Transportation: RyanAir flight to Pisa, Trenitalia
train system
Lodging: Martina Rooms Vernazza
My sweet husband and I had already had plans to go
to the Cinque Terre, but after I went with my girlfriend, I could not wait to
get back there and show it to him. This
was one of those relaxing and enjoyable trips with limited site seeing things
to check off the list so we could really enjoy the food and scenery more than
anything. Here is how I went about
planning our trip followed with our itinerary.
Planning Your Cinque Terre Trip:
The closest and easiest airport is Pisa with just a
short 1.5 hour train ride to La Spezia where you can connect to whichever
village you choose to stay in. You could
also connect via train from Genoa and Milan as well. We flew RyanAir from Frankfurt Hahn to
Pisa for a reasonable price and easily connected to La Spezia (minus our accidental
hop on the wrong train which diverted us to Florence first, then La
Spezia). Just make sure you are on the
right train and you will be all good :)
Since the Cinque Terre (Five Lands) is comprised of
5 quaint villages, you need to choose one as your home base. There are
some other towns like Levanto and La Spezia that you could choose as a home
base, but I prefer staying in one of the quieter villages. I think you
really get a better picture of slow paced Italy when you stay here. Each
village is about 2-5 minutes away from each other by train, so no matter where
you stay there are frequent trains to get around quite easily. Another
option is hiking between each village, which I will cover later. We chose
Vernazza both times and I think I can safely say, this is our favorite of the
towns. Its’ small, quiet, has a small beach, great food, and the train
station is close to the village so that makes it easier to get your luggage
from the train to your hotel.
The Five Villages:
Riomaggiore: closest to La Spezia,
larger more bustling town with several restaurants, has a rocky beach, and
great place to watch the sunset and walk the Via del Amore trail (which is
currently closed).
Manarola: small village with harbor for
swimming, one main street, beautiful vineyard views and a lovely uphill hike to
Volastra amongst the vineyards, a nice Panorama trail for gorgeous
views, several restaurants.
Corniglia: sits high above the water
on a hill, the train station is down below requiring a pretty steep climb
up or down to get to and from the train and village; however there is
a small shuttle bus that can take you to the town center from the
trains station, has some cute restaurants and wonderful views.
Vernazza: my favorite of all of the
villages, has breathtaking views, one main street lined with some great
restaurants and shops, the church is built into the cliffs near the small
harbor beach, has a castle with tremendous views and a lovely restaurant, a
lovely piazza with several restaurants and a great place to take in the sunset.
Monterosso al Mare: one of
the largest villages consisting of a new town and old town, both have black
sand beaches, larger hotels, some great restaurants and shops. The
train station is in the new town.
I loved using the Rick Steve’s book to find various
B&B’s to stay at in the Cinque Terre. We found a nice room on the
main square in Vernazza for about 75 Euros per night. Most of the other
places we looked into were on average between 80-100 euros per night and up
depending on location, breakfast, a balcony, etc. Airbnb is also another
good place to look for rooms in the area.
This trip was so wonderful. I
think you could stay in the Cinque Terre area for up to a week and really dig
deep and take it all in. If you are shorter on time or including in a
bigger Italy trip, I think 2-4 nights are sufficient.
Itinerary:
Day One:
- We flew into Pisa via RyanAir from Frankfurt Hahn. Outside of Baggage claim you will see a ticket stand to purchase the Pisa Mover ticket (1.30 euro) to connect you to the train station. At the train station you can purchase your train tickets at any of the kiosks and remember to validate the ticket before getting on the train. As I mentioned before, we connected in La Spezia and transferred to a regional train to Vernazza. Our B&B owner was waiting for us outside of the train and directed down to the main piazza to our room. That evening we found a great pizzeria for some wine and pesto pizza. We walked the beautifully lit streets at night and just relaxed and rested up for a fun day the next morning.
Day Two:
- We found a cute bakery for breakfast and set off to hike the 1.5 hours to Monterosso. Us Americans were up bright and early and only encountered a few hikers along the trail. Having the beauty to yourself is pretty amazing. I should mention you must buy a Cinque Terre Trail card to hike the area since it is a protected area and considered a National Park. The card for one day was only 7.50 euro per person. Since the ticket hut was not open when we started our hike, we just paid once we reached the end of the trail.
- We explored Monterosso, bought some beautiful tile art, sat and had Kaffee and Kuchen at a local cafe before we took the train back to Vernazza. From Vernazza we hiked to Corniglia and this hike is very beautiful with several amazing ocean views. There is a wonderful little cafe along the hike where you can stop from some fresh Lemon Granita to refresh yourself for all that uphill climbing. Since the hike to Manarola was closed and the alternate hike required 2.5 hours, we decided to take the train to Manarola instead. We hiked along the panorama trail, stopped for a wine and snack break and just took in the views.
- After a short train ride back to Vernazza we freshened up for dinner. Since the restaurant we had planned on eating at was closed, we decided to eat on the piazza and watch the sunset. Some wine and pesto lasagna later, it was time for Wine Tasting at the Wine Experience. Ironically this is on the balcony where my friend Abby and I stayed in July, so I was really excited to be back on that gorgeous ocean view balcony. Our wine connoisseur was amazing and we tasted some delicious wines. The night was topped off with some gelato and roaming the cute streets.
View of Vernazza
View of Monterosso
Snack Break
Monterosso Beaches
Yummy Focaccia snack
Vernazza
Hiking to Corniglia
Lemon Granita
View of Corniglia
Manarola
Manarola Wine Break
Sunset in Vernazza
Wine Tasting in Vernazza
- We had a delicious breakfast at the Lunch Box in Vernazza that consisted of fresh pressed juice and savory crepes with prosciutto, rucola, and cheese (MY FAV). Then we hopped on the early train to Santa Margherita Ligure (55 minutes), connected to Bus 82 outside of the train station, and took a short 20 minute ride to Portofino. Portofino was so picturesque. Since we arrived by 10:00 we had most of the town to ourselves before all the tourists settled in. The main piazza was adorable and had a small market going on for us to peruse. We found a cute cafe with WIFI to stop for some coffee and a snack before tackling the town. A short walk uphill takes you to the Castello Brown and church for some great views. The town also had a lovely church and cute streets with restaurants and shops to see. Ryan was hungry for lunch so we found a great place for more wine and pesto pizza before we took the bus back to Santa Margherita. Santa Margherita is much larger town with a beach and much more going on, so you could spend much longer here, but a short hour walking the streets was plenty for us. From here we took the train to the last of the five villages, Riomaggiore. We spent a few hours roaming the streets, taking in the views, stopped for some wine and bruschetta, and watched the sunset from the harbor.
- That night we had dinner at Al Castello in Vernazza (the restaurant in the Castle). This would be a great place to watch the sunset if you are looking for a place. The food was great, the wine even better, and they gave us free Vinsanto and Limoncello! We met a lovely retired couple from Washington state and chatted with them all through dinner. Later we met some spunky Croatians and spent the night chumming it up with them, some French, Swiss, Italian, Canadian, and American peeps!
Portofino Harbor
Santa Margherita
Santa Margherita Beaches
Riomaggiore
Snack in Riomaggiore
Sunset in Riomaggiore
Dinner at Al Castello
Having fun with new Peeps in Vernazza
Day Four:
- We spent the morning having breakfast at
Il Pirate della Cinque Terre. This place was great and the owners were
hilarious and so hospitable. Not to mention his pastries were some of the
best I've had in Italy! Sadly, late that afternoon it was time to train back to
Pisa to catch our flight home.
Cannoli Croissant- Ah-MAZING
Sad to Leave
Well there you have it, our quick, but amazingly
enjoyable Cinque Terre trip. I think its' safe to say we both thoroughly
enjoyed this getaway and would go back at any chance we get!
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