How to visit Cinque Terre: top tips and attractions

I invite you to read the first part of this comprehensive 4-day travel guide to Cinque Terre hiking cardan absolutely stunning coastal region in the province of Liguria in Italy. It is well known for these famous 5 villages that gave the region's name: Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso al Mare. With this guide I would like to introduce you to this beautiful area through the routes between the colorful villages that are part of the UNESCO World Heritage.

When it is the best time to go?

The best seasons to really enjoy the Cinque Terre trails are spring, between April and early June, and early fall, September and October. Both seasons bring very pleasant temperatures, nature comes alive, there aren't so many tourists on the trails and you can enjoy the peace and quiet.

The trails are open all year round, but in summer it's extremely hot because there's hardly any shade on the road, and in winter there's the risk of landslides due to heavy rain. So it's better to go the spring or fall route. We went between 13-18 April and we've had gorgeous sunny days with highs of 20-23 degrees.

Recommended accommodations

The advantage of going extra season is that the price of accommodation is considerably lower. Even more so if you choose to go early in the extra season. In Pisa we stayed in the city center less than 15 minutes from the tower and the city center, at this hotel. Looks more like a hostel but it was very clean and welcoming and for one night was more than enough.

When I was planning our vacation, I realized that in order to do all the routes, it would be better to stay in one of the 5 villages rather than in La Spezia. We chose Corniglia as our base for the next 4 days and to make it extremely easy for us when we set out on the trails. Accommodation was in a Airbnb very intimate and very welcoming with a roof terrace perfect for watching the sunset and a small part of the village. Although it is the only village without direct access to the sea, we didn't mind, on the contrary I thought it was less touristy than the others and slightly cheaper.

How did we organize our trip?

Well, we took off on Thursday evening and the return flight was at noon on Tuesday. So we had 4 full days to explore. The nearest airport is Pisa and we spent a whole day there.

Friday it was transit day between Pisa and Corniglia with a small stop in LaSpezia. Saturday we did two of the hiking trails: Corniglia – Manarola and Manarola – Riomaggiore. On Sunday we did another two: Corniglia – Vernazza and Vernazza – Monteroso al Mare. And on Monday we choose the trail Riomaggiore to Portovenere, which is considered as the 6th village of Cinque Terre. I will specify below some technical details of each route.

Just to give you a general idea, the trails are not difficult at all, they are absolutely gorgeous along the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea, with stunning views of the many vineyards along the way. On average, each day we walked about 5 hours, and the total kilometers covered was 30. You can add another 8km if you do the Monteroso al Mare to Levanto, but you'd need another full day to not be on the run.

Cinque Terre express

To get from Pisa to Corniglia, we traveled by train to La Spezia and from there by the Cinque Terre Express or a regular, regional train. Cinque Terre express is a special train that runs every 20 minutes between the 5 villages, but can also reach La Spezia and Levanto. These trains run daily between March and November (in 2024: March 16 - November 3), and in winter there are regional trains that run once or twice an hour. For more details on train departure times, please save this page because it is up to date with every news from the area.

The ticket price depends very much on the period you are going: for example for category A, off-season, the price is 5 euro/adult, for category B, normal season, the price is 8 euro/adult, and for category C, peak season, the price is 10 euro/adult. This is the cost between two train stops. You can buy train tickets at each station of the 5 villages, in Levanto or in La Spezia. You can also visit the website Trenitalia or through mobile app. Please do remember to validate the tickets that you bought in the train station, before getting up in the train!

Travel time is 5 minutes between two villages, from La Spezia to Riomaggiore is 9 minutes and from Monteroso al Mare to Levanto is 20 minutes.

Cinque Terre card

If you want to travel several times between villages and want to save some money, you should keep in mind that there is Cinque Terre Card which gives you access on the hiking trails, too. There are two types of this card: the trekking one and the treno MS.

Cardul Cinque Terre trekking gives you access to trails within the national park that have a fee. This card costs €7.50 or €15 during peak season per adult. You can buy the card at all entrances to the trails or at the information point in the train stations.

Cardul Cinque Terre Treno MS offers access to routes that have a charge, as well as unlimited travel on the Cinque Terre Express train on the La Spezia-Levanto route. The latter costs between €19.50 and €32.50 per adult per day. For up-to-date prices, please check their official page. The card can be bought at the information points inside the train stations of the villages.

If you're going during peak season and don't want to wait in the possible queues at the stations, you can also purchase your cards online on the park's official website Cinque Terre hiking card.

What do you need to have in your backpack?

For the 4 days, we only went with one backpack each and we had plenty of room for souvenirs on the way back. I recommend the backpacks from CabinZero because they have designs specifically designed for women too, they are very practical, roomy, and we use them on all our trips during the last 2 years, whether skiing, Norway, Bali or quick city breaks. If you use the code IOANAFERDOSCHI you will receive a 15% discount on your entire order.

General information about the trails

Corniglia – Manarola

Manarola – Riomaggiore (Via dell Amore) – varianta 1

Manarola – Riomaggiore (Via Beccara) – varianta 2

Corniglia – Vernazza

Vernazza – Monteroso al Mare

Riomaggiore – Portovenere

To constantly check the conditions of the hiking trails, please go to the official page of the park CinqueTerre.

Conclusion

I had known about Cinque Terre for many years and it was one of the areas in Italy that I really wanted to visit in this way, following the scenic routes. Although all the villages are beautiful, and the area is truly spectacular, honestly my heart stayed in Corniglia. The fact that it was the smallest of the villages, that it was perched on a cliff with no direct access to the sea and tourist boats didn't stop much, made it extra special.

Also, I think a lot of tourists didn't make it to the center because of the large number of steps at the station, and that made it the most airy of them all. The prices were the lowest in the area and in the evenings it was perfect to wander the narrow streets full of locals. I would definitely stay in Corniglia again! 

Unfortunately, I don't have any saved restaurants, but wherever you stop you're sure not to fail. After all, who doesn't love Italian food? But a staple in this region, is pasta with Genovese-style pesto, with green beans and boiled potatoes!

I hope this article has helped you with your trip planning, and for the details of the routes, please visit the links below, where I've told you exactly how we did it. Please leave me a comment if you liked it, and if I can help you with the planning in even more detail, don't forget to drop me a message!