Five little villages

Europe » Italy » Liguria » Cinque Terre
August 10th 2006

Published: June 16th 2017

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jc80

01 Monterosso

A very busy beach at Monterosso, the final of the five villages.

Geo: 44.0964, 9.7201

Caught a train, then another and another and then I was in Cinque Terre! I caught the train to Monterosso, the last of the five villages. The train ride to here was very dark and boring, as the track went through tunnels. Monterosso very touristy. The beach is beautiful, but full of beach chairs and umbrellas. There is a very small section of public beach, which is free. I decided to catch a boat that went from village to village so I could see each village from the sea- a different view from what I would get by walking. The next village was Vernazza, smaller than Monterosso. It had a tower up on the hill. The houses here are very colourful and reminded a bit of Burano. Saw a few random houses on the hills surrounded by grape vines. Next village was Corniglia. It was small and set up high on the hill, the boat didn't stop here. Next was Manarola and lucky last was Riomaggiore. Got off here and walked around the village. This is the main of the five villages and there are many fishing boats around. Decided to do one of the many walks in the

02 Vernazza

The second village. This is the view from the boat.

area, Riomaggiore to Manarola. The path I chose went along the coast and was easy. In the middle was a bar, so I stopped for a drink and snack. The walk only takes 20 minutes. Once in Manarola, after walking around the village. I decided to walk to the next village Corniglia. This walk was an hour long and wasn't easy. In parts it was steep, but it was such a nice view. I could see my destination, but wasn't there yet. Finally arrived in Corniglia, to reach the village I had to walk up steps, 365 of them!!! This village was very small and not many tourists. Was nice to see all the locals sitting around in the streets chatting. Caught the train to Riomaggiore and asked the tourist information about left luggage. I wanted to go for a swim, but didn't want t leave my bag sitting on the beach. They weren't very helpful and told me to leave my bag in my hotel room. A swim would have been great and was so tempting! Caught the train to Vernazza and had an ice-cream and it sitting by the water. Then caught the trains back to Lucca.
Today was