Levanto and the Cinque Terre - Beautiful Italy

Warm sun, gentle breeze, crashing waves. Need you ask for more?

Cinque Terre (5 villages) is the place to be if you want to sit back, relax and take a breather after visiting bustling Rome. It is located only a train ride away from Florence so getting there isn’t going to be a huge problem. Despite its close proximity to the other popular parts of Italy, Sienna, Florence or Pisa, the towns are not overflowing with tourists! Another plus!

The region is made up of 5 villages, each with her own little special quirks. Monterosso, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola and Riomaggiore. These aren’t names of famous italian babes, rather, they are the names of the villages of Cinque Terre. Each village is only minutes apart, all accessible by trains. Alternatively, you can choose to hike between the villages each only about 1-2 hours apart. The toughest part of the hike has to be between Vernazza and Corniglia and the easiest, probably between Riomaggiore and Manarola.

18km of coastline, with vineyards decorating the hills and a spectacular view of the Mediterranean Sea. Also a part of the UNESCO world heritage. Here’s a couple of pictures I took while I was there! Enjoy!

Levanto

Sunset at Levanto. Pardon my camera skills.

this is the morning view of the beach. absolutely stunning!

It really was much more beautiful! Our base. We made Levanto our starting point and our base because it wasn’t as crowded as the other villages. I have to say that the people, namely the locals, here were really friendly. Everyone seem to know each other and greeted each other even along the streets. Everyone seemed to know where everybody else worked, and they were able to give directions to practically almost every place we asked! Splendid! It really did make us feel so at home, as though we were a part of them!

Farinatas and Calzone! What can I say… really tasty stuff!

If you happen to be there, make sure you do not miss the restaurant Nuova Pizzeria Bruna! The farinatas were to-die-for and the calzone was excellent! We had dinner there every night!

Monterosso

Monterosso.

Look at the Statue! I didn’t notice it at first. Pretty awesome!

The first of the Cinque Terre villages from Levanto. This town is divided into 2 by a tunnel and the mountains above. Both sides have equally good beaches so it’s really up to you to choose! Didn’t manage to dine here so can’t really give any great food recommendations.

Vernazza

Along the way to Vernazza. The Mediterranean Sea.

Vernazza with the Castle and the Stone Jetty

The Stone Jetty. (The waves were huge. Look at the next pic!)

Waves crashing down on Vernazza

This village was filled with throngs of tourists as compared to the others. The area around the stone jetty is an ideal spot to sit down, have a bottle of ice cold beer or sip on a cuppa italian coffee! Bought pizza from a pizzaria, can’t recall the name of the shop, but the pizza was so good! It was a simple pizza with pepperoni but the spicy-salty taste of the pepperoni was simply fantastic! Here’s a few photos with the waves crashing down.

Corniglia

The view of Corniglia

On my way to Corniglia

The little red dot tells you where we are! (And that’s really a long way up!)

Long way up to the top! (I think there’s a lift in construction)

Vineyards of Corniglia

Unfortunately, I can’t say much about Corniglia because I rushed through it. Probably the only thing I can say is that it has a beach located about 20mins walk off the hike trail. Rumor has it that it is a nude beach, according the 2 Americans who I bunked in with. If I’m not mistaken, Corniglia is located higher up the hills, thus missing out on the beach action.

Manarola

Manarola and me!

Again, several guides have suggested visiting the church here, church of San Lorenzo. However, Zhenyuan and I rushed through this village as well because our other walking partner, Macerena, from Chile, was literally running through all the villages! We didn’t have time to take a slow stroll like for the later villages. Apparently I think she found us walking too slow she carried on alone.

Riomaggiore

Hidden Riomaggiore

This was the village we started our walks at. We took a train from Levanto here. We didn’t even walk around this village. All we did was hop off the train and head straight for the hiking trails. Alas, what a waste. I’ll definitely go back again.