Visiting Cinque Terre: everything you need to know + tips, costs, and itinerary
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Cinque Terre consists – as the name suggests – of five colorful villages. These villages, Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso al Mare, are located on the coast of Italy, next to La Spezia. Cinque Terre is easily accessible from there by train, as all five villages are difficult to reach by car. The villages have been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List since 1997 and are all equally beautiful and unique to behold. It is no wonder that these colorful fishing villages attract more than 2 million visitors a year! Below is an overview of everything you need to know for your trip to Cinque Terre, including tips, costs, and an itinerary.
How do you get there
Although the villages are difficult to reach by car, it is not difficult to visit all five. This is best done from La Spezia (or possibly Levanto on the other side of the five villages), which is located 16 km from the first village, Riomaggiore. From the train station in La Spezia, you can reach the first village by train in 8 to 10 minutes, and there is an excellent train connection all the way to the last village, Monterosso al Mare. The train journey from each village to the next takes about 5 minutes, and the direct journey from La Spezia to Monterosso takes 27 minutes, so it is perfectly doable.
The Cinque Terre Express runs between the villages every 20 minutes from March to November, but the train also runs once or twice an hour in winter. You can buy a single ticket per trip, but I recommend purchasing a day pass. This is available for one, two, or three days, and the costs vary from €22 for one day in the low season to €81 for three days in the high season. You can find more information about the costs here.
You can buy the train pass at any station in Cinque Terre, but also in La Spezia, and it is also possible to buy a ticket online in advance via this link.
To get to Cinque Terre, it is therefore convenient to travel to La Spezia or Levanto first. Both cities is easily accessible by car, but you cannot fly there directly. The nearest airport is in Pisa, 80 km away, but you can also fly to Genoa or Florence. You can take the train to La Spezia or Levanto from all three cities, but it is also possible to rent a car and drive there yourself. This is a great option if you plan to see more of the surrounding area!
Where to stay
For this, you essentially have two choices. You can stay either in one of the five villages of Cinque Terre or outside of it. Because Cinque Terre is easily accessible from La Spezia or Levanto, these are good places to stay. Both choices have advantages and disadvantages.
If you stay in one of the five villages, you are not dependent on train schedules and can stay as long as you like. This also means you can arrive as early as you wish and discover places before most visitors arrive. However, accommodations in Cinque Terre are often considerably more expensive than in La Spezia or Levanto. There are no large hotel chains to be found, so you often rent a room or an apartment from locals. It is authentic, but it can certainly be basic as well. In return, however, you often get an amazing view.
If you don't mind traveling to Cinque Terre by train, accommodation in La Spezia or Levanto makes more sense. More hotels can be found here, including the more luxurious ones, and prices per night (as well as for restaurants) are on average significantly lower than in any of the five villages.
How many days do you need?
Cinque Terre consists of five small fishing villages, but all five are unique to visit. You can enjoy swimming there in the summer, but there are also walking paths that connect the villages and offer views of the sea.
If you have the time, I recommend visiting all five villages because they all have something different to offer. You will need at least two full days for this, but if you prefer to take it a bit easier and, for example, want to go for beautiful walks or sunbathe on the beach, three to four days is a better choice.
Visiting all five Cinque Terre in one day is probably a bit too much, and you will mainly be doing a lot of traveling. In that case, I recommend choosing two or three villages for your visit. Vernazza is the most visited village and is often considered the most beautiful, but Riomaggiore and Manarola also attract a lot of visitors. So it just depends on what you personally find most enjoyable to include.
