Walking tour of Cinque Terre

Here's an itinerary to discover the Cinque Terre, a portion of coast in the Liguria region, composed by 5 villages. Let's start!

First of all, i strongly suggest you to reach it by train, as the streets are very narrow and winding. From La Spezia you will reach the first village, Riomaggiore, in less then 10 minutes and each village is reachable in one or two minutes by train.

We start with Riomaggiore and work our way up. Is a village of the thirteen century and the most southern village of the Cinque Terre. Its main street is Via Colombo where you can find many bars and restaurants. It is famous for its history but also for its wine, produced by the town's vineyards.

Not to miss: the Via dell'Amore (Love's Trail), a walking trail overlooking the see linking Riomaggiore with Manarola, another of the Cinque Terre towns. It is about one kilometer long and it's a part of the Cinque Terre National Park.

Take a train and reach Manarola in about two minutes. It is believed to be the oldest of the Cinque TerreVia dell'Amore (Love's Trail) connects Manarola with Riomaggiore and you can also visit the vineyards and go hiking.  Manarola is famous for its bright and colourful houses and for its luminous Nativity scene around Christmas time, the biggest in the world.

villages, and its name derives from Latin and means "large wheel", referring to the mill wheel in the village. The

The next village is Corniglia which is not, unlike the others villages of the Cinque Terre, directly adjacent to the see but it's located at the top of a hill, surrounded by vineyards. You can reach it by walking from the train station or by using a staircase composed by 382 steps. This village is characterized by narrow roads and terrace obtained in the rock, from which the other villages can be seen. Corneglia is mentioned in the famous novella of Boccaccio's Decameron. 

We proceed visiting Vernazza, included in the Cinque Terre National Park. Here the Doria Castle can be found; dating from the thirteen century, today is a museum. Inside the museum there was a bronze cannon but it was taken by English soldiers and its now on exhibition in London's British Museum.

The last village is Monterosso al Mare, which is divided in two areas: the old town and the new town, separated by a tunnel. Monterosso has the only extensive sand beach in the Cinque Terre area and its overrun by tourists during summer. The area is famous for its many lemon trees, wines, grapes and olives. In the past it was only accessible by sea or by mule paths which are now used by hikers.

I suggest to stay one or two days in each village, walking in the streets, visiting the churches and admiring the wonderful view of the Liguria coast. The villages are pretty small and walkeable.

I hope you enjoy this itinerary!