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Many of you have probably dreamed of visiting the picturesque region of the Italian Riviera region of Liguria known as the Cinque Terre! You’ve likely seen countless photos on Pinterest, or heard the great Rick Steves rave about one of his favorite destinations. Cinque Terre (translated to “five lands”) is home to five extremely lovely coastal towns (Riomaggiore, Manarola, Vernazza, Corniglia, and Monterosso al Mare), and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and National Park.
Many of the Cinque Terre’s visitors visit the region to admire the beautiful scenes of colored houses dotting the coastline, to hike the trails in between each town, or to simply bask in the Mediterranean Sea on holiday in a beautiful locale.
If you are thinking of visiting the Cinque Terre, here are some tips we think will help you in planning out your trip.
Getting to Cinque Terre
There are several ways to get to the Cinque Terre, as well as between each of the five towns. The best way to get to the region is by train, as road access is very limited. You can also travel by boat, though that is mostly limited to the warmer months of the year (April through October).
Traveling Within the Cinque Terre
Once you arrive, there are a few ways to travel within the Cinque Terre: the train, hiking, a special electric bus, or as I mentioned above, by boat in the warmer months.
Many people choose to hike between the five the towns. Some of the pathways are quite long (a couple of hours) and some are shorter (15-20 minutes). You should be aware that some of the trails are closed due to weather or unsafe conditions (some closed long term). I found this website helpful in checking trail conditions: https://www.incinqueterre.com/en/trail-number2-blue.
If you aren’t up for hiking any of the trails, and you don’t have a lot of extra time to spend in the Cinque Terre, train travel is the way to go!
Give Yourself Enough Time
If you aren’t staying in one of the Cinque Terre villages, cramming a visit to all towns in one day can be a bit daunting, although very possible. You’ll definitely want to get an early start, especially if you are traveling from regions farther away, such as Pisa or Florence.
Many people choose to start at one town at either end (either Riomaggiore or Monterosso al Mare) and work their way from town to town. We only managed to visit three towns – Riomaggiore, Manarola, and Vernazza. We had to skip Corniglia and Monterosso al Mare due to not having enough time. I would definitely recommend trying to spend at least two days to really see the five towns!
Purchasing Tickets
We stayed in the coastal town of Rapallo, which is just under an hour away by train to Riomaggiore. We wanted to start with the farthest town, so we settled on Riomaggiore and worked our way back to our hotel.
We were warned by our travel agent that a lot of the ticket agents at the stations do not speak much English – and I can confirm this is totally true. We did manage to communicate that we wanted round trip tickets to and from Riomaggiore, but I would suggest learning a few phrases in Italian before your trip about how to purchase train tickets.
Tickets are good for 6 hours each – one ticket to Riomaggiore, and a separate ticket to work your way back to Rapallo, and it cost us about 11€ per person round trip back in 2015. Obviously, ticket prices will vary depending on your point of origin and when you are traveling.
Validate Your Ticket
Everything we read up on beforehand stressed the importance of validating your ticket before you get on the train, so we made extra sure not to miss this important step. In order to maximize your ticket time, don’t validate too early, as it time stamps your ticket.
Check the screens at the station to make sure your train isn’t delayed. Look for the green validation machines located on the walls throughout the station. Train agents will walk through the trains and check your validation stamp. They will issue a fine on the spot, and these fines can be costly (thinks upwards of 200€)!
Get a Train Timetable
When we arrived in Riomaggiore, we went to the information booth and obtained a timetable for the train. That way, we could plan accordingly for how much time we could spend in each village. The nice lady in the booth spoke English, and was able to let us know which trains we would want to take to work our way back to Rapallo.
Not all trains stop in each village, so make sure you get on the right ones! Give yourself a few extra minutes to get back to the platform – we almost missed the train out of Riomaggiore as we took a wrong turn and had to take an elevator down and pay a couple of euros just to get out of the elevator!
Pay Attention to the Monitors
There are digital monitors at each station. Keep an eye on the arrival times! We found that trains were often delayed 5 to 10 minutes. Also, platform assignments can change at the last minute! Make sure you are at the correct platform number.
Cinque Terre Train Day Pass
There are two types of day passes for visiting Cinque Terre (and neither of them are actually required for you to visit the towns). You can choose between a trekking pass and a train pass, each offering different features.
They also have passes for multiple days, so if you are planning on spending a few days exploring the villages, the pass may be worth it. Be sure to talk to the agent at the information booth at your first stop to determine if purchasing the Cinque Terre Card is worth it for what you have planned.
Distance Between the Villages
By train, its only a few minutes between each village, which makes getting there nice and quick. There are large blue signs at each train station so you know exactly where to get off. Even if the train stops partially in the tunnel, be sure to hop off!
Be Courteous & Clean
You’re in a tight space when you’re on a train, so please respect your fellow travelers. We sat in a train car on our ride from Rapallo to Pisa with an incredibly smelly man who slowly ripped up his seemingly endless supply of receipts into tiny pieces, reaching across us all to put them in the trash…one by one. It was incredibly annoying, as his unpleasant odor wafted our way with each reach. Finally, my husband had to tell him to stop!
Also, at one point, a bunch of kids ran up and down the aisles making a ton of noise (parents…please control your kids), and the smelly man tried to close the door and box us in with his odors. Thankfully, a younger Italian girl traveling in the same car made him keep the door open. I think she was more bothered by him than we were! People, please wear your deodorant.
Keep the train clean. The trains in Italy are the cleanest trains I’ve ever been on! We’re so used to taking BART in the San Francisco Bay Area, with it’s nasty stained seats, sticky floors, and random trash all throughout the train cars. Thankfully, this is not the case with the Trenitalia!
Train Doors
I watched a few people struggle with the train doors. In fact, we met a couple that said they couldn’t figure out the door and missed a whole stop! Be smart and watch one of the locals pull the handle a few times – you might need a little elbow grease and a couple of tries.
Do Not Bring a lot of Luggage
If you’re on your way to stay for a few days in the Cinque Terre, I would highly discourage bringing a lot of luggage. There is not a lot of room for storage on the trains. Most people had their bags in the side aisles of the train, making it hard to get through. I recommend a maximum of one small suitcase per person and one carry-on item. Even then, it’s a work out!
Good Luck!
Hopefully, these tips will be helpful in planning your trip to the Cinque Terre. Does anyone out there have any plans to visit soon? We’d love to hear from you!
Much appreciated for this information and for submitting!