From Montreux, we took a six hour train down to Vernazza, by way of Milan, to spend the next day and a half (two nights) in an area known as Cinque Terre, or “five villages.” Cinque Terre is a UNESCO World Heritage site (#826), with the region known for anchovies, pesto, and, of course, olive oil. It was added to the list in 1997 and I am glad it was, the place is wonderful.
About Cinque Terre
Cinque Terra is located on the Italian Riviera to the west of La Spezia. Here it is on the map:
Map of Cinque Terre
Hiking Map of Cinque Terre
It is a collection of five medieval villages connected by a train, boat, and hiking paths but inaccessible by car unless you’re a resident. We were staying in Vernazza, the second most northern of the five villages. The largest and most northern town is Monterosso al Mare. After Monterosso is Vernazza, then Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore.
The towns themselves are “tiny,” by all accounts, which adds to the quaintness of the whole experience. Vernazza, like many of the others, has only one main “road,” lined with all manner of shops and restaurants. That road leads to a “square,” that sits next to a “marina,” where kids can play. All those descriptions are in quotes because they are really small. 
Marina/Beach at Vernazza
View of Water at Vernazza
Vernazza from the Pier
Incredible Pizza
We got in at 3PM and didn’t have a lunch, since all of our travel was on trains, and after checking into our pension, Albergo Barbara (right on the square), we decided to get some food. We split a ham proscutto and mushroom pizza at some nearby pizza joint named Pizza da Ercole (it’s the only one that looks like a pizza joint, the rest all look like restaurants). The pizza was absolutely delicious and exceeded our expectations. You order at the counter, savor the smells of the wood burning stove, then move outside to enjoy your pizza. The pizza, and any beverages, are passed through a convenient windows/opening.
Martha at Pizza da Ercole
Jim Reacts to the Pizza
After some food, we hopped on a train to the southeastern-most village of Riomaggiore.
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11 responses so far ↓
1 jan // Nov 17, 2009 at 7:59 am
Going to Cinque Terra May 2010. Possibly using trains. Did you have a rail pass or just catch individual trains. How long did it take you to walk it?
2 Jim // Nov 21, 2009 at 1:50 pm
Jan, we just bought individual train tickets. To walk the whole way would take several hours and some areas are a tougher hike than others. The only reasonable casual walk is between the lover’s walk between Manarola and Riomaggiore and that would probably take you an hour (it costs 5 euros to walk the #2 path, the easy walk between each of the towns). If you enjoy hiking, you can do it, if you’re trying to save money, I’d buy the train tickets.
3 hi Jim // Jan 20, 2010 at 11:29 am
hi Jim….just curious as to how you guys got to cinque terre from the airport say Milan Malpensa…did you take a train somewhere or bus or both?why did you choose vernazza to stay at vs. the other towns?..thanks John
4 Jim // Jan 20, 2010 at 3:28 pm
We took the train, the train system is pretty good there and the people at the station can usually direct you which train to take, where to change, etc.
I’m not 100% sure why we chose Vernazza, Martha was in charge of that, I’ll try to get her answer and post it.
5 Jose // Mar 13, 2010 at 8:22 pm
Planning a trip this summer. We are two families, 4 adults and 4 teenagers. Which village would you reconmmend most to find accomodations.
6 admin // Mar 17, 2010 at 3:10 am
We stayed in Vernazza and the Albergo Barbara was a nice size, though not for your size group. I think your best bet is somewhere in Monterosso, which is the largest of the villages and probably has some sizable accommodations. You can really stay anywhere in Cinque Terre and travel to the other villages easily (and it’s fun!).
7 Julie // Mar 21, 2010 at 5:08 pm
We are going to Lucca, Tuscany in May. We would like to go to the region of Cinque Terre, does anyone have any idea how we should get there from Lucca? We will have a car but don’t mind taking a train if is easier.
8 admin // Mar 21, 2010 at 5:12 pm
I recommend the train, you won’t be able to bring a car into any of the villages unless you are a resident and there really isn’t a need to have a car there anyway (the towns are, for the most part, tiny).
9 Ken // Apr 14, 2010 at 6:22 pm
We (adults) are thinking of going to Cinque Terre in late September, driving in from Geneva to meet friends flying into Milan (they will travel to meet us in CT, probably by train). Then we go back north/west to Nice. Where do you suggest we drive and park to and stay a couple of nights so we can hook up with our friends? We thought of Rapallo or Chiavari where we can also go to a cooking school.
10 Marcia // May 3, 2010 at 10:05 pm
Hi Jim,
We are going to Italy in 2011 and our travel agent just suggest Cinque Terra for our 3 week. It looks beautiful, my husband and I are older, however we are in good shape and walk alot. Will we have to climb up and down hills in all of the small towns? Do you feel that you need to speak Italian to go to this area?
Thanks for the help.
11 admin // May 4, 2010 at 4:30 am
You won’t need to climb a lot of hills unless you decide to go on one of the hikes. The towns themselves are very small and connected by train, so there are alternatives to hiking.
As for speaking Italian, it never hurts to speak the local language (or at least try!) but many people speak English.
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