Living Rome is extremely convenient because public transportation makes it so easy to access just about anywhere and everywhere you could want to go. Most places in Italy are accessible by train in only 4 hours, the Cinque Terre being one of them. These five, small mountain towns are only accessible by train and don’t allow any cars or vespas which is unheard of in Rome.
To get there we took a 4 hour train from Rome, arriving at 10 AM to La Spezia. From La Spezia there is a small regional train that connects all 5 of the towns. The goal was to go swimming and/or kayaking so we took the train to the fourth of the five, Vernazza. All the towns are so interesting because they are built into the hillside. They have become much more popular in recent years and now thrive on tourism but still remain somewhat remote.
Unfortunately we couldn’t find kayaks in Vernazza so we had to settle for a boat. What a shame.
We had the boat for 2 hours and drove up and down the coast looking for interesting places to swim and the possibility of cliffs to jump off of. The water there is extremely clear and was still warm considering we went in the first week of October.
After boating we hiked between Vernazza and Corniglia. Mostly uphill with a lot of steps made of rock but totally worth it for the view.
Because a rock slide blocked Corniglia to Manarolo we took a train between the two so that we could continue hiking to the final city, Riomaggiore, along the Via dell’Amore (Lovers Walk).
Along there we found another place to swim and cliff jump.
Cinque Terre is famous for their seafood and their white wine so for dinner we made sure to try it all. It was the first time I have ever tried sardines but they didn’t look anything like you would expect and definitely weren’t from a can. I had swordfish (also a first) and also very delicious!
Overall the trip was the most picturesque and probably my favorite next to our visit to Sorrento. I could definitely see myself retiring there…
Location: Riomaggiore, Italy
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