Cinque Terre

Getting There

The easiest access is by train from Genoa (under an hour) or La Spezia (15 minutes). Driving is possible but parking is very limited and the roads narrow. The five villages — Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, Riomaggiore — are connected by the Cinque Terre Express train (a Cinque Terre Card covers train travel and the coastal path).

The Villages

Vernazza is the most picturesque: a natural harbour, a castle tower on the promontory, a small beach, and the best gelato in the five. Manarola has the most dramatic setting — houses rising directly from the sea cliffs. Corniglia is the only village not on the sea (it sits on a clifftop, 97 steps up from the train station) and the quietest. Monterosso is the largest, has a proper beach, and is where most people stay.

The Walking

The Via dell'Amore (Path of Love) between Manarola and Riomaggiore is the most famous section — genuinely beautiful, often closed for restoration work, check before visiting. The full coastal trail (10km) takes 4–5 hours and involves significant up and down. The higher inland paths are less scenic but quieter and better maintained.

The Wine

The terraced vineyards produce Sciacchetrà — a sweet passito wine made from air-dried Bosco grapes — and the dry Cinque Terre DOC white. Both are produced in tiny quantities from vines that can only be harvested by hand on near-vertical slopes. Buy direct from the producers in the villages.

When to Go

May to June and September. July and August are very crowded (the villages are tiny and the path capacity is limited) and very hot. The trail is at its greenest in May and the light in September is extraordinary.