I first heard of Cinque Terre from my friend, Kelsey Flynn who recommended it. I can’t thank her enough for sharing her experience with me because Cinque Terre is now one of my absolute favorite places in Italy. And if you’re a photographer, this is your dream come true! I’m
paying it forward by telling you that you must put Cinque Terre at top of your list of MUST SEE places while in Italy!
Since I was only in Florence for the summer, time was of the essence and I was only able to allot 1 day for this trip. I wish I had more because I could’ve spent a whole week there! Cinque Terre means five villages or towns and my one-day itinerary will help you realize independent travel is not as daunting as it seems.
Keith and I had an early start and took a 7 AM train from Florence to la Spezia. From there you can take a regional train to any of the 5 towns. We stopped first at Manarola which is actually the second town. Manarola has a lot of rocks you can go cliff jumping off of. We took another train to the next town, Corniglia and then we had to climb over 300 steps because it sits at the very top of a promontory. It’s surrounded by beautiful vineyards and terraces. This is a good pit stop to take a break and eat lunch because after you have to hike 2 hours to get to the next town. The hike from Corniglia to Vernazza was my favorite part of the trip. We hiked the coastal, cliff-side trail which meant we got wonderful views of the water. As you approach the picturesque town of Vernazza, you start to see the beautiful, colorful homes and the ruins of a rustic castle. Finally, we took a train to the last town, Monterosso and swam on the beach until it was time to take the train back to Florence.
Cinque Terre is
so incredibly beautiful and it will leave you in awe of how spectacular nature
is! Cinque Terre will change your life! It changed mine and I’d give anything
to go back.
No comments:
Post a Comment