The Time We Were Surprised In The Cinque Terre | A Cook Not Mad

Cinque Terre

Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, Monterosso, Riomaggiore, the Cinque Terre have been through a lot over the years. Attacked by Turkish pirates, been through a war, a resistance, naked hippies and lately, a devastating flood. Through it all, the grapes have grown along this beautiful coast known as the Italian Riviera.

Monterosso

View of Monterosso from the trail

5 Terre Card

Whether you see them by train, boat or hiking along their trails, make sure you don’t miss these beautiful coastal villages in the Liguria region of Italy. We were there in July 2011, parked in Levanto, bought our 5 Terre Card (weekday – €5 weekend day – €12) and train pass (1 day – €10). You can find regulations for both cards here.

Hopped the train

We hopped on the train to Monterosso, explored a bit and decided to walk the trail to Vernazza. A little research beforehand and we would have known that it’s about a 2-hour hike. We found out 10 minutes into it when we arrived at the checkpoint and asked how close we were to the next village. We trekked on and even though we weren’t prepared and at times we hoped that someone would carry us the rest of the way, the reward was a beautiful view of Vernazza and the coast.

Trail from Monterosso to Vernazza

Vernazza

Tim, over here!

We were sitting at a little restaurant by the water, enjoying pizza and beer when we heard “Tim! Tim, over here!”, we looked and standing 10 feet away were Martin and Nadeen, two good customers from our deli days in Vancouver British Columbia. During those three years we worked 6 days a week and on our day off we would always bump into customers (don’t get me wrong, most of them were great). After we sold, we would still bump into customers in weird places. It became somewhat of an inside joke. But we never thought we would see anyone we knew while we were travelling. After a quick chat, they were off. You have to admit, it makes for a good story.

Pizza!

Train to Corniglia

From Vernazza, we took the train to Corniglia and then on to Manarola and the last, and my favourite, Riomaggiore. It was a long day and if/when we go back we would probably gain by staying at least a week to get to know each village.

Manarola

Riomaggiore

Have you visited the Cinque Terre? Which was your favourite?

Comments

luckyannette says

January 29, 2012 at 7:26 am

We did the “Lovers Walk” in Cinque Terre and it was stunning! This is definitely another beautiful area of Italy 🙂

Nat says

January 29, 2012 at 5:46 pm

luckyannette,
So true, its beauty is breathtaking. It’s a very unique place.

simon says

January 29, 2012 at 9:58 pm

We loved reading this! We have stayed in Montorosso for a few days every year for the past five years. We’re only not going this year because we’re going to visit the US…it’s about time we got to know the other side of the pond a bit

Lots of love

Anne and Simon

Nat says

January 31, 2012 at 7:29 am

That’s great, where are you going in the US?

Maria of the Culture-ist says

April 20, 2012 at 7:56 pm

These photos are alive with color! Great to see some coverage on Cinque Terre, I know the region is struggling to revive tourism.

A Cook Not Mad (Nat) says

April 21, 2012 at 4:35 am

Thanks Maria, we were there just before the floods. We’re glad that we were able to see the villages before the devastation. We hope to return this summer and hope other tourists will return as well. They need the influx of tourist dollars.

Sophie says

April 23, 2012 at 12:28 pm

I’ve yet to visit Cinque Terre. Looks like gorgeous landscapes and yummy food all around.