A Little Bit of Heaven: Cinque Terre

As my final post from my spring break Italian getaway, I am going to introduce you all to one of my new favorite places: Cinque Terre, Italy.

My group had a free day at the end of our week, just the day before we left to come back to the states, so a few girls and I decided it would be great to get out of Florence for the day and take a train up to Cinque Terre–a place we had only seen in photos and on “Wanderlust” boards on Pinterest.

For anyone who has never heard of Cinque Terre, it translates to “five lands” in Italian. In the midst of a national park sit five little fishing villages that in the hills of northern Italy but face the sea. These beautifully painted and even a little run down gems are a top tourist destination in the summer, but luckily we caught it during a lazy time in the season. There are three ways to get to every village because cars are generally not allowed: a train that comes every hour, a ferry that runs during the summer, or hiking the trails that go between each village. These hikes can take from 1-4 hours and are not the easiest in the world, so we heard, but they are considered the best way to get a taste of the culture and really experience the area. Since we did not bring our hiking shoes and it was not summer yet, we four decided the train was our best option.

The five villages include: Monterosso del Mare, Vernazza, Manarola, Corniglia, and Riomaggiore. Our visit, so we could get the most out of our stay and still see a variety of villages included Monterosso del Mare to start off, Vernazza, and then finish with Riomaggiore. Since we had had such a busy week, we were all exhausted by the time it came to our little day trip, so we decided to take it slow.

Whats better than starting off your morning with a croissant and cappuccino by the sea?

Our plan was to eat breakfast in Monterosso del Mare, walk around and maybe dip our toes in the water, then head to Vernazza for lunch and some shopping (there were some really great stores there!), then finish our day off at our final stop, Riomaggiore, and after some more shopping–it was our last day in Italy, of course–finish our evening off with a wine and gelato stop.

Enjoy the beautiful images of the area:

Oops sorry, how did that get in there? Well, this was the most beautiful view of the day anyways. How can you pass up 17 beautiful Italian men in suits calling to take a picture with you? We all picked out our future husband….or three…

In all seriousness….I give you, Cinque Terre

All in all: Go to Cinque Terre. For the hiking, for the views, for the beach, for the gelato, for the men, and for the spectacular views. And when you go, take me back with you.