Cinque Terre’s 5 Towns And Why You Should Go Visit Them!

Connect with me!

Recently, I spent 3 wonderful days in Cinque Terre, Italy – on the Italian Riviera. This is located on the West Coast of Italy, North of Rome and South of Milan.

If you haven’t heard of it, you may have seen a picture of it on the internet, it’s the place in Italy where all of the houses are different colours, and the towns rest on the waters edge.

There are 5 Villages (Cinque meaning Five, Terre meaning Lands).

My boyfriend and I managed to see all 5 villages in our 3 days there, so here is some information on each of the villages and my ‘Least Favourite to Most Favourite’ Village guide:

5. Corniglia – High up on a hill:

Corniglia, the middle of the 5 towns, is a lovely little village with cute laneways and is high up on a hilltop. Corniglia has many wine fields which are cool to see and look more like the rice paddie fields of Vietnam! As the wine is grown in narrow rows right up the hills, the wine growers need to grow their wine in levels stepping up the hill.

In Corniglia we stopped for a giant slice of pizza on the main tourist stretch! It wasn’t the tastiest slice I’ve ever had so it was a little disappointing.

Why did I rate Corniglia as my least favourite town? The 360 stairs you need to climb in order to get there!!

4. Monterosso – a big beach-side resort town:

Monterosso was our final stop after a long day of walking and hiking. So, in all fairness, we didn’t see that much of Monterosso as it was rest time and dinner time.

What I can tell you about Monterosso is that it’s by far the largest of the villages, and I would not even call it a village. It’s a sizeable beach-side resort town.It’s not hilly at all. (bonus points after a day of hills!) Monterosso has a long beach which is packed with beach chairs and umbrellas for daily rental.

On either side of the long beach is 2 separate villages, so you can explore either side before needing to walk the beach front to arrive at the other ‘half’ of town.

It was lovely to sit along the beach within one of the outdoor bars and have a much-needed beer/wine. The sound of the waves while having a chin-wag over a drink was so peaceful I could have probably taken a nap.

We encountered a struggle to find a table at a restaurant in one half of the town, being turned away from countless places, before finding a little gem up a side street and had an amaaaazing meal!

If we had longer in Cinque Terre, I would love to have come back for a beach day! (Guess I have to go back!!)

3. Manarola – what a cutie:

Manarola is SOOOO CUTE. Manarola feels very small when you are within it, but from the view on the hiking track, it looks larger than first thought.

When we got to Manarola, T & I went up the hill to the back-hiking track and made a hike up to the top of the hills. More about this in my hiking post!

After our hike, I was almost dead, so we treated ourselves to some gelato from one of the many gelato shops in the village. MMMMMMMMM

Manarola had a few cute little stores and cafes and has a waterfront. It’s definitely a great place to be!

2. Vernazza – the prettiest, most popular girl in school:

How can you not love Vernazza? Vernazza is SO picturesque and SO beautiful! T & I hiked to a spot where we could take in views of this most beautiful village.

Vernazza is very popular and is great on the calves, as it’s not all built on steep incline but most of the town is on a flatter plane, which makes it perfect for young and old, fit and unfit, and of course, strollers.

Vernazza has an old church right on the waterfront as well as numerous cafes/bars. They even have public Foosball tables right on the waterfront!

1. And the winner is… Riomaggiore – has it all:

This is the town we chose to stay in, and what a good choice it was! When we first arrived to Riomaggiore, we took the tunnel and wound up on the main street of town. From there we only needed to take a short walk up the hill to our accommodation, right above the Bar Centrale (restaurant/cafe), which is basically the CENTRE of town.
**If you would like the contact of the apartment we stayed in, please comment and I’ll send it to you!

Riomaggiore is potentially the smallest town in the Cinque Terre, but the vibe of the village makes you feel like it isn’t. There are a couple of bars with happy hours, cheap pizza or calamari bars, which cater to the younger crowd.

There is then also some lovely restaurants along the main street of town, as well as a couple of lovely ones in the ‘harbour’ and upon the top of the cliff.

We spent one of our days lazing on the stone beach! I’ve never been on a stone beach so it was a strange experience! It’s near impossible to walk without looking like a gooseberry. And getting INTO the water is even harder!

The hardest part though – could be getting OUT of the water. I stumbled and tumbled and eventually needed the assistance of T in order to make it onto shore…with a few smirks from fellow strugglers…or was that mocking laughs? I don’t know…!! 🙂

However, it’s fairly quiet on the beach and gives Riomaggiore the upper-hand.

Sunsets in Riomaggiore are second to none. Check this out.

Each village is beautiful and each village has it’s pros and cons. If you don’t want too many stairs and hills, stay in Monterosso. However, my recommendation would be to stay in Riomaggiore because… I love it there!

Connect with me!

About Lesley

Australian expat, married to a Dutch guy, living in Amsterdam. Previously lived in London for 3 years, too! Lover of travel, coffee, brunch, beaches, fresh flowers, and family. Now a new mum, navigating life with a baby!