An escape to Italy: The Cinque Terre

The Cinque Terre is one of those destinations that is on so many bucket lists - and that becomes blatantly obvious when you arrive in a swarm of people! We took the train from Como to Milan and then another train from Milan to Monterosso al Mare, the town where we stayed on the Cinque Terre. As the train pulled in, I was absolutely shocked by the hoards of people pushing and shoving on the platform and filling the streets. Thankfully, we discovered a lot of these people are 'day trippers' and disappear in the evening. Despite the overwhelming number of tourists, I still recommend visiting the Cinque Terre for the beautiful walks and iconic little villages.

We had four nights in the Cinque Terre. Prior to our trip, some people told me this was too long and there wouldn't be enough to do but I disagree. My biggest tip for doing the Cinque Terre properly is to do the walks between the villages. Without doing these walks, I feel you would miss out on about half the experience. We did also try the other modes of transport between the villages (train and ferry) but the scenery doesn't come close to what you get on the walking trails.

On our first full day, we walked from Monterosso to Vernazza and then on to Corniglia. The walk isn't exactly easy due to narrow tracks that involve steps, loose stones, and inclines, but it's definitely rewarding when you start to approach one of the villages and see the view. Corniglia was a lovely spot to stop for lunch. This village felt a lot less crowded during the day than some of the other villages, which I feel has something to do with the ferry not stopping there and a large number of stairs up from the train station. I had bruschetta with pesto for lunch, which I definitely recommend trying if you're in the area. Pesto is local to the Cinque Terre area and it's such a delicious lunch on a hot day!

On our second day, we decided to have a break from walking and try taking the ferry from Monterosso to the other end of the Cinque Terre, Riomaggiore. The plan was to buy a one-way ferry ticket and then hop back through the villages by train, although we only went to Riomaggiore and Manarola before deciding we were tired and ready for a swim back at Monterosso. Unfortunately, we stuffed up a bit when buying our train ticket and made the rooky error of buying a Cinque Terre pass when we had already also bought the ferry ticket - this is probably one of the most expensive transport combinations! Pro tip: Only buy the Cinque Terre pass if you are going to walk part of the trail which requires the pass (only the blue trail is paid and it's only open between Monterosso and Corniglia) and also take the train a couple of times on the same day.

Our third day was my favourite! By this point, we had kind of sussed out how the transport options worked (although we did manage to accidentally get on an express train to La Spezia when we intended to go to Riomaggiore - watch out for those express trains!) After arriving in Riomaggiore by train, we walked to Manorola. While the blue trail isn't currently open between Corniglia and Riomaggiore, there are other perfectly beautiful trails that you can take. The walk between Riomaggiore and Manorola did start with quite a few steps and involved walking on a footpath along the road for a bit, but it was still a nice walk.

The absolute best trail we walked on the entire trip was between Manorola and Corniglia. Words can't describe how beautiful this walk is. The walk is quite high up and does involve a lot of steps at either end but there is a way to cheat slightly - there is a shuttle bus service that will take you from either village up to the top starting point to avoid the stairs. We did take the shuttle from Manorola although I personally wouldn't have minded the stairs. Once you're up to the top, the walk takes you straight along the terraces of vineyards carved into the hillside. After walking through vineyards for a decent amount of time, you then walk through a bushy area before meandering back down into Corniglia. The view from the terraced vineyards is incredibly beautiful. If you can only do one walk while visiting the Cinque Terre, this is the walk I recommend.

View over the vines from Manorola to Corniglia

Terraced vineyards between Manorola and Corniglia

The food in the Cinque Terre is predominantly seafood-based and a lot of the restaurants have very similar menus. My favourite dish was stuffed mussels. I've had chill mussels several times before, but I had never tried stuffed mussels - absolutely delicious! The restaurants do get quite busy so if you want to get a good table outside, it can be a good idea to try and book. Appertivo is pretty much an official meal when visiting the Cinque Terre so make sure you allow time for a good drink and those amazing complimentary snacks.

We stayed in Hotel Villa Steno during our stay, which was a lovely small hotel. The owners and hotel staff were incredibly nice and helpful, the breakfast was great and the view from our room was perfect. One other thing to note about the Cinque Terre is that each village seems to have themed nights on the weekends, so check those out. The trains don't run very frequently at night so if you are visiting another village for dinner, make sure you check the train times in advance.