Cinque Terre

Sep 16

by Christian

What you can’t miss…

Cinque Terre, or “ Five Towns” in english, is a protected area inducted into Italy’s national parks in 1999. The coastal villages that make up the five towns are Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore.
These towns can be explored in a few different ways. For our hikers, there is a famous trail connecting the area, but if you’re looking to do it all in a day, don’t expect to have a ton of time to explore each town. For those of you looking spend more of your time casually taking in the scenes, enjoying pasta, spritzes, and a view, we would recommend the combination of hiking, and the train. On calm days there are also boats available, but if it’s choppy save yourself the trouble as most of the boats are quite small.
Cinque Terre is the pesto region of Italy, so if you like pesto pastas you came to the right place, with just about every restaurant serving trofie al pesto, ranging from anywhere for 6-12 euros .
Cinque Terre is known for having some of the most diverse flora in the Mediterranean, so keep an eye out for the biodiversity when you are on trail!

Where to stay…

Monterosso Al Mare, is the largest of the 5 towns so it provides the most options but there isn’t really a wrong choice!
Albergo Degli Amici - This is where we stayed and it was a great home base for the few days. Nothing special, but the location is fantastic (once you get your bags up the cobble stone street).
Hotel Porto Roca - located on the hill above Moterossa Al Mare, the hotel is located right at the start of the trail head, providing you quick and easy access to the famous Cinque Terre trail. This seems to be one of the highest end accomodations, but we opted out of staying here due to the location as we were keen to be able to walk out the door and explore!
Hotel Margherita - like most hotels in Cinque Terre this is another no frills option in the heart of Monterossa Al Mare
La Torreta - a no frills option for those looking to stay to stay in Manarola

Because Cinque Terre is a place for exploring and adventuring, don’t expect to find 5-star accommodations. The hotels and Airbnb’s in general provide a convenient home base and everything you need to get a good nights rest before your next adventure.