Italy Itinerary - Cinque Terre
DAY ONE
Our train got into the station in Vernazza just before 5. It was the perfect time of day to arrive, because most tourists don’t stay in Vernazza, they only visit midday. With the large crowds of tourists gone, the town was quiet and idyllic. Our airbnb host, Luciana, met us at the train station. She (slowly) walked us to our Airbnb, pointing out all the good restaurants and telling us about their owners. Luciana had lived in the area her whole life, and she knows everything about everyone. She spent almost an hour with us telling us about all of Cinque Terre, her town of Vernazza, which restaurants we should go to (“the food here is so good, because all we have is sea, rocks, and food”), and about her house (which her uncle built and just kept adding on another story every time they outgrew their living space). She was very sweet and spoke to us in both English and Italian, which was a fun challenge for me since I’m learning Italian.
After Luciana left, we explored around Vernazza, which is incredibly beautiful. The weather here was thankfully much warmer than Venice. We walked out to the sea overlook and sat on the rocks watching the water crash against them for awhile. Then we decided to explore the town and nearby trails. I should probably pause here to explain that Cinque Terre means “Five Lands” in Italian. There are five colorful towns along the coast in the Italian Rivera that are linked by hiking trails and train. This area is called “Cinque Terre”, but it consists of the towns of Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore.
Anyway, we found some very beautiful views of Vernazza by walking up the trail that would lead to Corniglia. Wandering along that trail, we came across a restaurant called La Torre. We decided to see if they had a table open because the views were incredible. The host sat us right by the railing with an amazing view of the sea and overlooking Vernazza. We stayed there for hours eating and drinking. The food ended up being the best we had in Cinque Terre - mussels in red sauce, pastas with mussels, clams, shrimp, and tiramisu that I still dream of. We also had a local white wine grown and made in Cinque Terre. It was a perfect evening, eating great food while watching the sunset over Vernazza.
DAY TWO
We woke up and had breakfast at a place called Lunchbox. We wouldn’t normally go somewhere with an American name, but it was the only open breakfast spots, and it seemed to have eggs, yogurt, and fruit and not just bread, which was pretty exciting for my stomach. It ended up being really good and we ate breakfast there all three mornings that we were in Vernazza.
After breakfast, we headed out on the hiking trail to Monterosso. It was incredibly beautiful. That word doesn’t do it justice, but I’m not sure how else to describe the views of glittering water and lush cliffs. You basically hike through vineyards on the side of a mountain overlooking the sea. It’s incredible. At one point on the trail, we came across a local guy playing an accordion in a lemon grove. It felt like something out of a movie. There were some other people on the trail, but it wasn’t super packed this time of year.
Monterosso Al Mare seemed more like a functioning city than Vernazza did. There was a lot more going on and a bigger beach. I truthfully didn’t like it quite as much as I liked Vernazza, but Vernazza ended up being my favorite town of Cinque Terre by far, mainly because of how charming it is. One cool thing we stumbled on in Monterosso was a really big sculpture carved out of the a mountainside at the far end of the beach. It used to be a guy kneeling and holding a giant seashell, but parts of it have broken off. It still looks amazing, and for some reason I hadn’t seen it mentioned on any Monterosso itineraries. Definitely go see it if you’re ever there.
After a hike that basically was a mile of stairs straight up with views that weren’t as great as the first hike (read: do not do this hike, I don’t know what it’s called, but don’t do it), we scurried back down and got to the train station to get back to Vernazza. We had scheduled pictures with a local photographer via airbnb, because it had been awhile since we had gotten good pictures of us together, and figured it would be a good opportunity to get a few shots for my art stuff as well. I couldn’t recommend this enough. For about $200, we got a ton of images that we will treasure forever.
After pictures, we changed for dinner and then ate at Belaforte because three different Italians had recommended it. It is the restaurant in the “castle”/tower of Vernazza. It was another incredible view and the food was very good here too. Our only mistake was not making a reservation, because those with reservations got the tables right on the edge by the water. Our waiter was so fun. He kept walking around singing different songs. At one point, while he was clearing something from our table, he was singing an American song and I joined him, and we both laughed. Italians just seem so much more carefree and inviting. Unhurried. I miss it.
DAY THREE:
There’s nothing that makes me feel more Italian than waking up and opening the window shutters to let the daylight in. It was especially beautiful in Luciana’s home because if you looked out to the left, you could see the sea and the Main Street of Vernazza. Era molto bello!
We ate breakfast at Lunchbox again, and then did the hike from Vernazza to Corniglia. It was just as beautiful as the hike to Monterosso. This hike had a bit less people on it, but maybe it was because we got an earlier start. There are some little restaurants halfway through the hike. We weren’t hungry since we had just eaten, but we stopped into one to get a granite al limone (basically a lemon slushy, but made with fresh lemon juice). We sat and had that while we stared out the window that overlooked the sea and Corniglia.
We finished the hike to Corniglia and explored the city. We sat down for lunch and ordered pesto lasagna and caprese. The region that Cinque Terre is in is known for having great pesto, so this lasagna was amazing. Corniglia seemed busier than Vernazza, with lots of little shops and restaurants. We explored some more, and then caught the train to Manarola (the trails from Corniglia to Manarola, and Manarola to Riomaggiore were closed due to rock slides, so we couldn’t hike).
Manarola was probably my second favorite town. It seemed calmer, and it was very pretty. We explored and then sat down by the clear blue water on some huge rocks and watched fish swim by. People were swimming in watering holes created by the rocks. Niko jumped in, but it was really cold so he basically just jumped right back out. I don’t like to submit myself to torture, so I just watched. Afterwards, we grabbed some gelato and found a place to sit in a garden overlooking Manarola and the sea. I ended up creating a painting based off of this view.
We then took a train back to Vernazza, showered, and put on warmer clothing since it still got pretty chilly in the evenings. We took a train to Riomaggiore. It was another town that seemed a bit bigger and more crowded, but still just as beautiful as the others. We had booked a boat ride through Airbnb, so we met up with them and hopped on the boat. There were only 10 of us on the boat (plus Matteo, the driver), so it was fun to talk with the others who were from all over the world. Matteo brought pizza, Focaccia, and local wine for us all to share. It was a two hour boat ride during sunset, and we went to see all 5 towns from the sea. It was amazing to see these towns from the water, with their brightly colored houses dotting the shorelines. After the boat ride, we hopped on a train back to Vernazza and grabbed a light dinner since we were already somewhat full from the snacks. Back in our room, we fell asleep watching Disney’s Luca, because the city in Luca had been based on Vernazza.
DAY FOUR/TRAVEL DAY:
We woke up early (7AM) and packed everything up, then had a last breakfast at lunchbox. I think we were the only people awake in all of Vernazza except the people who live or work there, but we had an 8:09AM train to catch. Luckily, the train station in Vernazza is right in the middle of everything, so we had no problem catching an early train. Florence would be our next stop!
OVERVIEW:
April 9th: Red eye flight
April 10th: Land in in Venice at 11:55AM
April 11th: Venice
April 12th: Travel to Cinque Terre
April 13th: Cinque Terre
April 14th: Cinque Terre
April 15th: Travel to Florence
April 16th: Florence
April 17th: Florence
April 18th: Travel to Siena
April 19th: Siena/Tuscany day tour
April 20th: Travel to Rome
April 21st: Rome (& Vatican)
April 22nd: Rome
April 23nd: Fly home