Cinque Terre

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Cinque What?
The Cinque Terre consists of five small villages (”cinque terre” means “five lands” in Italian) which cling to the Ligurian cliffs along Italy’s western coast. They are usually thought of and visited collectively, mostly because they’re so close to one another that you can walk from the first to the fifth in a matter of hours, but each does have its own personality. Oh, and it’s pronounced CHIN-kwa TEH-reh.

Once peaceful fishing villages whose clever residents even managed to devise a way to grow wine grapes on almost vertical slopes, the Cinque Terre now relies almost entirely on tourism. The tiny towns are incredibly popular with American backpackers and German holiday makers, and are getting increasingly popular with people outside those groups as well. The point is that it’s nearly impossible to visit the Cinque Terre when it’s not crowded. You could go in the middle of winter, but the weather might keep you indoors, and the primary attraction of the area is the hike along the cliffs from village to village. As long as you’re aware that the area is almost always overrun with tourists, you should be prepared for whatever you find. And if you’ve already done the hike and are looking for a picturesque place to relax in Feburary, you might find the perfect room in the Cinque Terre.

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In addition to tourists, what you’ll find in the Cinque Terre is beautiful scenery, a deliciously sweet dessert wine called Sciacchetrà (try it with biscotti), a few nice sunbathing beaches, excellent seafood (you’ve never tried anchovies until you’ve had them fresh from the sea) and a great hike to work off all the calories you’ve been ingesting. The Cinque Terre is easily accessible by train, less so by car or bus, and the closest town of any size is La Spezia. You’ll undoubtedly see some hostels in Italy and a number of hotel listings which claim they’re in the Cinque Terre which are really in La Spezia - it’s a quick train ride to the Cinque Terre villages from there, but it’s not technically in the Cinque Terre.

Where to Stay in the Cinque Terre
Speaking of accommodations, there was a time when guidebooks would recommend that you not make reservations in advance of visiting the Cinque Terre, because you could get better deals by just showing up and chatting with any of the women who would hang out in the train stations with signs advertising rooms for rent. Those days are, sadly, mostly gone - at least in the high season. Anyone who’s visiting during the busy season and knows when they’re planning to be in the Cinque Terre is advised to book ahead of time so as to avoid the disappointment of having to take the train from town to town searching for a bed. In the off-season, you’re more likely to be able to score a room on the spur of the moment.

As mentioned, each town in the Cinque Terre does have its own personality. If you’ve got your heart set on staying in a particular village, that’s fine - but if not, don’t worry about it. You can get from one to the other so easily on the train that you can rightly consider them five neighborhoods of one city. The five individual villages are, from the north:

Monterosso al Mare, sometimes known simply as Monterosso, is the largest of the five, and the most heavily visited - especially by young people. It’s the only village with a nice long span of beach right in town (the others either require a hike or are very small).

Vernazza has perhaps the most charming central square, as it’s right on the water and there’s a lovely church tower on one side. The ruins of a castle are on one of the hills overlooking Vernazza. This is the town that tends to be most visited by people carrying Rick Steves’ guidebooks.

Corniglia is the only town not immediately on the water - it’s on top of its cliff, and so either direction you walk from requires a steep hike uphill. It’s certainly not dead - no town in the Cinque Terre is - but being on top of the cliff makes it a little harder to reach and, especially in the evenings when the hikers have all passed through, it quiets down quite a bit.

Manarola feels a bit more rustic and less polished than its northern neighbors; for this reason some find it a bit more charming and less populated with tourists. The part of the path between Manarola and Riomaggiore is the easiest. It’s paved, so you can even make the “trek” with a baby in a stroller, and it’s called the Via dell’Amore - the road of love.

Riomaggiore rises away from the water at a dramatic angle (don’t let go of your wheeled suitcase as you haul it uphill or it’ll end up in the sea), so you can get away from the water and feel like you’re in another town entirely. This town seems to be most popular with German tourists.

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Wherever you decide to land, don’t be disappointed if you don’t get the quiet Italian beach getaway you were hoping for. The Cinque Terre has been discovered by pretty much everyone now, and although they’re no longer quiet, they’re still charming and beautiful and well worth a visit on any Italian itinerary.

You can search for Cinque Terre hostels and hotels to book a room before you go.