This document provides a summary of the Italian coastal towns known as Cinque Terre. It describes arriving by train at the gritty railway station in La Spezia and seeing gorgeous coastal views from the train window. It then discusses exploring the five colorful villages - Riomaggiore, Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso al Mare - via hiking trails between the towns, which offer stunning seaside vistas. Recommendations are made for dining on local specialties like anchovies and pesto and hiking select portions of the trails to take in the beautiful scenery.

1. TRAVEL
There is not much to do but walk at
this Italian spot, but it’s the only way
to enjoy the gorgeous views. Alan
Robles takes the train to go
Chillin’ in
L
a spezia Centrale is a gritty railway station on italy’s northwest
coast. arriving on the express from Rome in the heat of a sum-
mer noon, you’ll only have enough time to take in — and forget
— the ambience (“utilitarian”). Then off you go to join the usual
neurotic crowd of travelers anxiously peering up at the public
monitor to check the status of their rides. You see, in italy, no matter what the
printed schedules say, trains tend to arrive and leave when they want. sometimes
on a different track than the one advertised.
Found and boarded the correct train? settle down in a window seat on the
left side with the soda you bought off the platform vending machine. The treno
will ponderously roll out of the station, pick up speed, and then plunge into
darkness as it suddenly enters a tunnel cut into a mountainside. The blackness
lasts a few minutes, then you erupt into the light — and what a light it is.
The window fills with the vista of a pale blue sky, flecked with the occasional
cloud, set over the darker blue of the Ligurian sea. is that a sailboat far below?
are those medieval towers on rocky outcrops? Fumbling with the camera, you
might just manage to scramble to your feet trying to compose a shot before the
Side streets
The picturesque cliffs of Manarola in Vernazza
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2. and clouds. Read a book. The waiters won’t drive
you away. Laze long enough, and you might face
the strenuous effort of deciding where to go for late
lunch. stay longer, and you’ll start to understand
dolce far niente, the sweetness of doing nothing.
should you decide to look for lunch, there
are restaurants everywhere. as you might expect,
Cinque Terre’s big on seafood. Try acciughe — an-
chovies — which are nothing like the briny tiny
dark things we extract from flat cans. The acciughe
in the Five Villages are large and can be served pick-
led, fried, or stuffed. Liguria, the region to which
Cinque Terre belongs, claims to have invented
pesto, so you’ll find bottles of it being sold in shops.
seeing as how you’re already there, would it be ask-
ing too much to set aside about 40 to 50 euros to
blow on one fine meal? Round it off with a glass of
sciacchetra, very sweet dessert wine. Ristorante Bel-
forte’s in Vernazza has an unbeatable combination
of food and excellent location — under the ruined
A breathtaking view watchtower by the harbor.
of Vernazza The five towns are linked by train and ferry, but
consider hiking the spectacular network of moun-
train suddenly slows down and halts. You’ve arrived tain trails between the villages. it’s at least 10 kilo-
at Riomaggiore, the first of the Cinque Terre. meters from end to end, a distance that will take five
Cinque Terre (pronounced “chink-weh te-reh”) to six hours to cover. You’ll need good hiking shoes,
— Five Villages. From south to north, Riomaggiore, comfortable clothing, a bottle of water, and perhaps
Manarola, Corniglia, Vernazza, and Monterosso a towel. also a ticket to hike, bought at a tourist
al Mare. ancient, isolated coastal towns wedged, counter.
and tucked into the folds, steep promontories, out- You needn’t do the entire stretch, facing the
crops, and narrow valleys of a mountainous coast. possibility of leaving your skeletal remains for some
separated by rugged terrain, inaccessible by car, bemused tourists to someday find. Walk just seg-
the towns can only be reached by train, boat, and ments of the trail, and you’ll still find unbeatable
steep mountain footpaths. Each village is a colorful views. The only thing you’ll exhaust will be your
riot of houses and blocks of buildings that, like true camera batteries. The via dell’amore, the “lover’s
italians, elbow, crowd, and jostle each other for the lane” between Riomaggiore and Manarola, is a cake-
A local specialty ‘acciughe’
best vantage points. The pastel buildings lean over or anchovies walk, a concrete road threading through a covered
warrens of charming narrow streets, dark alleys, surely account for terrabytes of camera card mem- gallery overlooking the sea. The next stage, Man-
and winding stone steps that dip, rise, go sideways, ory daily. Riomaggiore’s stacks of houses and build- arola to Corniglia, is a dirt trail that eventually leads
and lead to unexpected places — a small church, a ings march down right to the water’s edge, alongside to a huge drainage culvert under a train station. Take
tiny plaza, a laundry hanging out to dry. a road that slides smoothly into the sea. Corniglia the mini-bus to the town, where you’ll find the path
sharing the same stretch of Mediterranean perches high up a cliff, needing a staggering climb to Vernazza. This is a challenge. it twists, turns, and
coast as its tonier French counterpart, the Cinque of 400 steps to reach (tip: if you don’t want to climbs, and in many places are little more than large
Terre’s been called the “poor man’s Riviera,” maybe rupture something, take the mini-bus). sprawling rocks spaced apart. The views are breathtaking, and
because its inhabitants don’t own yachts or run ca- Monterosso al Mare has both an old and new town luckily there are benches where you can rest and
sinos. in fact, until recently, they were fishermen. and boasts the area’s best beaches. on a good sum- wait for your heart to catch up.
They still fish, but their biggest catch now consists mer day, Cinque Terre will take the breath from The final path, to Monterosso, is the most rug-
of shoals of german and american tourists, the lat- your body and put romance in your heart. ged — people you encounter coming in the oppo-
ter typically equipped with books of Rick steves, What’s there to do? nothing. no, really. Take site direction are invariably slouching, moving like
the travel geek who helped put tourist crosshairs a seat beside a table in the open-air cafe in front zombies, wheezing heavily, and drenched in sweat.
on Cinque Terre. now the villages offer TV, air- of Vernazza’s harbor (go mid-morning, it can get no one will hold it against you if at this point you
conditioning, internet, and even massages. crowded at noon). Have a caffe affogato, vanilla ge- just decide to take the boat. after all, a vacation
Each of the five has its charms. Vernazza and lato “drowned” with a shot of espresso. Kick back. shouldn’t be that exhausting. How about a nice,
Manarola, with their postcard-perfect waterfronts, Watch the harbor and the swimmers. stare at the sea cold, and slushy lemon granita? AD
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