Italy is one of the most-traveled destinations in Europe and it is certainly a must visit, especially in the summer months. There are so many highlights in this beautiful country — from the Tuscan hillsides and vineyards to the cobblestone streets of Rome to the cliffs of Cinque Terre, the coastline of Positano and beyond.
Grab a cup of tea and stay a while, below is Part I of my travels in Italy this summer, covering Cinque Terre and Tuscany. My hope is that learning more about these destinations will inspire your next adventure! Here we go:
CINQUE TERRE
Our first stop was Cinque Terre, which translates to ‘Five Towns’. Cinque Terre is a string of five fishing villages perched high on the Italian Riviera, which until recently were only linked by mule tracks and accessible by rail or water. Cinque Terre is well known for its beauty. The breathtaking views of the harbors from high above the wild coastline and the stunning, vibrant colors of the houses and buildings make visiting Cinque Terre a very special holiday.
Even though we traveled in August during the high season, we had a wonderful experience and I highly recommend visiting Cinque Terre if you plan a trip to Italy!
WHERE TO STAY:
We stayed in La Spezia, which is a port town located just minutes to the east of Cinque Terre by train. We found it an ideal place to stay because of its proximity to the five villages and how inexpensive our Airbnb here was vs. the cost of Airbnbs & hotels within the five villages. I highly recommend staying in La Spezia if you are traveling on a budget because from here you can explore and appreciate the beauty of Cinque Terre, yet you can also easily reach Porto Venere, a little medieval town that is considered a hidden gem in the shadow of Cinque Terre (a must visit)!
HOW TO GET AROUND:
From La Spezia, the easiest way to visit the five villages is via train. You can purchase your tickets at the station and since the trains run quite frequently, you don’t have to worry about booking your tickets in advance. The villages aren’t too big, so depending on the amount of time that you have, you can visit more than one per day. Ask about the day train pass if you’d like to spend the whole day out and about because then you’ll have unlimited rides between the five villages.
Apart from the train, you can also take a ferry from La Spezia to the Cinque Terre. Or, you can even hike from one town to the next, but be sure to check with the local guides at the train station for a map to find out if any trails are closed. Lastly, you can book a private or semi-private tour online or through Airbnb experiences. We considered doing a semi-private sunset tour on a boat, but decided to hold off because the weather was skeptical. I would recommend looking into these other options, but otherwise, simply taking the train from one village to the next works just fine.
To go to Porto Venere, we traveled by ferry. However, you can also get there by bus from La Spezia.
ABOUT THE 5 VILLAGES:
Riomaggiore. Riomaggiore is the first stop if you take the train from La Spezia to the five villages. It is considered to be one of the most peaceful and quiet villages of the Cinque Terre. Riomaggiore consists of a cascade of multi-colored houses in the typical Ligurian style, all tightly clustered around a tiny natural harbor. It is quite small, so we only spent about an hour here to look around before traveling to the next village. It was a beautiful place to visit, especially because of the bright colorful houses built into the cliffs.
Manarola. Manarola is the second village and it also has a tiny harbor where we found people swimming and even jumping off of a cliff! Similar to Riomaggiore, Manarola has picturesque multicoloured houses facing the sea. I personally enjoyed the colors and mood of the houses in Manarola a bit more - think soft tones and a pastel color palette, so dreamy! Manarola has a tiny piazza with a handful of restaurants. Be mindful that especially during dinner time, these restaurants get very crowded! We managed to find a small place down the road, away from the busy restaurants facing the sea. The food was delicious here. I especially loved the gelato from a place called Gelateria 5 Terre. They don’t serve anything that will be wasted, meaning even the cup and spoon were edible, how neat!
Corniglia. Corniglia is an interesting terre in that it is the only village not connected to the sea. Once you arrive by train, you must purchase a bus ticket and take a bus way up the cliff to the center of Corniglia. Apparently, you can also walk from the train station to Corniglia, but we were advised not to since the path is quite steep and it was a very hot day. Once we arrived in Corniglia, we roamed around and were fascinated by the stunning views from 100 meters above sea level. Corniglia is said to be one of the most genuine towns of the five and has the least amount of tourists. A lovely place!
Vernazza. Vernazza was my absolute favorite of the five terre. Vernazza has a natural pier with an amphitheatre shape, which apparently makes it the most photographed village of the Cinque Terre. Vernazza is surrounded by colourful typical Ligurian houses and the charming piazza is lined with good restaurants and bars. I loved that you can hike in two directions to see Vernazza from above. When you walk down the main road, you can go towards the left to see Vernazza from behind or you can go right to hike and see Vernazza from the front. We tried hiking both sides and personally enjoyed the view from behind a bit more. We stayed there for the sunset and found a lovely place to have a class of Prosecco to cin cin as we said good night to the sun.
Monterosso. Monterosso is the biggest of the five towns. It also has the only long and sandy beach in the area where you can rent chairs or umbrellas or simply put down your beach towels and go for a swim in beautiful, turquoise water. This is certainly the best village for enjoying a beach day!
2. TUSCANY
From Cinque Terre, we traveled South to Tuscany, which is one of my favorite areas of Italy thus far, mainly for the incredible wine grown in this region. We stayed in Siena first, which is a special town in Tuscany. We only spent one evening here and a highlight was the Piazza del Camp, which is the heart of Siena. It’s a huge square and considered one of Europe’s greatest medieval squares.
Now this post wouldn’t truly be about Italy if I didn’t talk about FOOD, right? So, if you travel to Siena, you MUST try their typical pasta dish called “pici.” It is similar to spaghetti, but bigger, thicker noodles. It is commonly served with cacio e pepe (pepper and cheese sauce) or tomato sauce. You can thank me later ;)
We spent our second day in Tuscany at a local vineyard for a wine tour that we found on airbnb. We were pleasantly surprised to be the only ones on the tour, so we had lots of time to ask questions & of course, drink delicious wine. My perfect kind of Saturday! It was so much fun to learn about the process of growing the grapes and making wine. I highly recommend this kind of experience. The location we visited also grew olive trees and our host taught us a bit about the olive oil process as well. We spent the day learning about the Chianti region and sampling wine and olive oil. We couldn’t leave before buying some local wine and olive oil to take back with us :-)
After the tour, we headed to Florence, which is nicknamed the cradle of the Renaissance. We only spent a few hours here, and I would honestly recommend having more than one day to enjoy the beauty of this city if you can! A must visit landmark is Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore, which is the third largest church in the world. Its exterior design is made of marble panels in various shades of green and pink, bordered by white. It was stunning and I have never seen anything quite like it. My second favorite part of our stroll through Florence was watching the sunset over the Arno River, looking out at Ponte Vecchio, or Old Bridge, which is considered one of the most iconic sights of Florence.
While in Tuscany, we also had the pleasure of visiting the Abbey of San Galgano, which is the first gothic church built in Tuscany, and now is quite unique for being without its roof. It is best to arrive here by car, and it’s located just 35 km south of Siena. It is a really special place, and you can easily spend just half a day here.
Our last day in Tuscany was my favorite because we visited the Terme di Saturnia, or natural hot springs. This place is as amazing as it looks in photos! I recommend going first thing in the morning before the crowds arrive. The hot springs are therapeutic and soothing. Think steamy hot water flowing over rocks with views of nature and fields… incredible right? Fun fact: According to legend, Saturnia is the most ancient Italian town: it was founded in Etruscan times and then conquered by the Romans, who planned the town and encircled it with walls. Visiting Terme di Saturnia is a unique experience that you won’t want to miss!
I hope you’ve enjoyed learning about Cinque Terre and Tuscany and these travel tips help you plan your next holiday in Italy! Stay tuned for Part II of the blog post where I’ll cover a few more amazing destinations. If you have any comments or questions, feel free to leave them below.
Until next time, a big hug!
xx Kimberly
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