During my holidays in Liguria I spent one day in Cinque Terre. Below you will find my tips. How to go to Cinque Terre, distances, difficulty and map of the Cinque Terre walks between the villages, pictures of the 5 villages of Cinque Terre, what is the best village in Cinque Terre and if it is worth staying overnight. Enjoy!
Train to Cinque Terre from La Spezia – Cinque Terre card
To access Cinque terre you will need to buy the Cinque Terre card. Not only it allows you to take the train that connect all the villages in Cinque Terre and from La Spezia, it also allows you to enter the villages via the hiking trails. It won’t be possible to access the hiking trails without the Cinque Terre card.
Price for one day in Cinque Terre : 7.50Euros per adult
Price for two days in Cinque Terre : 14.50Euros per adult
The Cinque terre card can be purchased at the train stations and online.
One day in Cinque Terre – Walk between the villages
If you wish to stay active, you can visit Cinque Terre by foot. There are hiking trails between all villages that you can use with the Cinque Terre Card. If you start early in the morning you can do everything by foot even though you spend only one day in Cinque Terre.
Cinque Terre walk from Monterosso to Vernazza : 1,30hours
Cinque Terre walk from Vernazza to Corniglia : 1,30hours
Cinque Terre walk from Corniglia to Manarola : 1hour
Cinque Terre walk from Manarola to Romaggiore : 20minutes
You can start your walks already from outside the Cinque Terre area or take longer walks via the Cinque Terre National parc. Here is the map of all Cinque terre walks.
One day in Cinque Terre – The 5 villages of Cinque terre – Pictures
Pictures of Cinque Terre – Monterosso
Monterosso is the northernmost of the 5 villages in Cinque Terre. It is also the biggest and the best one if you want to spend time on the beach as it has bigger and easier to access beaches than the other villages.
Beside the beaches, it has many cute shops and restaurant as well as a few sights to visit :
- Churches of San Giovanni Battista and San Francesco Church, located in the main square of the old town.
- The statue of the Giant, Il Gigante and the statue of San Benedetto d’ Assisi
- The Soviore Sanctuary which dates back to the XVII Century.
Pictures of Cinque Terre – Vernazza
Vernazza is a small fishing village and one of the most beautiful villages in Italy. It is rather small with small alleys, a main square and a main road where you will find all restaurants and one small beach.
Pictures of Cinque Terre – Corniglia
Corniglia is a small village up on the hill. From the train station you can access it via the footpath called Lardarina with it’s 377 stairs!! If you want to avoid to go up the stairs I would suggest to take the shuttle bus from the train station or to walk from Vernazza as it is only a 1h walk and the stairs take you around 25 minutes. Thank me later 😀
Pictures of Manarola – The best village in Cinque Terre
Manarola is to me the best village in Cinque Terre. It is the village I liked the most because even though it was very crowded in the middle of August it was the most charming one. I liked the laundry hanging from the building. I liked the kids jumping from the cliffs in the harbour. I liked the view over the village while going up. It was just so Italian!
Romaggiore
Romaggiore was the village I liked the less. It was cute but I found it quite dirty and the shops and restaurant were too much touristic. This is probably because many people who come to Cinque Terre only for a few hours stay in Romaggiore.
Overnight in Cinque Terre
I didn’t sleep in any of the villages in Cinque Terre. We took the train from la Spezia in the morning and went back in the evening. My Italian friend told me that the best time in Cinque Terre is the evening and early in the morning when most tourist are gone. So plan a night in one of the villages if you have the time and money!
Below a few hotel recommendations.
PENSION EREMO DELLA MADDALENA ( MONTEROSSO AL MARE)
MADA CHARM APARTMENT TERRACE&CARUGIO ( VERNAZZA)
HOTEL CA’ D’ANDREAN ( MANAROLA)
APARTHOTEL LA POSADA ( CORNIGLIA)
HOTEL DUE GEMELLI (RIOMAGGIORE)
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For more articles about Italy you can read :
Where to eat and go shopping in Bologna
Tips for the perfect beach holidays to Elba Island
A Tuscany roadtrip itinerary to see the most beautiful towns in Tuscany + Wine tasting
Best beaches in Ancona and surroundings in Marche
Bisou
Amandine