[T0001] Guest Post by Daisy: Cinque Terre

A warming Hello to all the Travellovers out here!

Did you ever buy a calendar with pictures of beautiful landscapes? Did you ever notice on that calendar a picturesque location with all these colorful houses going uphill, and having a tiny little port and a tiny beach with rocks to jump off? Well, if you haven’t seen such a photo yet… I am talking about one of the most wonderful areas in Italy: C I N Q U E   T E R R E !

I have been here two times (in August 2020 and July 2021) and both times have been amazing. Let me first explain to you what Cinque Terre is. It is an area in Italy which includes 5 seaside villages (cinque means five, terre means earth) on the Riviera west coastline of Italy. It is above Rome, but under Genova, and it’s also nearby Pisa. The villages are as following (from north to south):  (Levanto -) Monterosso Al Mare – Vernazza – Corniglia – Manarola – Riomaggiore (- La Spezia) 

The reason why I mention Levanto and La Spezia, is because all of them above are train stations and these two are the final stops from the train route that provides the stops for the villages of Cinque Terre. La Spezia was also my home-base to fall back to. From Genova or Pisa you easily get on a train to La Spezia. La Spezia is a small town which offers almost everything: from a train station near the city, affordable rooms to stay in, nice restaurants, and a port. I booked my stay in La Spezia because it is wayyyy cheaper than the accomodations in the villages of Cinque Terre itself. Besides that, there are more rooms available in La Spezia as well. I booked mine through Booking.com. The rooms I booked
during my two visits were around 60 euros per night for two persons (which according to me was still quite expensive, since I normally book rooms for an average of 30 euros. But either way, I enjoyed the rooms and they were near the city and not far from the train station!

TIP: be aware that some of the rooms go up hill, which means you have to walk steep stairs every time you want to go out to the city or to the other villages or want to go back to relax. You can easily check this beforehand by searching the location on Google Maps and turn on Street View.

— Let’s go back to Cinque Terre itself — 

There are colorful houses, vineyards cling to steep terraces, harbors are filled with fishing boats and trattorias bring out seafood specialities. The Sentiero Azzurro cliffside hiking trail links the villages and offers sweeping sea views. Monterosso is the largest of the five towns and has the most amenities. If you love the beach, you should definitely spend the days there. Monterosso has the only sandy beach in the area. You can rent chairs and umbrellas, or a kajak to explore the many coves around the coast. I love the view from a bit further away, because you will see the outstanding big rock in the middle of the beach. Besides chilling at the beach, you can have a walk in the cute village where they also have the most delicious Ice Limoncellos (a slush puppy from Limoncello). If you come from the beach and walk under the train rails towards the village, you should go left and walk into a tiny street, there you already find one on the left hand, where they also sell Limoncello on its own.

Manarola is one of the most famous villages of the scenic Cinque Terre coastline. The village has a small harbor with a boat ramp, picturesque multi-coloured houses facing the sea and a tiny piazza with seafood restaurants. This is the perfect place to spend a lazy day sunbathing and watching people jumping off the cliffs. Talking about jumping off cliffs…

Vernazza and Manarola are two of the villages where I have overcome my fears. Two years ago when I travelled to Cinque Terre, I was too scared to go in the water to climb the rocks to jump off of. This time, I went with my mother and I wanted to do two things I usually never do: 

• Swim alone in dark waters
• Jump off sharp rocky cliffs (somewhat around 4 meters high, which was sooo scary for me)

So what I did: in Vernazza my mom and I were sunbathing on the beach, and later I took a swim, and I noticed a woman with her son. I talked with them for a bit, and afterwards they left but I saw another woman that was going to swim to some rocks near the coast where people were jumping off (2 meters high). So I asked the woman if I could swim together with her to that area and I explained her I am normally scared to swim in dark waters, and even worse swimming alone in dark waters. Eventually: I swam through the dark waters, climbed on the rocks and after a whole lot of people had went before me, I jumped off! AND I even swam back totally by myself! Whoop whoop! Overcoming fear Number 1! My mom was trying to film my jump for quite a time, she thought it took so long. But, darn! I was so proud of myself, hahaha!

Furthermore, in Manarola there were much higher rocks to jump off (probably a 4 meter jump, and a 10 meter jump if I have to guess). So, I saw from the sidewalk that a little boy was climbing up over and over again and jumped off several times. He looked to be about 10 years old. And at that moment I thought: I can do that too! Once in my life I did a big jump in Costa Brava, Spain. I think also 5 meters or so? But that one took me almost half an hour, with a lot of peer pressure from down the beach and my 4 friends already in the water post-jump. I finally took that leap, and Wow! That was so relieving! So I thought, if I did it back then, I should be able to do it again: let’s go!

So, I already had my bikini on and went to the part downstairs to go in the waters. My mom was standing above next to the rails to film me. She eventually ended up on the terrace next to it, and guess what: she missed my jump because it took me that darn long again, hahaha. So, I climbed up on the sharp rocks, and when I was standing there it took me such a time to overcome my fears of falling wrongly in the water or hurt myself against the rocks or landing on shallow water, etc. People had been staring many times and for some time, but luckily they were also focused on the 10 meter jump next to me, haha. Eventually I jumped, and wowwww: I hurt my butt so badly, HAHA! I had my foam flipflops/sandals on, because of the sharp rocks. And because of the foam, my feet and legs made a small bow instead of going straight like a pencil into the water, and therefore my butt hit the water hard.

Lesson: climb up with watershoes or if you’re with foam slippers: take them off before you take
that jump! After all: I was so darn proud of myself, I was still kind of shaking while walking back up
towards my mom. She did took a photo of me afterwards though, haha!

Besides jumping off cliffs, Manarola is famous for the beautiful scenery view as you walk
from the port upwards towards the northern part, you already face a beautiful view from
the colorful houses. There is a popular spot on top, the famous restaurant with the best view
(which is full amost all of the time and always has a huge line). But, if you walk pass that
and go around the corner, you will find a tiny playground and you have a swing as well with
an amazing view to the other side: the ocean and coastline view.

Tip: Have a seat on the swing and enjoy that precious moment for a little while! Not a lot of
people go this place, so it is quite relaxed as well.

As I already mentioned, Vernazza is the village with a tiny beach and also a port. When you walk from the station towards the piazza, you find on your way there an entrance on the left side to a “hidden beach”. You have to walk under the rocks to get there, but this beach is rocky and kind of dangerous with the water clashing into the beach, especially during high tides. There is a cute piazza and a noticeable clocktower on it. But what I liked even more is the fact that you can take a hike from Vernazza as well. My mom and I did this hike, we did the hike from Vernazza to Monterosso, and it was amaaazing! I was surprised my mom kept up with my speed very well! “Go mommy!” It was a lovely walk: natural stairs, tiny paths, rocky parts, bigger spaces to see the beautiful scenery [views over Vernazza and Monterosso, and the ocean], the lovely farmer fields full of lemon trees and vineyards.

Unfortunately I wasn’t able to visit Riomaggiore and Corniglia, but I definitely want to do so next time. Riomaggiore supposed to be the village with a tiny picturesque port carved out between the rocks and Corniglia is the only village which is not built directly on the sea, but on a cliff 100 metres above sea level. It is the smallest of the five villages and the least accessible. You have to climb 382 stairs to reach the village or you can take the shuttle bus from the station. Corniglia is apparently the most genuine town of the five and with the least amount of tourists. So, I’ll definitely visit them next time!

And truly: if you or your family haven’t seen this area yet: YOU SHOULD! Cinque Terre is too beautiful to be left unseen! Just make sure you take into account that it is a bit more pricier, and that the walking routes from the train stations downwards to the piazza’s can be very sloping.

See you guys next time to take you to another lovely location.
So So Lobi,
Daisy