Cinque Terre Travel Guide
Cinque Terre Travel Guide
Cinque Terre has become one of Italy’s top coastal destinations over the past ten years or so! When I first visited in 2011 no one at home had heard of it, but it’s popularity has explorded & for good reason.
Cinque Terre is a series of 5 stunning coastal villages on Italy’s west coast north of Florence. Cinque Terre literally translates to “five towns.” The towns are connected by a train that runs regularly (it only takes a few miutes to get between towns) and aldo by a series of hiking trails when they’re open!
These towns can be visited in one day on a day trip from a nearby city, like Florence or Milan, or if you could stay in Cinque Terre for a few days and enjoy a relaxing and low key oceanside stay!
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The 5 Towns of Cinque Terre
Riomaggiore
If you’re coming from La Spezia (the main station you’ll travel to to reach Cinque Terre from Florence or Milan) the first town you’ll arrive in is Riomaggiore.
From the Riomaggiore station you’ll need to walk about five minutes through the pedestrian tunnel down into the small town. During my day trips I usually spend some of the least amount of time here, but it’s picturesque & worth exploring for a bit! It’s also a good spot to grab a quick cup of coffee before heading to the next town, Manarola.
The trail from Riomaggiore or Manarola is the shortest and easiest of the Cinque Terre hikes and is known as Via dell’Amore. Unfortunately, the trail is closed until 2024 for renovations, so you’ll need to walk back to the train station for the very short trip to Manarola!
Manarola
Manarola is likely one of the towns you’ve seen pictures from if you’ve seen pictures of Cinque Terre on Instagram. It offers stunning views of pastel houses stacked up the cliffs above the sea1
This is one of the most picturesque of the Cinque Terre towns and you’ll want to take your time to explore! Even if you’re not planning on hiking the Corniglia (the next town) I recommend you head towards the trails and walk part way up, the views looking back at Manarola are some of the best picture spots!
The hike to the next town of Corniglia is about an hour long. Corniglia sits high up on a hill, so it’s a bit more of an average-medium hike. If you’re not interested in hiking you can hop back on the train and head to Corniglia that way, it only takes a few minutes!
Corniglia
Corniglia sits high above the rest of the Cinque Terre towns on a moiuntain and is the only town without direct access to the ocean. Corniglia is small and, in my opinion, offers less to do than the other Cinque Terre towns. If you’re short on time you can bypass Corniglia and continue straight on to Vernazza (probably the most famous of the five towns) But if you do have time, Corniglia’s height gives it some epic views!
The hike from Corniglia to Vernazza is about 90 minutes – 2 hours depending on your speed, and is mostly downhill.
Vernazza
Vernazza is probably the most picturesque of the five towns and is worth leaving some time to explore, and maybe grab a drink at one of the cafes on the water! I still remember how magical we found this place when we first visited! The pictures couldn’t even come close to doing it justice! To get the best view head up the trail towards Monterosso, as the trail climbs up you get the most stunning views of Vernazza below.
The last time I was there this portion of the trail was closed and I was so bummed to not be able to hike this portion as it offers the best views in my opinion! The hike is about an hour and a half long, the first half being a steep climb and a bit rocky and the second half being a steep descent into Monterosso al Mare.
Monterosso al Mare
Last but not least, Monterosso al Mare! This is my favorite town for having a late lunch, relaxing on the beach, and having a few drinks before taking the train back to La Spezia and catching the next train back to Florence or Milan! Monterosso is the only of the towns that offers a sandy beach for swimming. If you’re planning to stay, I’d also consider staying here as there is more to do.
The beach is lined with restaurants with outdoor patios under colorful umbrellas for enjoying your lunch and aperitif with a view! I highly recommend you try something with pesto, like a pesto pizza, Cinque Terre is famous for it! The last time I was there I had lunch at Barabba In White right on the water. The food was fantastic!
Getting to Cinque Terre
By Train:
From Florence or MIlan you’ll want to take the train to La Spezia.
The trains run directly from Florence to La Spezia several times a day, or you can take a train to Pisa and change to a train to La Spezia. Technically, taking a high speed train and switching in Pisa can save you about 20 minutes if you time the trains perfectly, but I prefer to maybe spend 20 minutes longer on the train and avoid the hassle of switching.
The trains from Milan also run several hours a day. It takes about 3 hours and is a direct train!
By Car:
If you’ve rented a car you might be wondering if it’s possible to drive to Cinque Terre from Florence. It’s about a two hour drive from Florence or Milan, and it is definitely possible to drive. The one thing to note is that parking is super limited in the five villages of Cinque Terre, and you can’t drive within the villages themselves, so if you do find parking you’ll still need to walk into the villages.
The best option for parking if you’re driving is to actually head to La Spezia Train station and park at the large garage underneath the station. It can be accessed here. This parking garage is much larger, so you’ll have less trouble finding a spot. It costs $30 a day there to park.
From La Spezia grab the “Cinque Terre Express Train” that runs from La Spezia to each of the five towns. Purchase the Cinque Terre train card. This will give you a day of unlimited access on the trains between La Spezia and the five towns of Cinque Terre as well as access to the hiking trails connecting the five towns.
Getting Around Cinque Terre
La Spezia –> Cinque Terre
La Spezia is the largest town near Cinque Terre and where you’ll want to get to in order to access the local train that runs between the 5towns of Cinque Terre. From La Spezia there is a train called the “Cinque Terre Express Train” it runs from La Spezia to each of the five towns and back every fifteen minutes during the busy season (spring-fall) and every hour or so in the winter!
At the station you can purchase the Cinque Terre train card. This will give you a day of unlimited access on the trains between La Spezia and the five towns of Cinque Terre as well as access to the hiking trails connecting the five towns.
Even if you’re planning to hike between the towns (when all the trails are open – you can check that here) you’ll still need a round trip ticket from La Spezia, to get there and back and at the end of the day and you’ll need to purchase a Cinque Terre card for the two most popular of the hiking trails (Monterosso to Vernazza and Vernazza to Corniglia) so purchasing the Cinque Terre card is likely your best option in any scenario!
From La Spezia you can take the train and start at any of the five towns. The most popular option is to start in the first town, Riomaggiore, or the last town, Monterosso al Mare. I prefer to start at Riomaggiore & end in Moterosso (the beach is there and it’s a great spot to have a late lunch and drinks before heading back to Florence!
