Portovenere – Cinque Terre’s Best Kept Secret!

Portovenere is a bright town packed with history located just south of the Cinque Terre.  A Cinque Terre bonus town if you will!  In fact, it was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site along with the Cinque Terre in 1997.  Like the Cinque Terre, Portovenere is laid back, colorful and has delicious food and unbelievable scenery!  Unlike the Cinque Terre, Portovenre has less American tourists and misses the bulk the Cinque Terre crowds.  As a result, Portovenere is a great option for those who really want to disconnect and get away from it all! I visited in August 2015 and had such a great time!

047

Thrilled to be in sunny Portovenere!

What To Do?

Everyone knows that there is hiking and picture taking the Cinque Terre, but what to do in Portovenere?  Actually, a lot, and history buffs will have even more boxes to check (Portovenere dates back to 1st century B.C.)!

Continue reading

Cinque Terre: Italy’s Charming And Colorful Destination

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:

706 626 660 283

Continue reading