The Cinque Terre is made up on an ancient system of footpaths (and now rail) connecting the five villages, Riomaggiore, Manarole, Corniglia, Vernazza and Monterosso. What you do need to know is that you cannot access the Cinque Terre by car (residents only) so no matter where you are traveling from in Italy you will need to park your car and use the train to reach any of the towns. Once you are in the Cinque Terre you can continue to use the train or you can use the footpaths to travel from town to town. I am saying that very flippantly, walking between the towns takes time, the shortest trail is between Riomaggiore and Manarola and can take up to 30 minutes to walk, other walks start at around 3.5kms and the longest can be up to 12kms.
What you need to know when visiting the Cinque Terre:
- If you are travelling to La Spezia there is covered parking available right outside of the train station
- If you do not plan to walk the trails ensure that you buy a return train ticket that from La Spezia to Monterosso
- Remember to validate your ticket before travel and the little red / white / green box
- If you plan to walk the trails, then you need to buy a Cinque Terre Card that allows you to walk the paths and use the train. Remember to write your name and details on the back of the card and to validate your ticket
- When purchasing your Cinque Terre Card ask if there are any trails that are closed
- Ask for a train schedule (usually a small white paper). This will give you information on what times the trains will be arriving and departing from each stations allowing you to plan your time in each town and the best time to depart. Take a photo of the schedule (both sides) as these tend to get lost along the way
- It can get very busy in the summer months so pair down and do not take any unnecessary bags / luggage with you.
- If you are travelling with a young family, we would not recommend a pram
- Make reservations at restaurants as these tend to fill up quickly
