Cinque Terre means “Five Lands” and these five little villages blew our socks off. We had heard you should leave the car behind, so we parked the car at the train station at La Spezia early in the morning and hopped on the train. I’m so glad we heeded this advice as each town is only a few minutes away from one another and the views on the train ride were spectacular.
First up was the seaside town of Monterosso. The aqua marine water and white sandy beach were breathtaking as we alighted the train.
We decided to take a stroll up the boardwalk and soak it all in.
When we had sauntered back down to the beach, the two littles demanded a dip in the Italian ocean. The crystal clear water was blissfully warm. It was hard to get them out!
While the train ride between each village does not take long, the train stations are pretty packed in July and there is a little bit of waiting around. Make sure you’ve got lots of water with you!
Next up was the bustling town of Vernazza. The iconic colorful houses lit up our stroll down in to the town and out in to the harbor.
The third village is definitely the middle child of the bunch. When you get off the train this is the view of Corniglia.
That is because Corniglia is that little village up in the top corner of the cliff…..up 388 blooming steps!! At this stage the thermometer on my phone was reading 88 degrees fahrenheit! If I hadn’t promised myself the day before that I would see all five villages, I would have definitely jumped back on the train. Wyatt made the wise choice of waiting at the bottom of the steps with Ro and KJ.
And I slogged up the 388 steps. Because I knew the fam were waiting for me at the bottom, I didn’t explore much of the town. But I did get this spectacular view at the top.
Don’t let the smile fool you. The sweat was dripping off my back and my heart was a- thumping.
I hauled- within fifteen minutes I had made it back down to Wyatt and the two littles. Wyatt was beyond impressed…….. BUT it took me a good half hour after to actually recover! Ha! Trying to catch my breath, we hopped on the train to the fourth village of Manarola.
Manoralo is that quintessential, multicolored, pastel town cut in to the cliff face that pops up on your screensaver every now and again. We took a ramble through the town and out on to the rocky beach where the heat was luring many tourists to take a refreshing dip in the sea. It was beautiful.
The final village pit stop of the day was the steep sleepy town of Riomaggiore. This is where we rested our aching legs and sat down at Il Pescato Cucinato and feasted on some amazing deep fried seafood. Of course, the kiddos found an ice- cream shop across the way.
An absolutely unforgettable day. The two littles walked miles and were exhausted on the train ride back. If I ever go back to Italy, this will be a place I would love to visit again!
Wandering Teacher 