May 7th - 8th, 2019
We did a 2 day trip to Cinque Terre from Florence, taking only 2 hours by train (first to Pisa, then a changeover to La Spezia). In La Spezia, you buy a pass to use the Cinque Terre train.
You’ve surely seen photos of Cinque Terre without even knowing it. Composed of 5 cliffside Italian villages, Cinque Terre lies along the Northwest Coast of Italy on the Ligurian Sea (part of the larger Mediterranean). The villages from from North to South- Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore- are not accessible by road, by connected by train. Once you buy a pass, you can take unlimited rides from village to village, taking approximately 4-10 minutes between any two consecutive villages. You can also hike between villages along the sea, but some of the hikes may take hours and are often closed, so do your research ahead of time.
My Mom and I stayed in Riomaggiore and made that our base. We stupidly hiked from Monterosso al Mare to Vernazza, which we thought would be quick, but took almost 3 hours and was extremely strenuous. We ended up paying for an additional boat ride on the ferry from Manarola to Riomaggiore, just so we could take in the entire coastline and get a different vantage point of the villages for photos.
My recommendations? I would stay 2-3 days at least. Definitely do lots of research ahead of time and try to plan out logistics like train times and hikes, along with where you’ll want to watch the sunset (we chose Manarola, which we didn’t regret!). Food is expensive in Cinque Terre and groceries are sparse, so be prepared to spend some money or piece together what you can from the grocery store if you can cook in an Airbnb. This area is all up-and-down terrain and there is nothing flat about it. You will tire quickly, so don’t overplan and take your time, accounting to go slow and actually soak it all in.
