, France, Germany and Italy, and stop by Cinque Terre and then Pisa.
You can follow the countries and cities you can visit on the google map we have drawn, by reading our article we published for this alternative here.
WHERE TO CINQUE TERRE and TO CINQUE TERRE HOW TO GET THERE?
First of all, due to the geographical structure of this region, we recommend that you do not drive between the villages.. The vehicle that will make the bumpy, winding, mountainous roads the most comfortable and fastest is definitely train.
If you are still considering driving, car rental, car sharing and driving in Europe We recommend you to read our recommendations here.
By getting a daily, bi-day or weekly card from Cinque Terre Point (opens at 07:30), located at La Spezia train station, you can easily travel between villages. you can roam. Weekly cards are valid from Monday to Sunday, so if you are going to get a card on Saturday, it will be more advantageous to buy a 1-day card rather than a weekly one.
Walking through the villages is another very enjoyable alternative.. Hiking trails can usually be followed with signs and you can obtain maps prepared for this trail.
WHERE TO STAY IN CINQUE TERRE?
As a matter of fact, Cinque Terre is a very touristic area, especially in the spring and summer months, where hotels for accommodation are likely to be full or expensive.. For this reason, instead of staying in one of these five villages, we recommend that you stay in the nearest city, La Spezia, or take a day tour within your holiday in one of the other Italian cities. WHAT NEEDS TO BE DONE?
Walking trail distances between villages;
Rio Maggiore – Manarola: 1.5 km: 20 minutes on foot; 2 min by train
Manarola – Corneglia : 2.5 km : 45 min on foot; 4 min by train
Corneglia – Vernezza : 3.5 km : 90 min on foot; 5 min by train
Vernezza – Monterosso : 3 km : 90 min on foot; 5 minutes by train
Other activities to do apart from these are snorkeling, swimming and taking lots of pictures.
WHAT TO EAT IN CINQUE TERRE?
Special regional wines, of course, pizza and pasta, sea food, ice cream, lemon liqueur (limoncini) and italian cookies biscotti because of being coastal villages.
Also, if you like pesto, it is very popular and delicious in this region.. You should definitely taste it.
WHAT ARE THE PLACES TO SEE IN CINQUE TERRE? CINQUE TERRE VILLAGES..
Monterosso Al Mare:
It is Cinque Terre’s largest settlement and the only beach village. If you are thinking of a sea holiday, you can plan a longer holiday in Monterosso.
Monterosso is the village that receives the most tourists in this region.. For this reason, there are many wine cellars, restaurants, hotels and boutique shops.. The village is divided into two parts, old and new.
The old city center ‘Monterosso Vecchio’, located on the hill of San Cristoforo, will draw you in with its narrow streets and colorful houses.. In the old city center, there are medieval castle ruins, the remains of Obertengo Castle, and Aurora Tower.. You can visit the San Giovanni Battista church (Church of San Giovanni Battista) with its white-green marble walls and rose window. The Capuchin Father church (Church of San Francesco – Capuchin Friars Monastery) will be a spot where you will enjoy the fascinating view of Cinque Terre, definitely don’t miss it!
Monterosso’s new city center is the part along the Fegina bay and sandy beach.. The train station is located here. Another not-to-be-missed structure in Fegina is the “dominant statue of the Giant”, which represents the god of the seas Neptune and was built on the terrace of a house.
Vernazza:
The walk between Monterosso and Vernazza The road is completed in over an hour due to the stairs and roads with cliffs on one side, but the most beautiful spot where you can see Vernazza is the pathway on the hill…
The Cinque Terre, the natural amphitheater-shaped pier in Vernezza and full of small fishing boats It is one of the most photogenic spots in .
Apart from the clock tower and Castello ruins in the village center, you can visit Santa Margherita di Antiochia, which overlooks the pier.. Doria Castle, which rises on the top of the rocks at the edge of the cliff, is waiting to lay an incredible view of the bay under your feet, in return for a little effort, waiting in a long and narrow queue, and paying a very small amount of entrance fee (even though you have a cinque terre card). /p>
Corniglia:
Unlike the other 4 villages, you have to climb 370 steps after getting off the train to reach this village, which was built on the top of a mountain and shaped more as an agricultural area, not on the coastline.. It’s an obstacle that a healthy and young person can easily overcome, but if you don’t want to deal with it, you can prefer a shuttle service every 5 minutes.
Church of San Pietro, which is considered the most important gothic-ligurian architecture in Cinque Terre. of San Pietro).
Manarola:
The main place of the photographs, which is the cover of Cinque Terre with its colorful houses built on the rocks, fish restaurants, warm people.
This village takes its name from the “Manium Arula” temple, built during the Romans and dedicated to the souls of the dead. You should visit the church of San Lorenzo (church of San Lorenzo), built in 1338, located on the hills of the village.
Riomaggiore:
It is the closest village to La Spezia.
A tiny village where you can take hundreds of photos with its colorful houses and narrow streets.. You won’t be able to take your eyes off the vineyards and lemon groves that you will come across along the hiking trail.
A part of the “Via D’amore” (way of love) that was built before the train between Manarola and Riomaggiore (now a large part of it) although it is covered by cliffs) you can see. Also, San Giovanni Battista, Madonna di Montenero Sanctuary (Sanctuary of “Madonna di Montenero”) is one of the places you can visit.
Our recommendations:
- For your honeymoon in Cinque Terre or the Far East or It will be an excellent alternative to Asian tours. We guarantee that you will spend a romantic and quiet holiday/honeymoon on the coastline of Italy, which is both more convenient and closer. therefore, we recommend that you consider this option as well.
Click here if you want to read our more detailed recommendations in our Cinque Terre economic guide.