The Italian Riviera is blessed with great coastlines, romantic towns and quaint villages. For me the five fishing towns that you’ll find in the Cinque Terre are the highlight of any trip there. The five communities are not isolated like they were before, but you will still feel that you are in an authentic remote location.
How to get there
The Cinque Terre villages are located in a mountainous area of the Italian Riviera. Their isolation still leads to few challenges when planning a way to get there.
You can get to the all of the villages in a car, but you will need to be made of some strong stuff as you travel along the edge of the cliffs. On top of that it is also not cheap at all. The best way to reach there is to get on a train. You can reach the five communities directly from Rome, Pisa and even Genoa. Look out for the Cinque Terre Pass, it will give you train travel to all the villages and also cover any hiking fees.
How many days you need
To be honest you could stay here for ever, it’s that good. Don’t fall into the trap of trying to visit The Cinque Terre on a day trip because that will simply not do the place justice. The pace of life here is slow and your trip should reflect that. When you’re sat on the waterfront, sipping a glass of wine, enjoying the songs of the birds I am certain you won’t want to be rushing off anytime soon. I think the best thing to do is leave yourself around 3-4 days, that way you’ll be able to visit all of the villages or just kick back and relax if you find one of them too good to leave.
The best places to stay
As you can imagine, accommodation in such an iconic location is not going to be the cheapest you will ever find, so you need to book well in advance and make sure you do your research. I found that looking for apartments to rent in 5 Terre can make your trip much more affordable. Having your own apartment means that you don’t always have to eat out, you can pick up some beautiful fresh produce, take it home, cook and then sit on the balcony enjoying the view – heaven!