Cinque Terre (what means Five Lands) comprises five fishermen villages:
• Riomaggiore
• Manarola
• Corniglia
• Vernazza
• Monterosso al Mare
They are located in the eastern Liguria, in a province of La Spezia. It is like 5 miles of rocky coast among two capes (cape Mesco and cape Montenegro). All five small villages are located by the sea. Since 1997 the coastline, the villages, and the surrounding hillsides became all part of the Cinque Terre National Park and the UNESCO World Heritage Site. They offer fantastic sea, beautiful beaches and miles of trials. Here you can find Sentiero Azzurro, the path along the coast that connects all five villages of the Cinque Terre.
How to reach Cinque Terre?
• by train – it is the most confortable mean of transport to visit Cinque Terre. This year Italian railways introduced the Cinque Terre Express light rail. Trains run very often (even each 15 minutes) and stop in each of Cinque Terre. A ticket between each of villages costs 4€. At this point, if you plan to take numerous trains in one day, I recommend you to purchase the Cinque Terre Card. It is a kind of cumulative ticket which include a hiking pass and a transport services. The card allows card holder to travel without limit between the Cinque Terre villages, hiking along the Sentiero Azzurro and use of the ATC buses within the villages. The card also includes WiFi access at the train stations in each of the five villages. It costs 16€ per day. The railway schedules of Cinque Terre you can find here: http://www.trenitalia.com/cms-file/allegati/trenitalia_2014/informazioni/orario_digitale/G3M_light.pdf
• by car – highway A12 suggested exits: La Spezia (from there follow the road signs to La Spezia and then Le Cinque Terre) and Carrodano (follow the directions to Levanto and Le Cinque Terre); more details: https://www.autostrade.it/en/home
• by ferry – almost every town in Liguria offers a possibility to reach the Cinque Terre with ferry:
– from Golfo dei Poeti (La Spezia, Portovenere, Lerici) http://www.navigazionegolfodeipoeti.it/en
– from Golfo del Tigullio (Rapallo, Santa Margherita Ligure, Chiavari, Lavagna, Sestri Levante) http://traghettiportofino.it/en/
– from Genoa http://www.liguriaviamare.it/mare/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=115&Itemid=90&lang=it
The important tips that you should get with you to your trip :
1. Confortable shoes (no high feels shoes or sleepers !!!). Hundreds and hundreds of stairs …trainers are good enough 😉
2. Hat (especially in summer time)
3. Sunscreen !
4. Water !!!
5. Swimsuit (you will see many beautiful beaches with crystal water)
No matter how you get there, they are the places you absolutely have to see in Liguria!
Let’s start visiting one of the most famous places in Italy!!! We begin from the east side, from the village RIOMAGGIORE.
