I went back to Cinque Terre for my third time over the summer, and it was just as magical as I had remembered. If you haven’t been, you should plan to go soon! Cinque Terre is a series of five seaside villages on the Ligurian Riveria – a coastal part of Italy a bit south of Genoa and four hours north of Rome (by train). Popular with backpackers for decades, Cinque Terrre was thrust into the spotlight in Rick Steves’ guidebooks and recently received unwanted attention due to massive and debilitating flooding and mudslides in 2011. Luckily, Cinque Terre has mostly recovered and is back to its beautiful old self:
