Cinque Terre – The Five Lands

We were very much looking forward to visiting Cinque Terre and had seen some amazing photos of this beautiful National Park on the coast, which attracts millions of tourists every year.

More on Cinque Terre later in the blog.  In the meantime, we needed to travel from Florence to our chosen place of accommodation at Cinque Terre.

If we were to drive directly to Cinque Terre, it would have taken us 2.20 hours.  Instead, we thought it a good opportunity to stop off on the way and visit some places of interest.

Montecatini

A short drive from Florence and we found ourselves in Montecatini.  We read that there was a Funicular Train that takes you to the top of the hill for some great views of the area.

We’re loving the Funicular Trains so decided we’d check this one out.

Montecatini is famous for its thermal waters and is considered one of the biggest ‘spa towns’ in Italy.  At the turn of the 20th century, the number of hotels started growing.  This was accompanied by a host of trendy restaurants, theatres, nightclubs and a casino.  Apparently, this has attracted a lot of celebrities who like to visit this now ‘trendy’ area.

Not having the celebrity status, the designer swimwear (nor the body to go with it) or the budget to enter any of the luxury spa complexes (9 thermal centres in total), we stuck with the Funicular Train.

Can never ride too many Funicular Trains

The train took around 10 minutes to reach the top.  It dates back to the end of the 1800’s and is still very much intact and functional.  It cost €14/$24NZ return for two.

Exploring the old town at the top of the hill

Lucca

Our next stop was Lucca, just a short distance from Montecatini.  

Unlike a lot of walled cities we’ve visited, Lucca is actually on the flat.  It is surrounded by a very large, well-restored wall.  The wall has a well-maintained walkway along the top and is about 4km if you walk the perimeter of the city.  Walking, jogging and cycling the wall is the main tourist attraction for Lucca.  It has been turned into a lovely green space with grass and trees everywhere along the wall. 

We wandered a small section of the wall, dodging the many cycles, joggers and walkers out enjoying the wide pedestrian track.

The city itself still holds a lot of its old ancient charm.  The city is rich in tradition and history.  We spent around an hour wandering the streets inside the city wall.  It was a thriving hub trade for centuries thanks to its central position.  

Taking ‘Time Out’ in Lucca – the city of 101 churches

We enjoyed visiting the castles, abbeys and parish churches dotted around the streets and laneways.  After all, it is called the “City of 101 Churches!”.

Click on the link below for a video of our highlights of Montecatini and Lucca.

Why We Didn’t Visit Pisa

Everyone knows of The Leaning Tower of Pisa.  We were going to be driving very close to Pisa on our way to Cinque Terre.  We started to research the area, where to park and reviews on the Leaning Tower.

To be honest, it really wasn’t jumping out at us as a ‘must see and do’ attraction.  We’re always a bit adverse to the tourist hype of some places and the effort and risk we were taking to see the tower, didn’t really justify the visit.

The word ‘risk’ in this case refers to the high instances of theft from tourists in Pisa.  It appears that tourists are ‘funnelled’ into only a small area of Pisa and make for prime targets.  Not only pickpockets flourish in this area but thefts from cars are targeted more than a lot of other locations throughout Italy.

Because you have no option but to park a distance away from the most popular sites (The Tower), your vehicle is left unattended for longer periods of time.  Although all our luggage was stored out of sight, our lease car has bright red French number plates.  This sticks out like the proverbial and screams ‘TOURIST’ no matter how we try to disguise ourselves as non-tourists.

Our worldly possessions are in our backpacks although our most valuable gear is carried on us, we did not want to take the risk to see a tower that leans.

The Cinque Terre

It took me a few goes to pronounce this properly.  I’m still not sure I’ve got it right but the closest I get to it is “chink-a-teary“.

Writing our blog on Cinque Terre is quite difficult as there are screeds and screeds of information, photos, blogs, YouTubes, websites and tourist information.

I’m just going to summarise where we decided to stay, why and what we did while we were there.  I’ll provide links to various sites that you may find interesting if you are planning a trip to one of the most visited area in Italy (millions in fact).

Translated, the name means ‘Five Lands’ and this describes the five very beautiful and vividly coloured villages located on the cliffs overlooking the sea.

Main Attractions

Obviously, the five villages are the main drawcard and their spectacular view.  There are also hundreds of walking trails, old castles, walls and other ancient structures.  There are plenty of beaches, wild and secluded, to heavily populated with beach chairs and umbrellas.

The Five Villages of Cinque Terre

Starting from the South and working Northwards:

• Riomaggiore – this is the first village of the Cinque Terre coming from La Spezia in the south.  The main town is separated from the railway station and the wharf by tunnels.  Because of this, it can be said that the town is divided into three parts.  There is also a small rocky beach which provides relief from the hottest of days.
• Manarola – is the second village.  It is only 500 metres from the Riomaggiore but unfortunately, the walking track (known as the Way of Love) is closed due to slips.  It is a short 7-minute train trip from Riomaggiore to Corniglia to start the coastal walk. 
• Corniglia – the smallest and highest of the Cinque Terre five villages.  It is the only village that does not have a seaport.  it is very difficult to reach by car, so the only options available are either by train or by foot.
• Vernazza – is known as the most beautiful of all the villages.  There is no denying that great photos can be taken from high up on the cliffs of the walking track north of the village.  It suffered badly from floods back in 2011 and extensive repairs have been carried out to restore the village to its former glory.
• Monterosso – is the biggest and the oldest of the villages.  It is divided into two parts, the old and the new village.  It has the biggest beach and harbour on the entire coast.  Because of this, it is the most visited town.  There are much more entertainment activities here than any of the other villages.

Accommodation Choices

With so many options to choose from, we needed to decide what was most important to us.  Of course, we have to consider budget but balance this with location, accessibility and parking.

A more budget-friendly option is to stay out of Cinque Terre in one of the neighbouring cities of La Spezia in the south or Levanto in the north.  The entire coast is serviced by a reliable train service and you can even get there by train from Milan in 3.5 hours.

We wanted to be in amongst it all.  Staying in one of the villages was top of our list so that we could fully embrace the area during the day and night (once all the day-trippers had gone).

Having access by car was also important as we didn’t want to leave our vehicle at a public carpark for 3 nights. You can expect to pay up to  €35/$62NZ per day to park at parking areas outside of Cinque Terre.   This cut our options right down as it is very difficult to get to some villages by car, let alone get a parking space.

Our Homestay in Riomaggiore

We decided on a guesthouse in Riomaggiore (the southernmost village).  Il BoMa has a couple of options to choose from.  They have a homestay, BnB or guesthouse type accommodation, all within the lovely village of Riomaggiore.

We initially booked for 2 nights but knew immediately that we wanted to stay an extra night.  It cost us €110/$195NZ per night.  

We also had a secure lock-up garage, just up from our location which cost us €15/$26NZ per day.

The views from our room and the main street of Riomaggiore – perfect for people watching

Like all the villages, it is hilly with steep streets and lots of stairs.  It was a good workout just getting to our room but oh my goodness – what an amazing location.  The view was outstanding and our room was spacious with a separate bedroom and beautiful sea and village views from the windows.

Transport in Cinque Terre

There is a local train, the Cinque Terre Express, which runs along the coast between the stations of La Spezia and Levanto.  It stops at all five villages.

There is a CT card that you can purchase at any of the Information Centres in most of the villages.  You can also purchase them online and at all railway stations.  This covers your pass to walk the Blue Path and unlimited travel on the train between La Spezia and Levanto.  It will also cover the cost of any shuttle buses you need to catch between train stations and villages.  If you are staying in any of the outer cities then it would be worth getting the combined ticket.

There are 1, 2 or 3-day options as well.

How Much Does the CT Card cost?

The cost constantly varies depending on the number of open sections on the Blue Path.  Our host suggested that unless we intended to use the train a lot, we were better off just purchasing the Trekking-Only pass.  We could then buy our single train ticket when and if required.

We caught the train from Riomaggiore to Corniglia (due to the walking track closure) which cost us €4/$7NZ each (quite expensive as it was only a 7-minute trip).  There is still a walking track you can take between these villages but it is a 2.5hr hike up a steep mountain.  So it wasn’t a hard decision to make to catch the train!

NB: the ticket office at the train station doesn’t open until 8 am but they do have ticket machines on the platforms.  Just don’t get stuck behind some Chinese tourists trying to work out how to use them as your train is arriving!!  We had about 30 seconds to spare after a mad dash through the underpass!

Corniglia

Upon arriving at Corniglia we went to the Tourist Information Centre located on the platform and purchased our Trekking-Only pass for one day.  As our host had said, they tried to sell us the combined CT card.  Our passes cost us €7.50/$13.30NZ each and included the shuttle bus up a very steep hill into the town.  This is where the walking track starts.

We asked directions from a helpful shop owner and she pointed in the direction up the road.  Look out for a green box (shed) and that is the start of the track.

Coastal Walking Track

The most popular way to enjoy the coastline is to follow Trail #2 (sometimes referred to as the Sentiero Azzurro, or Blue Trail).  This is made up of four individual paths along the coast.  This is the only track that you need to purchase a pass for.  All the other hiking trails are free.

You can walk the entire route in about 6 hours if you take short breaks.  There is no right or wrong direction to walk it but starting in the south and heading north, the track starts off relatively easy.  We worked our way up to the more challenging trails further towards Monterosso.

It was a hard slog on some parts of the track – but oh the views!

The greatest part is that if you get too overwhelmed, you can decide at any time to head to the nearest train station or wharf if you have to.

Vernazza

It took us 1.5-2 hour walk to reach Vernazza and there was a lot of uphill work.

We stopped for coffee and a walk around for photos and visited a 12-century church.  The crowds were starting to build so we set off along the track to Monterosso.

Monterosso

Onward to Monterosso.  This leg was longer – 2.5hrs-3hours.  We felt that it was a bit harder going than the first leg.  It felt steeper and we climbed uphill for a longer period of time.  It was also getting hotter and closer to the midday sun.  In saying that though we saw a lot of sweaty people coming towards us from the other direction equally sweaty and red in the face so we knew that they had also had a hard slog further up the track.

The track is narrow and in a lot of places only one way.  Some people were pleasant and stopped and passed pleasantries, others not so courteous.  We did stop often to let people pass and even had some interesting conversations with people from all over the world (including some fellow Kiwis).

We made Monterosso at just before 1 pm so we had been on the trail for 5 hours (including our stop over at Vernazza).  What a culture shock entering Monterosso! Tourists, deck chairs and umbrellas everywhere.  Still beautiful but not as good as our little village of Riomaggiore! 

Signs on the beach advertised deckchair and umbrella rentals for €30/$53NZ.  Large portions of the beach are fenced off making it very commercial as you are forced to pay the fee just to enter these sections.  There are, however, small pockets of free areas which were very popular.

Just too many photos to choose from!!!

Ferry Service

The boats run between Monterosso and Portovenere (also La Spezia) in both directions and stop in every village except Corniglia. You can also take a boat tour from Portovenere around the 3 islands or travel to Levanto, Lerici and Portofino.

Boats usually run between April 1 and October 31 but it also depends on the weather and sea conditions. In cases of bad weather, boat service may be suspended any time.

We caught the ferry back from Monterosso to Riomaggiore and it cost us €12/$21NZ each.  It was great to see some of the villages by water.  What a fantastic day!!!

Other Tracks in Cinque Terre

As I mentioned earlier, there are numerous hiking trails around this area.

On our final day in Cinque Terre, we headed off quite early (7.45am) to head up to the top of a very large hill behind Riomaggorie towards an old monastery – Santuario Della Madonna di Montenero.

We took a track that zigzagged its way around and up the hillside.  I was quite thankful that there weren’t so many stairs, but a long and slow track upwards.  We stopped a few times to firstly take in the stunning view over Riomaggiore but also to try and catch our breaths!

Plenty of old buildings on the climb up the mountain, a view back down towards Riomaggiore and what a view from the top

After an hour, we made it to the top and OMG what a panoramic view up and down the coastline.  The church/monastery isn’t anything flash but there was no one else there and it was lovely and peaceful with strategically placed park benches for us to just sit and take it all in (while we munched on our muesli bars and drank our water).

We decided on a different track down that literally went straight down.  I was thankful that we had decided not to go up this way!  The stairs were large stones, uneven and very steep.  Sometimes I think that it is worse going down than coming up.

We wandered back down into the town and spent time at the waterside marina, and the only swimming spot in the town.

La Spezia

We decided to jump on the train into La Spezia which is the large city to the southern end of Cinque Terre.  This is where a lot of people stay as it can be cheaper and travel every day into one of the 5 villages to start the track or to continue onto the northern end of Montessori.

We didn’t rate the city very highly as we wandered down some of the streets.  There were some high-end shops but the place lacked soul and after drinks with a meat and cheese platter, we headed back to the train station for our short trip back to our lovely village.  This just made us more confident that we chose the right place for us to enjoy Cinque Terre.

Summary

• Cinque Terre is famously crowded, so be prepared for crowds during your visit.  Tour groups congregate on the central streets of each town from about 10 am to 4 pm. during the high season.  The pace slows down early morning and evening and then you can experience the small Italian town feeling.
• Be prepared to walk.  These towns are pedestrian-friendly only and are hilly.  It is common to encounter stairs – hundreds at a time.  Some accommodation will offer assistance with bags.  You may have to carry your bag from the train station.  Wheeled luggage suitable but only to the point of the stairs.  Try to consider leaving your large luggage behind and opt for a small backpack if possible.
• Hiking is a major activity here, and I cannot stress enough the importance of packing appropriate footwear like trainers.  Be aware that the hiking trails that are open are quite challenging.  Many visitors have a romantic vision of walking between the villages.  Paths often begin with a strong, steep vertical climb and can be narrow at times.  Always hike with a bottle of water, hat and sunscreen.  There are no services along the trail.
• The five villages are very close to one another, so there’s no need to stay in a different one every night.  Choose one town as a home base, and visit the others by train or foot.  Keep in mind that most of the lodgings available are privately run B&B’s.  There are only a few hotels so you will want to start your search early and check for availability. 

No blog would be complete without the mandatory sunset shots

Click on the link below to see a video of our highlights in Cinque Terre (it is a long one but there’s just too much to see!!!).