Cinque Terre, Italy in a Day!
Let’s be clear… contrary to the title of this blog post I do not suggest doing Cinque Terre in a day. It’s the type of place that even if you had a full week there, you’d never want to go home. However, if you’re like me, and a day is all you have you are already luckier than most!
This is going to be a pretty photo heavy post but can you blame me? I mean look at this paradise….
Cinque Terre translates to ‘five lands’ which refers to the five little towns or villages: Riomaggiore, Monterooso al Mare, Vernazza, Manarola and Corniglia. You can travel between village via a mountainous hiking trail or by train. Since we were only there for a day, we opted for the train. The train was super easy to figure out, but let me warn you, on a sunny day in June it can get VERY crowded! You can get this pass to have access to the train all day.
If you do choose to do the hike, it was recently made a law that you MUST wear closed-toe shoes. Too many tourists were injuring themselves by trying to hike in sandals that the rangers banned open-toed shoes on the pathway. Lucky for me, they let me take this photo since I promised I wasn’t actually doing the hike 🙂
Our first stop in Cinque Terre was Monterosso al Mare in search of the notorious stripey umbrella beach. But before that, we had to stop at this little stand for some focaccia. Did you know that focaccia originated in Cinque Terre? It’s F*CKING AMAZING. Just look at Rachel’s face LOL.
But the day only got better after the food. LOOK AT THIS BEACH.
It was so hard to pull ourselves away from our sun bed paradise in Monterosso but we were getting hungry for lunch and we wanted to see some of the other villages. So, we dragged ourselves off the beach and headed toward Manarola for some food. But first, we indulged in some gelato to soften the blow a bit…
While I could have quite happily lived out the rest of my days in the sun lounger on Monterosso, Vernazza was like stepping in side a piece of Gray Malin artwork. We dined on seafood and wine in this little terrace and took in the gorgeous views around us.
Like I said, one day isn’t nearly long enough in Cinque Terre. Italy is without a doubt one of my favorite countries I have ever been to (if not my #1 favorite). The food, the people, the art, THE BEACHES. I will absolutely be back!
Have you been to Cinque Terre? What was your favorite village? Let me know in the comments below so I can start planning my next trip!
Like this post? You might like my food tour in Rome blog post as well or my guide to Positano.
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