“The Cinque Terre is a rugged portion of coast on the Italian Riviera. It is in the Liguria region of Italy, to the northwest of the city of La Spezia. “The Five Hills” is composed of five villages: Monterosso al Mare, Vernazza, Corniglia, Manarola, and Riomaggiore. The coastline, the five villages, and the surrounding hillsides are all part of the Cinque Terre National Park and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.” ~ Wikipedia
While the five villages of the Cinque Terre are very popular tourist destinations they cannot easily be reached by cars from the outside and rely on paths, trains and boats to move people between them.
We set out for the Cinque Terre via train after our first night in La Spezia. We’d decided to go to the furthest village first, Monterosso al Mara, and work our way back. It turned out to be a very hot and humid day and we were tired so Bonnie and I only managed to see two of the five — Monterosso al Mara and Vernazza.
Had our itinerary been reversed, with the Cinque Terre our first destination instead of our last, I’m sure we would have seen the other villages.
An interesting note, the villages of the Cinque Terre suffered torrential rains, floods and mudslides last fall, October 25, 2011, killing nine people and causing extensive damage to the villages, particularly Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare. We could see signs of high mud levels and work still underway. It was amazing they had recovered as quickly as they did.
I’d highly recommend this informative video on the flooding at Vernazza, found here.
From the video you’ll be able to spot some of the structures from my photos below.
The Cinque Terre is a strikingly beautiful place which calls for more time and energy then we had to give on this occasion. I’m just glad we got to see as much of it as we did.
Interesting to see the damage done by the flood and the deposit of mud. And, yes they have recovered very quickly. But what a beautiful place to see. I would love to visit that area because of the feeling it gives.
We didn’t realize the extent of the damage done during the floods until after we got there so it was surprising to us how “back to normal” the place seemed after only 9-10 months. It’s a stunningly beautiful area — one I’d like to return to with more time. Thanks,
Yep, I could see myself visiting here for sure! I am amazed at how much you have seen on this trip Earl. No doubt you got your money’s worth on this one.
Mark, thanks. Cinque Terre is so beautiful. We had a great itinerary based upon a trip some other friends had made and highly recommended. Renting a car and then making use of public transportation at the cities was definitely the way to go. Just be sure and pay the extra for the GPS in the car — it’s a must have, once you get it switched over to English — another story in itself! ;-)