After Milan, our next stop in our Italian adventure was Cinque Terre. This part of the trip was the most unplanned and we had some hiccups along the way.
When we were planning the Italy part of our trip, we thought it would be a good idea to check out the Italian coast. Cinque Terre seemed to be the easiest one for us as a stop between Milan and Florence.
We took the train from Milan to Monterosso and arrived in blazing hot weather. The train ride was only 3 hours but I didn’t enjoy it because I started feeling ill on our last night in Milan. I felt crap and I was quite miserable. When we arrived in Monterosso, it was so hot and I was struggling. Monterosso was so busy and bustling with people too.
Monterosso beach is stunning though. I wish I was well enough to swim and appreciated it at the time but all I wanted to do was get into bed to have a rest. Max had to figure out train tickets so we can take another train to Vernazza, the next town where booked our accomodation.
We got to Vernazza, dropped our main luggage off to a storage company so we didn’t have to bring all of them up the hills/stairs. There are a lot of stairs in Cinque Terre due to the landscape. Once we checked in, I had a nap because I felt ill and I hoped having one would make me feel better for the rest of the day/night.
After some rest, we checked out the beach area in Vernazza.
Vernazza is another beautiful village in Cinque Terre. I was told the view above of the colourful buildings is recognisable from the animated Disney movie Luca. The water looked lovely.
We also saw a few cats out in the streets in Vernazza.
Then we took the train to the next village, Riomaggiore.
Similar to Vernazza, Riomaggiore is beautiful, there are colourful buildings by the water and there are lots of stairs!
There were less people swimming here but there were many just chilling by the rocks, sunbathing. I felt so ill while we were here so I barely took photos and the one photo above that Max took of me, I looked miserable because I felt like it. I remember thinking “I’m looking at one of the most beautiful views I’ve ever seen yet feel so horrendous inside”. It was not a fun time.
After Riomaggiore, we went back to our Airbnb. I think I had another nap before dinner. Max had to take over during this part of the trip because I was ill. While I was napping, he went out and scoped the area and booked a nice restaurant for dinner.
Max chose Pirasca ittiturismo restaurant in Vernazza. It was a climb to get up to the restaurant but I felt okay enough to do it. I’m so glad I felt a bit better because the views from the restaurant was amazing. We watched the sunset from our table and it was the best thing after such a day of feeling crappy.
Our meals were amazing and I was so happy I was able to eat my dinner. We had to have dessert too and I had the panna cotta while Max had the tiramisu. The food, the views and the service were great.
Our dining experience here in Pirasca ittiturismo was the highlight of my Cinque Terre trip. I’m so glad I was able to enjoy this night, the food and the amazing views of Vernazza.
Afterwards, we walked back down and checked out the shore at night time.
Vernazza at night was also pretty magical. After this, we went back home and I slept.
The next day, we got up and checked out another village, Manarola.
Manarola is the second smallest village out of the 5 villages in Cinque Terre and it is the oldest one.
We walked to the Manarola overlook viewpoint and the views were absolutely stunning. The water looked so good and it was so picturesque.
Afterwards, we had to go back to Vernazza, check out of our Airbnb and take the train to La Spezia.
Since I was ill, I didn’t take that many photos. Our Airbnb was above some shops. It didn’t have aircon but it was nice and breezy anyway. It was quite spacious and was nearby a gelato and fish and chip shop. Before we left Vernazza, we had some fish and chips and waited for the train.
Our train to Florence was in La Spezia and we didn’t time it very well so we had a few hours to spend in La Spezia. We stayed in the train station as I wasn’t keen on exploring in the heat because I still felt sick and all I wanted to do was get to Florence.
We were only in Cinque Terre overnight and that was an oversight on our part. We thought we could have a little taste of the coast on our way to Florence. Sadly we didn’t get to enjoy it because I was sick and we realised in the end that we didn’t have enough time in Cinque Terre. It was also so busy in summer that the trains were so packed. We were like sardines inside the train to get in between the different villages.
It was hot, chaotic and not a relaxing experience travelling between the villages. In hindsight, we would’ve either skipped Cinque Terre altogether or dedicate a few more days because there are beautiful walks between the villages and some wineries.
Overall, Cinque Terre was bittersweet. I’m glad I got to experience it but we didn’t have the best time given my state, how busy and hot it was and the limited time we had there.
Lastly, I wanted to talk about Italian trains. In comparison to French trains and how we travelled from Paris to Lyon and Lyon to Milan, Italian trains especially the regional ones are less organised. Even if you have a seat number in your train ticket, that wouldn’t matter. We found out that Italians don’t care about your seat number. It is first come, first served.
Trenitalia is interesting. The train from La Spezia to Florence didn’t have seat numbers so we just chose a carriage and grabbed two seats. The train also didn’t have space for luggage! We were lucky that our carriage wasn’t full and we managed to put our luggage in the only single seat beside us. Eventually as the train stopped at more stations, the train got fuller but we didn’t have to move our luggage. A backpacking couple even used that area to put their huge backpacks. I can’t believe their backpacks are bigger than our luggage and they were carrying them throughout!
Anyway, the train experience in Italy is so different to our experience in France. However, I’m thankful we never had to stand up or sit on the floor when we travelled on the train.
That’s all for Cinque Terre. It was not the most positive experience but I wanted to be honest as travelling is not all glamorous and perfection. Things happen that we have no control over and you just have to make do. I still feel quite lucky I wasn’t worse during this time of our trip. Our next stop is Florence and I promise you, it will be a much better and fun experience!
Europe Trip blog post links:
I still managed one TT from our time in Cinque Terre though:
A Style Collector 
2 thoughts on “Europe Trip: Cinque Terre”