Dan and I traveled to Italy with his Uncle and Aunt from Texas in September 2024. This was his Aunt’s second time in Italy and his Uncle’s first, despite being entirely of Italian descent. Our first stop on this visit was Cinque Terre, Monterosso al Mare specifically! We had a wonderful time and ate some fantastic food. This blog post details what we did, how we got around and what we ate and drank!

CINQUE TERRE

If you are unfamiliar with Cinque Terre, Cinque Terre, or “Five Lands” in English, is a group of five tiny villages in Northern Italy, located on the Ligurian Riviera (a/k/a coastal Liguria or the Italian Riviera). Locals still live in Cinque Terre, but it has become terribly popular in the last decade or so, being popularized by cruise ships docking in La Spezia, Rick Steves’ travel guides, and most recently, the adorable Disney movie Luca (give it a watch before your visit). Travelers come to Cinque Terre for its beautiful villages, coastline, delicious seafood and pesto, and hiking. This was Dan and my fourth visit to Cinque Terre. And while the tourists are honestly somewhat unbearable, especially when cruise ships are in port,  Cinque Terre is still almost as magical as our first visit way back in 2008. The end of this article lists some of our top “tips and tricks” for visiting Cinque Terre, the # 1 being please stay overnight (and spend money in locally owned establishments!).

A THREE DAY ITINERARY FOR CINQUE TERRE

Day 1: Arrival in Cinque Terre and a delightful seafood dinner

To reach Cinque Terre, we flew into Milan Malpensa (from JFK on Emirates, excellent!) and hired a driver to drive us from Milan Malpensa directly to our hotel in Monterosso al Mare, Hotel Marina. This was quite expensive, but saved the time of taking the train (with transfers) exhausted. We stopped en route at the most fantastic Eataly inside an AutoGrill (the most AMAZING Italian gas station) before continuing to Cinque Terre, arriving in the late afternoon. The weather was fantastic. We checked in to Hotel Marina and took a rest before heading to our first dinner! *Pro tip – if you are coming from Milan, you can take a train to Monterosso al Mare (or La Spezia on the other end of Cinque Terre) but its 3 hours from the Milano Centrale train station, add another 2 hours + to account for deplaning and getting to Milano Centrale from the airport, and you have a long commute. Adding all of this together makes a driver much more reasonable.

Dinner tonight was at Ancora della Tortuga, a highly rated seafood restaurant built right into one of Monterosso’s old fortifications. This dinner was FANTASTIC and even included gluten free pasta for our gluten free travel mate! You can read all about our first dinner here!  Pro tip – call and call again to make a reservation, or ask your hotel for assistance.

Day 2: A Cinque Terre hike, wine tasting at Buranco & a boat tour around Cinque Terre

We began our second day in Cinque Terre with breakfast, or colazione in Italian, in Hotel Marina’s rooftop lemon garden, which offered stunning views of Monterosso and the surrounding hills. It was also sunny and beautiful – a great start to the trip!

After breakfast, our travel mates explored Monterosso al Mare, while Dan and I hiked from Monterosso al Mare to Vernazza, the neighboring town (and Portorosso from Luca!), on the Blue Trail. And for those unfamiliar, the Blue Trail is the most well-known Cinque Terre trail that connects Monterosso to Riomaggiore via all 5 towns (although some of the route is almost always closed). This hike took about 2 hours and no, it was not easy! That being said, this was the second time we have done this hike, and it’s worth it every time. The views are insane. Once we arrived in Vernazza, we quickly walked around town and caught the train back to Monterosso, as we had afternoon plans. While the train ride was only a couple minutes, the tickets were a whopping 10 euro per person! *Pro tip – get the Cinque Terre train pass to save on transportation between the towns. *Second pro tip – the full Blue Trail hike takes an entire day. Going from Monterosso to Vernazza to Corniglia (half way) is another option that can be done in an afternoon.

We met back up with our travel mates post-hike (and shower!) for a wine tasting at the lovely Buranco Vineyards, located in Monterosso proper just about our hotel via foot. This was our second time doing a wine tasting at Buranco, and it was just as magical as we remembered, albeit more popular (read about our first tasting back in 2015 here). We enjoyed 4 glasses of wine, a sparking, two whites and a red, and a glass of lemoncino at Buranco, as well as a plate of bruschetta and cheese. The wine, food and views were fantastic. I love this tasting and highly recommend it, especially in good weather! Pro tip – make an advance reservation on Buranco’s easy, English website.

The evening consisted of a boat tour viewing all five of the Cinque Terre towns from the Ligurian Sea with the local Fish and Chill company. Like Buranco, Dan and I also did this tour in 2015, and it is very fun. This time we boated by each of the five Cinque Terre towns and learned the area’s history. We drank Moretti beer and sparkling wine and snacked on focaccia and pesto during the tour.  The boat tour ended just after sunset back in Monterosso. Pro tip – even if you are not taking this tour, get on a boat in Cinque Terre, even a public ferry! The best views are from the water.

We didn’t have dinner reservations this evening, but we found a focaccia sandwich shop, Sottocasa, that also served Tiramisu martinis a few minutes from Hotel Marina. It was an unexpectedly enjoyable dinner! Would return!

Day 3: Exploring the Towns, walking Via dell’Amore & a Pesto Cooking Class!

Our third and final full day in Cinque Terre unfortunately started out rainy. Our breakfast was moved indoors from the lemon garden. But hey, a rainy day in Cinque Terre is better than a day not in Cinque Terre! Notwithstanding the rain, we took the train from Monterosso back to Vernazza for our relatives to see Vernazza, and the rain stopped for our Vernazza visit. We explored the whole town on foot (the only way) and did a bit of shopping.  Pro tip – go off the main squares to find local shops selling locally made souvenirs.  For example, there is a boutique on the main street near the train station called Katrina that is owed by a Texan who married a local and moved.

We next took the train from Vernazza to Riomaggiore, where we had tickets to walk the Via dell’Amore (keep reading if you are unfamiliar). It began pouring rain as soon as we arrived in Riomaggiore, so we didn’t have an opportunity to do much exploring aside from the tunnel connecting the train station to the actual town, LOL. The rain let up a bit just before our timed entrance tickets to Via dell’Amore, which is the Cinque Terre trail connecting the towns of Riomaggiore and Manarola. This path, or “Lover’s Lane” in English, was closed for over a decade until late Summer 2024, so we were excited for it! Via dell’Amore is the flattest of all the Cinque Terre trails and since its been redone, offers large paved paths suitable for almost everyone. The rain let up and we enjoyed fantastic views of the Ligurian Sea. *Pro tip – to access Via dell’Amore, you need both tickets to access the Blue Trail AND tickets for Via dell’Amore, which you can buy online.

Once in Manarola, we briefly stopped for gelato (and a rest!) before walking to Nessun Dorma, the IG famous “restaurant” overlooking the town.

For those unfamiliar, Nessun Dorma is one of Cinque Terre’s most famous restaurants, and it offers a pesto cooking class daily (at least in the high season), in addition to a daily aperitivo for which one must wait in line. In any case, the reason for its popularity is its picture perfect view of Manarola. I am going to write more about our pesto class in a future post, but we basically made pesto per the staff’s instructions and then enjoyed it with Cinque Terre white wine. The experience was very fun and worth the money IMO, despite its crazy social media popularity.

We trained back to Monterosso after our pesto class and had a rest before dinner.  Before dinner, we enjoyed an aperitivo at Torre Aurora, which was absolutely stunning. Torre Aurora also serves dinner. Highly recommend for drinks (cannot comment on dinner).

This evening’s dinner was at a delicious restaurant called Cantina di Miky. Cantina di Miky has been open for over a decade and it gas a good reputation in touristy Monterosso. As expected, our dinner was very, very good. I am going to write a post about it soon. I especially enjoyed the calamari and pesto pasta! Pro tip – make a reservation if you are coming here!

We went to bed after dinner, as we had to catch a train the following morning for Lucca, Dan’s Great Grandmother’s hometown!

WHERE WE STAYED IN MONTEROSSO – HOTEL MARINA

We stayed at the Hotel Marina in Old Town Monterosso, which I very much recommend. Hotel Marina is a small, local hotel that, at least on our visit, is popular with the older American crowd, LOL. The rooms are small, as is standard for Europe in general, but it was pretty comfortable. The shower was clean with good water pressure and the AC worked very well. All rooms include breakfast on the rooftop lemon garden (or inside if it rains), which breakfast includes made to order eggs, pastries, fruit and a few other made to order dishes. Hotel Marina also has an elevator, the staff speak English and it accepts credit card.

Hotel Marina is located right in Monterosso’s old town and it is rather easily accessible from Monterosso’s parking lot. That being said, it is about a 10 minute walk from Monterosso’s train station and main beach.

PRACTICAL TIPS FOR VISITING CINQUE TERRE

1. Almost everywhere in Cinque Terre is hilly with lots of stairs. If you have any mobility issues, you need to ensure (and confirm again and again) that you are staying in a flat or accessible area.
2. Neither elevators nor air conditioning are guaranteed in Cinque Terre (or Italy in general but especially Cinque Terre). Be certain to confirm if your hotel has these amenities.
3. To hike the Cinque Terre trail between the towns, you must wear closed toed shoes; it’s the law. That being said, the trails are tough and not for anyone with mobility issues. We were sweating and huffing and puffing on an early cool morning in late September. The trails are also not flat nor well paved (with the exception of Via dell’Amore) so consider that if you consider hiking…
4. I highly recommend staying in Cinque Terre for at least 1 night rather than doing a day trip. You will lose a lot of the magic on a day trip.
5. Make advance reservations for dinner, especially if you are a group larger than 2. Restaurants were even booked in late September.
6. Cinque Terre is really, really, really popular. You should plan to book tours, experiences, etc. in advance to ensure that you don’t miss out.
7. Visitors travel between villages via the train or ferry. Police do frequently check tickets on the trains, so be sure to buy a ticket and validate it BEFORE riding (buy stamping it in the little boxes on the train platforms). Alternatively, tourists can buy a Cinque Terre train pass good for 1, 2 or 3 days. This is what we did and it was quite easy. You also do not need to validate the passes, as they are dated by date and cannot be used at any other time.
8. Go out and explore even if its raining. We did this and don’t regret it for a second. The weather can also change during the day, so listen to locals regarding the weather and tours going forward, etc.
9. A lot of Cinque Terre is outdoors and subject to weather cooperating. For example, out boat tour was almost cancelled due to rough seas, despite the fact that it was gorgeous that day. Our Nessun Dorma pesto course also would have been cancelled had the rain not cleared up.
10. Try to visit locally owned restaurants, tours and shops in Cinque Terre. Support the locals – not foreign investment. If you look, you can definitely find locally owned businesses and souvenirs.
11. The beaches and water and really only warm enough to swim in during the real summer, although beach chairs stay out and rentable as long as they can (they were being put away our last day (October 1st)  for the season!).
12. The beaches are also rocky. Bring water shoes if you plan to swim.
13. Pack your patience. Cinque Terre is SO crowded.
14. Focaccia, seafood, including stuffed mussels, and pesto are all local foods that you must try in Cinque Terre.
15. The only proper beach is in Monterosso al Mare, but the other towns have small (er, tiny) rock beaches that you can use for sun.

STEAL OUR TRIP TO CINQUE TERRE

Hotel Marina: Via Buranco, 40 Via Roma Park, 19016 Monterosso al Mare SP, Italy. 10 minute walk from the train station, closer to town parking lot. Elevator and AC. Good breakfast.

Buranco Vineyards: Via Buranco, 72, 19016 Monterosso al Mare SP, Italy. Closed Monday.

Fish & Chill Boat Tour: Molo dei Pescatori, 19016 Monterosso al Mare SP, Italy. Meet at Monterosso harbor.  I wrote about our previous tour here.

Via dell’Amore: 15 minute timed tickes to Via dell’Amore required, as are tickets to the Cinque Terre hiking trails. Read, you need TWO tickets for this activity.

Nessun Dorma: Only open in nice weather.

L’ancora della Tortuga: Salita Frati Cappuccini, 4, 19016 Monterosso al Mare SP, Italy. Closed Monday & Tuesday.

Sottocasa: No website. Via Vittorio Emanuele 26, 19016 Monterosso Italia.

Cantina di Miky: Via Fegina, 90, 19016 Monterosso al Mare SP, Italy. Closed Wednesday.

Torre Aurora: Via Bastioni, 5, 19016 Monterosso al Mare SP, Italy. Closed Thursday.