Two Stunning Days in Cinque Terre

We are at a midway point in our trip now. After landing in Naples and spending a few days in Amalfi, Rome and Florence we now head to Cinque Terre meaning 5 towns and pronounced sheen·koo teh·ruh which we of course learned after returning from our trip. 

We took an early train out of Florence to La Spezia, a port city and the gateway to Cinque Terre. From La Spezia we bought a CT train pass that allowed us to hop on and off the trains connecting the five towns - Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso al Mare. You could also hike between some of the towns which we saw many people do but was not something we were interested in. The hikes looked hard, lots of steep inclines and in this heat and D's eye condition it was a big no no. But for those interested there is a pass you needed to purchase in order the hike those trails. 

With only two days in CT we choose to stay in the first town, Riomaggiore to make getting in and out of the region easier and I am so glad we did. Riomaggiore was absolutely stunning. CT itself was absolutely breathtakingly beautiful. This is what I had imagined Amalfi to be like. Upon googling the internet says that Amalfi is more posh and has a better upscale party scene while Cinque Terre is more small town vibe and family oriented. Well I guess that means we are more of a small town vibe kinda family becuase CT was our favorite location. I wish we had an extra day, I wish D had been in better health and we could have taken a dip in the water. Maybe next time.

Anyway..

We arrived in Riomaggiore in the late morning. Our hotel was on a high cliff and it was recommended we take an elevator up. They have two elevators built into the hills. The elevator near the train station was out of service. We asked the information desk at the train station how they recommended we get up to our hotel. She said there was another elevator a 20 minute walk away or we could just walk up to the hotel. Isn't that a difficult walk I asked. I had read it was arduous plus the sun was at its peak and we had four hand carries. She said no, it was not hard, quick 11 minute hike. LIES!! The walk up to the hotel nearly killed us. I am not kidding. It was steep, hairpin turns and it was so so so hot. We couldn't exactly stop and hail a taxi. We couldn't go back down. We just had to do walk. My poor boys, they really are such troopers. When we finally got to the hotel we were drenched and out of breath. Our room was thankfully ready but a walk away with another set of stairs. Also the hotel had no air conditioning. It was a two bedroom with fans. I kid you not.. once we got to our respective rooms we stripped down to our under things and just lay there, fans on full blast. It took a lot of will power to just get up again.  

We freshened up a bit and reassessed our days itinerary. I had planned on covering two towns today but the way we were feeling that was not going to happen. Instead we wandered around Riomaggiore a bit, grabbed a snack and headed to Manarola. The walk back down was much easier. And turns out that 20 minute elevator opened right outside our hotel.  

Manarola is the second smallest towns of CT with a population of under 400 residents. It is the oldest town in Cinque Terre dating back to the 12th century. 

We got some gelato and walked around just soaking in all the beauty and watching the swimmers, brave little kids diving off the rocks. 

We were still exhausted from the earlier part of our day so we opted for an early dinner at Trattoria La Scogliera. Cinque Terre is famous for its pesto and a special kind of pasta called trofie. So of course we had to try it. 

It was good but the rest of our dishes were kind of meh. 

Afterwards we grabbed a train back to Riomaggiore. The sun hadn't set just yet to we made a quick stop at the harbor to catch the sun setting. The beauty of the Riomaggiore harbor was unreal.

This time we walked to the second elevator and made it to our hotel with less hardship. lol. We were so tired we all slept like logs. 

We started the next day with breakfast at the hotel. It was not included. Hopped on a train and started with the northernmost town of Monterosso al Mare. The village is named Monterosso because the ruling family used to have red hair. "Monte dei rossi" means "Mountain of the ginger-haired". It is the largest of the 5 towns.

It was so beautiful. The water pristine and bright blue. We strolled the streets. Grabbed some strawberries to munch on while we walked. Monterosso al Mare has two beaches. When you exit the train you come up on the pretty and fancy one. And if you turn left and walk through a tunnel you will find yourself in old town where there is a more basic beach.

We boarded the train again and stopped at Vernazza, considered to be the most beautiful of all 5 towns. 

The beach was less impressive. You can see the bell tower of the Santa Margherita di Antiochia Church in the background.

 

There were lots of fishing boats. Many people were jumping off the rocks and into the water. The rocks were not as high as those in Manarola. D was not feeling his best and he found a place to sit in the shade. 

Next stop Corniglia. Corniglia is the smallest of the CT towns with a population of 150 people. Unlike the rest of the CT towns it is not on the water, it is in fact a 100 meters above sea level. Similar to Ravello in Amalfi, many people skip this town as it is harder to access. Once out of the train you need to take a free shuttle or you can take the 400 steps up to the town. We opted for the bus. There was a lot less pushing and shoving to get on this one.

We got a quick bite to eat at La Scuna and then headed off to explore.

Alberto Gelateria, best gelato in Cinque Terre. 

Instead of taking the shuttle we decided to walk down to the train. Not too hard when you are going down. 

We made our way back to Riomaggiore and up to our hotel to freshen up. Afterwards we went down to the marina. H and I grabbed some spots on the rocks while M and D went off to buy us a pizza.

This, I must say was my favorite moment, favorite meal, favorite place to be. This was the most beautiful location, we played a game of goldfish, the pizza was just right and the drinks nice and cold. What more could you really ask for? 

The next morning had breakfast (not at the hotel) and then head of to our next destination. 

I do feel if D had been able to go into the water then an extra day would have been perfect. 

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